Issue 96 of Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine is now on sale - and yes, the menacing trio of emerald lights you see on the art below are, indeed, the property of Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher, whose latest game Blacklist is the subject of our world exclusive cover story.
Log's written a seven page hands-on preview which delves into the game's brutally athletic "killing in motion" system, refined AI, character upgrades, new Paladin hub environment (which is a bit like Mass Effect's Normandy, apparently) and crunchy stealth sublayer. Sprinkled throughout you'll find commentary from game director Patrick Redding, who assures us that Blacklist's diamond-hard Perfectionist difficulty setting will please older Splinter Cell fans no end.
Further in, we've got a feature on the future of the first-person shooter - more specifically, intelligent first-person shooters like Spece Ops: The Line, Far Cry 3 and the forthcoming Metro: Last Light. Backing it up, a lengthy Tomb Raider multiplayer hands-on, a breakdown of the glorious-looking Cyberpunk 2077, and an interview with Gears of War: Judgment's art director Chris Perna about Berserker moments, environmental story-telling and the possibility of a female Gears lead.
On the disc this month: demos for DmC: Devil May Cry, XBLA air combat game Skydrift, the wonderful Dust: An Elysian Tail, Resident Evil 6 and F1 Race Stars. While we're talking goodies, now is a very good time to take out a subscription - get involved and we'll send you a free copy of the Hitman Absolution Professional Edition, the ultimate version of last year's triumphant Hitman reboot. Apply before 13th May, and you'll also receive 23 per cent off a six month subscription. More details here
As always, you can buy the mag online with free postage, download a copy for iPad from Apple Newsstand, or nab an Android-friendly version from Zinio.
9 comments so far...
fracturedrich on 15 Feb '13 said:
Yeah get hitman absolution for free,get two levels from the end then have your file corrupted and have to start again,then play through again then,hey guess what,hit the groundhog day button and go through it again.
DoubleA316 on 15 Feb '13 said:
@fracturedrich it was a glitch caused by an update that's caused your problem. You need to clear the system cache in your Xbox console settings, then delete saved game and any dlc for hitman, then re-download them and you'll be good to go. You're right though, it was a kick in the balls.
Alaric14 on 15 Feb '13 said:
I don't think we need to see Lightning again, do we? I can picture her and Cloud Strife getting together and exchanging soulful looks with the floor, which would only be marginally duller than yet another Final Fantasy sequel.
fracturedrich on 16 Feb '13 said:
I will try it now.
fracturedrich on 16 Feb '13 said:
No it did not work,its a good game and i will plod on,the irony of it it they release a update to fix this and it causes it to happen,something like the flu jab,console style.
GossipHound on 16 Feb '13 said:
First I've heard of this glitch. I'm not far from the end so won't play this again until it's sorted out or can I just refuse the update - will it still play without it? Can OXM shed any light on a time frame for fixing the broken fix?
fracturedrich on 16 Feb '13 said:
Refuse the update at least until you complete game,it does not affect stats,just forces playthrough.
GossipHound on 16 Feb '13 said:
First I've heard of this glitch. I'm not far from the end so won't play this again until it's sorted out or can I just refuse the update - will it still play without it? Can OXM shed any light on a time frame for fixing the broken fix?
Refuse the update at least until you complete game,it does not affect stats,just forces playthrough.
Okay nice one. Thanks for that.
ItchyRash on 18 Feb '13 said:
fracturedrich
Buddy, I sent a private message with a solution but figured i would post it here in case anyone was interested. This happened to me three times just last week. After the first time I thought it would be safe to back up my save. If you're online and have access to the xbox cloud save function, go to your memory in xbox settings and copy your save file to the cloud. Just save a copy of your current save game after each time you play. When my saves corrupted a 2nd and then 3rd time I had a back up to go to. It usually meant I was a mission or two back but better than having to start fresh all the time