Unnecessary use of Old English aside, our hero’s response is a statement that could equally be applied to SouthPeak, the publisher of Two Worlds II, who faces an uphill struggle after the disastrous first game. So what better way to tackle it than scrapping everything and starting again from scratch? Well, that’s precisely what developer Reality Pump has done, using a brand new iteration of their GRACE engine to provide us with some extraordinary visuals (some of the lighting, weather and particle effects here are far nicer than those found in your typical RPG), while taking prompts from BioWare to rejig their combat and inventory models. And they’ve totally removed the Ye Olde English speak, too. No unwittingly hilarious dialogue prompts for the sequel, then.

The game is set five years after the events of the original (or at least the single-player is, as the multiplayer co-op bridges the gap between the two), throwing the hero into a prison under the control of the Dark Lord Gandohar. A band of Orcs – who fans will recognize as the first game’s antagonists – soon spring you out of the jail, and decide to work with you to save your sister and slay Gandohar once and for all.

Once you’re out you’re free to choose quests at will, and equip your character with any abilities that you see fit at the time. Unlike most RPGs you’re not asked to choose a particular character type at the start of the game, instead letting you level up certain abilities as you progress. Depending on the circumstances you find yourself in, the system lets you quickly switch between the long-range magic of the Mage, or the close-quarters brawling skills of the Warrior – a feature made more streamlined by allowing you to hotkey certain equipment loadouts to the D-pad. Combat is far simpler than it was, with movesets assigned to the face-buttons, and potions, vials and items easily accessible by a circle menu assigned to R3.

So it’s been made considerably more manageable, but despite the streamlining, Two Worlds II’s incredible depth means it’s still a decidedly hardcore RPG, a field where it already seems outdated and outclassed. There’s fun to be had with the game’s ‘create your own spells’ mechanic, which lets you combine two components together to create a range of spells (please don’t try fireball and spray in an enclosed room), but it was difficult to tell from our hands-on whether the narrative – a key factor in any RPG, of course – will be able to hold its own in the final game. And with Dragon Age 2 lingering in the background, it’s hard to see Two Worlds II being much more than a mild distraction until BioWare’s epic rolls around next March.

Two Worlds II – Trailer

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Two Worlds II – Interview

Gameplay is still based on third-person combat, but the lightsabers seem more like the sharp implements they should this time around, with the ability to slice off Stormtrooper limbs or propel legions of troops into the distance with the multi-purpose Force push.

The franchise has always won plenty of column inches, not just because it uses George Luca’s license, but because the original game was such a fanboys’ wet dream, successfully placing the gamer into the intergalactic space opera, yet making gamers feel like the baddest mother force wielder to ever grasp a lightsaber. It’s a feeling the sequel will perpetuate with two new devastating Force powers – the all-purpose Mind Trick which can stimulate enemies to attack one another or Force Fury, which amps up all the existing powers exponentially, enabling Lightning to completely evaporate enemies and Repulse to disintegrate any foe caught in close proximity. This charged-up state only lasts a matter of moments and builds up slowly, nevertheless it’s fantastic to see in motion.

The curtain opens with Vader standing ominously over a shackled Starkiller, making him aware of his artificial roots and before testing his assassin abilities by slaying legions of holographically enhanced robots depicting figures from his past. But there is one representation which the tortured shell cannot eradicate, Juno Eclipse. Haunted by fragmented memories of a life he may or may not have had, the Starkiller escapes the planet in hope of finding himself – with Vader’s forces in tow. All you spoiler haters out there needn’t worry, as all this action takes place during the first level of the game. For the rest of the campaign, expect a mixture of new faces with some fan favorites to steal the show. The developers have been extremely loose-lipped on the occurrence of some characters, but our discussions with the game’s Assistant Producer alluded that to the fact that ‘there’s more to the game than you might think’. If you hadn’t guessed by now, much like the original, Force Unleashed II is an intense story-driven experience with only a challenge mode distracting players from the campaign. These standalone scenarios will all be time-based and require mastering the various jump-combat-and Force-related puzzles. On completion, various rewards will be dispensed including new outfits, different colored crystals for your respective lightsabers and an unlockable side story will tell an additional plot-line to the campaign. There’s plenty of tasty fiction morsels for Star Wars fans to feast upon.

