Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes From Liberty City, Xbox 360
Bringing together both pieces of GTA IV's downloadable episodic content, now those without an Xbox Live membership or a copy of the original game can enjoy The Lost & The Damned and the brand-new Ballad Of Gay Tony. The former follows the intense and violent brotherhood of Liberty City motorcycle gang The Lost, led by ex-con Jewish biker Johnny Klebitz. The latter (and better) casts you as Luis Lopez, associate and hired muscle of big-time gangster Gay Tony, whose dealings seem to land you in increasingly hot water. More frequent checkpoints make those dealings slightly easier, which is just as well given the episode's propensity for exploding skyscrapers and perilous, helicopter-based antics. They're tighter, more scripted experiences than the main game, showing different sides of Liberty City and shifting the game's emphasis further towards action and – at more than 12 hours each – comprise a generous package.
Rockstar, £34.99
Tekken 6, PS3, Xbox 360
Tekken's original premise all those years ago was that the four face buttons on the controller mapped to each of your fighter's limbs, giving you a uniquely human control over the melee. Unlike its competitor Virtua Fighter, the reality of Tekken was always less about supernaturally subtle timing than it was about memorising long sequences of button presses, enabling cartoonishly incendiary flurries of punches, kicks, throws and head butts to be hurled towards your antagonist. After a couple of pretty duff outings, Tekken 6 is a return to form, featuring an embarrassment of 42 combatants (with new faces such as Lars Alexandersson and, er, Bob), the usual plethora of online options and the return of Tekken Force, the never-more-than-distinctly-lukewarm plot-driven beat-'em-up mode. Without anything particularly new to say, Tekken 6 is a sort of Greatest Hits of the series, taking the fight mechanics, characters and silliness we all know and love and ratcheting everything up to 11.
Namco, £49.99
GAMES NEWS
Another new Nintendo handheld
Far from the relatively sedate pace of its console hardware release schedule, Nintendo's handhelds receive updates with a frequency that will cause alarm to those responsible for shelling out for the increasingly desirable miniature devices. Naturally, it's happening again, with Nintendo's DSi, the camera-enabled dual-screen system released here in the spring already declared obsolete by the toy giant. The DSi LL (to be renamed XL in Europe) will add larger screens, have two brain training games pre-installed and feature different sized styluses for use on its touch screen. Due for release in Japan on the 21 Nov, Nintendo has said the system will receive a European launch in the first quarter of next year at around the same price as the current DSi. Those considering giving in to tiny demands for a Christmas upgrade to the current model might be advised to hold off.