Wisely, instead of trying to rebuild the entire game from the ground up, LucasArts have elected to change what didn’t work about the original and leave the rest enhanced with a new lick of polish, producing a game experience which feels assuredly familiar.

The unreliable finisher camera is gone, replaced with a grapple cam, which gets up close and personal when players execute more vicious attacks. Also the AI and enemy design is considerably more imaginative, producing increasingly varied enemy types and challenging tactics.

Some may be disappointed by a lack of other features common in the genre, such as online play or co-op but frankly, to do so would be missing the point. This is about filling in the blanks between Episodes III and IV, with a finely crafted story which aspires to be just as entertaining as the movies. A lofty goal to be sure, but one the team are well on their way to accomplishing.

If Star Wars: The Force Unleashed knocked your socks off, then you really haven’t seen anything yet.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II – Cinematic Trailer

Yes Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock has gone back to its roots. Forget about Taylor Swift and Band Hero, this is a game for those who worship the gods of metal, who throw horns to the sky and headbang in unison. The soundtrack ranges from rocking to out-and-out brutality, with Slayer, Alter Bridge and Black Sabbath among the bands laid out on the altar of instrumental four-piece sacrifice.

So far, so Guitar Hero III then, but Warriors of Rock does actually prove to be the biggest departure for the series, and indeed any modern music game so far. It actually has a story, and not just a cartoon about being in a crappy band. The whole thing’s about the battle between the demigod of rock – voiced by one Gene Simmons of Kiss, and that programme about musical children – and The Beast, a large mechanical robot that looks like it’s been cut-and-pasted from some long-defunct cyberpunk action game.

So these two have a ruck, and the demigod ends up losing. The Beast entombs him in a granite prison and… Still with us? Okay, so the Beast entombs him, and somehow the demigod of rock calls out to the eight characters of Guitar Hero to help him. This is where you come in.

To progress through the story, you have to play as each of the characters in turn – Johnny Napalm, Lars Umlaut etc, – and they each have a set that’s specifically tailored to their style. Beat all the songs in their set, and their inner warrior is unleashed, turning them into a demon form and awarding them a super power. Johnny, for example, wins ‘Speed Freak’, which means his multiplier never drops below 2X.

It’s really window dressing for the main event, which is actually getting into the songs and playing the music, and once again Neversoft has proven its skill and diligence when it comes to creating note charts. It’s funny that we now analyze the quality of something so abstract – the term note charts didn’t even exist a few years ago – but nevertheless, Neversoft has shown themselves to be true Guitar Heroes.

By the time you reach the final battle against The Beast, you’ll have all eight heroes, and you have to create two bands with suitable powers to take him on in the hardest songs in the game. Beat him, and you unlock a brand new chapter as the Demigod, with even harder songs. Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock is taking no prisoners. Unless you happen to be stuck in a granite tomb, of course.

Gene Simmons has said that he “learned a long time ago people listen with their eyes.” Apart from the obvious flaw in logic, it’s pretty obvious what he means. It’s why Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock has ramped up the visual imagery to capture that over-the-top rock spectacle. It’s all about capturing the spirit of the great metal album covers; the bold and brilliant works of artists inspired by all things rock, and as such is by far the best-looking Guitar Hero game to date. There’s a slick motion blur and some dramatic camera angles that help to pepper the whole thing with a bit of style, and the character artists have done a great job with the ‘warrior’ alternate forms. Lars Umlaut’s pig face is particularly spectacular, as is Tommy Knox’s mummified zombie thing.

With Rock Band 3 pursuing the musical purity angle, it’s nice to have a bit of variety in the two products this year. Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock knows that it’s essentially daft, and it exists purely to entertain. Still, that’s not to say that the new Guitar Hero hasn’t got its fundamentals in place. The song list is suitably epic, the audiovisuals strong and you still have slick inclusions like the pick-up-and-play Party mode and all manner of multiplayer modes if you’re that way inclined. And if the achievements are as well-incorporated as they were in Guitar Hero 5, then there’ll be plenty to get your teeth stuck into.

So, is music gaming dead? Not if Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock has anything to do with it. Raise those horns to the sky, people.

Yes, hammering around the Brighton seafront in a souped-up supercar was a fairly revelatory experience. Hammering our opponents with all manner of neon fireworks was another. You see, we’ve played plenty of Blur’s online Beta, but only after spending time with the single-player does the chaos begin to make any sense. The single-player ‘campaign’ is divided into nine scenarios, with seven challenges in each. Fairly standard stuff for a racing game, but as with everything that Bizarre has a hand in, there’s a degree of choice. You don’t have to play every single one of the challenges to progress, so if you favor racing over the elimination-style Destruction mode, then you can keep hitting the same challenge with different cars in order to move on.

Finishing a single-player scenario isn’t going to be easy, as each ‘chapter’ is run by a boss character who you have to defeat in a very tricky one-on-one race. Power-ups are still activated, but if you make more than a couple of mistakes, you’re toast. Beating the boss, though, means you take their custom mod, and you can attach it to your motor and move onwards and upwards.

Bizarre really likes to reward players, so there’s rarely a moment when you’re not being told how well you’re doing or how many fans you’re picking up along the way. It’s gratifying of course, but it also introduces you to another mechanic that Bizarre has shoehorned into the single-player races.

Driving through the yellow ‘waving man’ icons activates a fan challenge, usually a slalom of gates to drive through, and completing this successfully adds to your overall fans, your overall score and your overall ability as a driver in Blur’s world. It’s a metagame within the game itself, and a credit to Bizarre’s need to force as much game as possible into its products.

This is complimented by the achievements, which have their own sticker book. Some achievements require multiple stages to complete, but you’re always aware of what you’re doing and how to achieve it. We shouldn’t be surprised though, these are the guys who made Geometry Wars after all.

Clever tricks and behind-the-game machinations are all well and good, but without a fundamentally sound engine, they’d all be worthless. Well, thankfully, Blur has that in spades. Compared to other modern arcade racers, it’s probably not as immediate. It doesn’t have the visceral growl of Burnout or the ‘holy sh**’ moments of Split/Second, but where it may lack in pizzazz, it makes up for it in depth.

Blur isn’t just Mario Kart with real cars. It’s more than that. There’s real skill to how you drive, how you avoid and use the power-ups. It’s why the most skilful driver will normally always win; it’s not hampered by aggressive rubber-banding or scripting. You know that you can drive an entire race without taking a hit if you collect sensible power-ups and pay attention to the ‘incoming missile’ meter.

Its part of the reason that Blur will likely still be on rotation in drives long after some of the competition has disappeared. Those who take the time – and it isn’t that much time – to get into its subtleties and understand what makes Blur tick will likely stick with it for a long, long time.

Not to undersell it, though. It’s not Forza or Gran Turismo; this is still absolute carnage on the race track. When you have 20 cars driving bumper to bumper, all firing off screen-searing power-ups and battling for every single inch of space, you know you’re in a fight. Bizarre has used a fighting game analogy when describing blur before, and it’s a fair comparison. Not only does it have the violence of fighting, but it also demands that you use tricks, feints and mind games to really achieve greatness. Just don’t try using a stick.

Brilliantly, Bizarre is also acutely aware of the bragging and bravado that comes with online gaming, and has focused it on your own friends list. You can publish your lap times through Xbox Live, Twitter and another famous social networking site, and even issue challenges. If they’re beaten, the game will tell you. It’s the kind of online play that’ll keep you hooked in.

So, as it roars towards the finishing line, Blur is looking ever more the finished article. There’s been hiccups along the way, bumps in the road, but now the final product is taking shape and looking pretty while it does it. Let the arcade racing battle commence!

So, you can imagine the sense of astonishment we experienced when we crossed the line in first place during our very first place during our first race of SBKX. We was playing Arcade mode, of course, the biggest addition to this year’s version of SBK that Milestone hopes will attract a completely new audience to its typically hardcore racer.

And it works. The handling model is far more responsive and infinitely more accessible, complete with a familiar green and red racing line warning riders when’s most appropriate to brake and accelerate. The likelihood of spinning out on corners is reduced, brakes kick into gear far more quickly and, dare we say it, we’re actually having fun.

Of course, the focus on offering a new ‘casual friendly’ mode doesn’t mean that Milestone has forgotten about its core fanbase, and indeed, upon switching over to the game’s Simulation mode we once again found ourselves in an all-too familiar position at the back of the pack, where the sense of speed offered by the beast between our butt cheeks was abruptly replaced by the feeling of sand chafing against our leathers.

The difference between the two handling models is almost night and day, with Simulation requiring a far more subtle application of the accelerator and brakes, and far greater awareness of your opponent’s whereabouts, the track’s hazards and the optimal racing line.

There are different levels of simulation too, including Low, Medium and Full, for those who don’t want to lower themselves to Arcade mode, but find the full effects of Simulation a bit too tough, and more subtle elements as well, like the buildup of rubber left on dry surfaces offering more grip. There’s plenty on offer to extend replayability too, including a 16-player multiplayer mode as well as multiple race options within Arcade and Simulation, including Story mode, Career, Championship and Time Attack offerings. Plenty to keep you occupied then.

However, if there’s one area where SBK falls it’s that it doesn’t seem to have quite the same level of flair as its greatest competitor, MotorGP. It’s the Forza Motorsport to MotoGP’s Gran Turismo if you will, but likewise it shares an enviable understanding of the sport, and one that puts SBKX in the running as the greatest superbike racer of all time. We’ll find out whether SBKX can stomach the (tyre) pressure next month.

During an impressive opening cinematic, the game reveals the fallen angel which becomes the center of the plot. Each of the game’s three factions wants to utilize the sought-after savior to their gospel, Legion to resurrect their fallen leader and the Elves just want everyone to get along. There are a total of 19 missions on offer and the plot’s supported by an abundance of text and video, perfect for those who relish their fantasy fiction.

Each mission begins with players appearing on epic-sized maps which take multiple turns to traverse. Any movement is governed by a blue bar and when it runs out the only option is to take another turn. The same restrictions are applied to enemies, so rather like chess you’ll need to think of your moves carefully. You’ll need to scope out resources to support your forces, visit NPCs for quests and keep an eye out for enemies.

Fighting efficiency is governed by what accessories and abilities are available to your hero. Just double click the portrait on the sidebar and there’s a plethora of RPG progression to choose from including skills, items and a variety of gauges to increase. The customization possibilities are frankly staggering and sure to encourage plenty of competition between players online.

When enemies are encountered the gameplay shifts from the campaign map to the zoomed-in battle mode, where keen strategists can place their characters in whatever formation they wish before laying waste to enemies. The turn-based battles look fantastic in motion, taking advantage of the powerful new engine. Magic attacks are particularly impressive, putting melee combat to shame. Again, each attack, move or buff is governed by points, so don’t leave your units at the mercy of your enemies without due course.

Monster design is also varied, taking cues from the old world including werewolves, cheeky bandits and even a Kraken. The variety on offer makes the battles seem less routine and, during our few hours of play, we encountered an exciting roster.

This franchise has been off the radar for a decade but with a sequel as detailed and enjoyable as this, it’s sure to make a triumphant return.