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Not to be left out of the E3 drama, DOOM 4 – or as it’s now known, “new DOOM game” – has gone and spawned itself a frightful teaser trailer. There’s footage of an icky bio-mechanical demon, plus the sound of a shotgun being cocked. That’s all I need,

You’ll hear more at QuakeCon 2014, which takes place across 17th-20th July in Dallas, Texas. The game has experienced severe development difficulties – it’ll need to make quite the impression to win over troubled fans. That next-gen-only DOOM beta could have a part to play, here. Access is included with the purchase of Wolfenstein: The New Order, remember.

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Activision and Hasbro have debuted a new video for the upcoming game Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark and this time it focuses on the Dinobot Grimlock! Check it out in the player below, courtesy of GameStop.

Serving as a follow-up to both the upcoming “Transformers” live-action film and Activision’s Transformers: War for Cybertron and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron titles, Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark jumps worlds and factions as it weaves the tale of the hunt for an ancient relic as powerful as the Matrix of Leadership – the Dark Spark. Players will be able to switch between the heroes of the noble Autobots and the nefarious Decepticons throughout the single-player campaign. Similar to High Moon Studios’ “Cybertron” entries in the highly-regarded series, gameplay features nimble, fast-paced running-and-gunning combat paired with traversal and vehicle action across open battlefields for large-scale, dynamic conflicts.

The game will feature over 40 playable characters and will launch on June 24 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U and PC from developer Edge of Reality. A 3DS version is also planned from WayForward.

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Were/are you keen on Halo 4’s Armor Abilities? Comprising a range of active and passive buffs such as the ability to see through walls or conjure a shield, they’re among the things that most obviously set the game apart from predecessors. Many fans weren’t amused, styling this the “Call of Dutification” of Halo. Good news, detractors – according to 343’s design director Bradford Welch, there’s none of that sort of thing in Halo 5: Guardians for Xbox One.

“Arena means what you’d expect,” he said of a reference to “next generation arena multiplayer” in the below trailer for the game’s beta, which begins in December. “Competitive focus, level playing field, map control. Spartan abilities are player mechanics not loadout AAs.” These abilities are “things that every player can do inherently with their Spartan,” Welch added, when pestered by Twitter followers.

Beyond that, pretty much all we know about Halo 5’s multiplayer is that it runs at 60 frames a second on dedicated servers, and includes a number of returning weapons. Catch brief glimpses of the arsenal in the video. I’m a little saddened by the loss of Armor Abilities, personally – I quite liked how they allowed you to distinguish playstyles. Still, there are always map item and weapon drops, I suppose.

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Rejoice! We can now watch all of Game of Thrones on our Xbox Ones. Provided you have an HBO Go subscription and a

n Xbox Live account, of course. But this is still awesome news, and something I’ve personally been waiting on.

The Xbox team announced the news today, including a host of other awesome entertainment apps like Crunchyroll (!) that will all be available by the end of the holiday season this year.

Here’s the full list of all 45 apps, including what console and what countries they’re coming to:

• Antena 3. Xbox One: ES
• ChiliTV. Xbox One: IT
• Comedy Central. Xbox One: US
• Crunchyroll. Xbox One: AU, AT, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, IE, IT, MX, NZ, UK, US2
• ENCORE Play. Xbox One: US
• EPIX. Xbox One: US
• Filmbox Live. Xbox 360: AR, AU, AT, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DK, FI, FR, DE, GR, HK, HU, IN, IE, IL, IT, JP, MX, NL, NZ, NO, PL, PT, RU, SA, SG, SK, ZA, KR, ES, SE, CH, TW, TR, AE, UK, US
• Fox Play. Xbox One: MX, BR. Xbox 360: MX, BR, AR, CO, CH
• Frightflix. Xbox One: US
• FXNOW. Xbox 360: US
• Gol TV. Xbox One: ES
• GoPro. Xbox One: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, AU, BR, AT, NZ, IR
• HBO GO. Xbox One: US: Xbox 360: MX, BR, AR, CO, CH3
• iHeartRadio. Xbox One: US
• Infinity. Xbox One: IT
• IVI. Xbox 360: RU
• KDrama. Xbox One: AU, AT, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, IE, IT, MX, NZ, UK, US. Xbox 360: AR, AU, AT, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DK, FI, FR, DE, GR, HK, HU, IN, IE, IL, IT, MX, NL, NZ, NO, PL, PT, RU, SA, SG, SK, ZA, ES, SE, CH, TW, TR, AE, UK, US
• maxdome. Xbox One: AT, DE
• MLG. Xbox One: US, UK, CA, AU
• MOVIEPLEX Play. Xbox One: US
• MTV. Xbox One: US
• NBA. Xbox One: AT, AU, BR, CA, FR, DE, IE, IT, MX, ES, NZ, UK, US
• NHL. Xbox One: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, AU, BR, AT, NZ, IR. Xbox 360: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, JP, AU, BR, NL, SE, RU, TW, PL, IN, HK, TR, BE, AT, NZ, SA, AR, NO, CH, SG, ZA, IR, DK, CO, CL, FI, CZ, HU, IL, GR, PT, SK
• Now TV. Xbox One: UK
• Picturebox. Xbox 360: UK
• Popcornflix. Xbox One: US
• ShowTime Anytime. Xbox 360: US
• Sky News. Xbox One: UK, IE, US, CA. Xbox 360: UK, IE, US, CA
• Sky Online. Xbox One: IT
• STARZ Play. Xbox One: US
• STV. Xbox 360: UK
• Syfy Now. Xbox One: US
• Target Ticket. Xbox One: US
• TuneIn. Xbox One: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, AU, BR, AT, NZ, IR
• TV2. Xbox 360: DK
• Twitter. Xbox One: US
• USA Now. Xbox One: US
• VEO. Xbox One: MX. Xbox 360: MX
• Vevo. Xbox One: CA, US, AU, FR, DE, IR, BR,ES, IT, UK, NZ
• VH1. Xbox One: US
• Vine. Xbox One: US
• WATCH ABC. Xbox 360: US
• WATCH Disney Channel. Xbox 360: US
• WATCH Disney Junior. Xbox 360: US
• WATCH Disney XD. Xbox 360: US
• Watchever. Xbox One: DE

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In the interests of full disclosure, imagine that I’m a TV anchorman screaming a news report from the middle of a raging hurricane. The news report is about Mortal Kombat X, which has just been announced for 2015 release, and the hurricane is Aoife’s reaction. I’m sure she’ll be able to tell you more, once she’s stopped throwing chairs at me from the top of that filing cabinet.

The game’s first trailer is below. Is it too early in the day for a wee Mortal Kombat-themed drinking game? Of course it isn’t. Here’s a suggestion: down a shot every time a bone is broken, or somebody gets stabbed/mutilated. You should be far too sozzled by the end to enquire about supporting platforms, which have yet to be confirmed. [Update: it’s coming to PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.]

“Fuelled by next-gen technology, Mortal Kombat X combines unparalleled, cinematic presentation with dynamic gameplay to create an unprecedented Kombat experience,” reads the blurb. As CVG notes, there’s plenty of environment interaction in the trailer. A hint, perhaps?

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The next Xbox One update will add support for external hard drives, a real name option for Gamertags and a new hub section for Xbox Gold offers, Microsoft has announced. It’ll be available in June.

You can also expect an automatic sign-in feature for your preferred Xbox account, OneGuide access for more regions, and expanded SmartGlass features. Find a trailer and full breakdown below, care of Major Nelson. Having trouble with downloads on your console? Consider our guides to speeding up game installation and troubleshooting Xbox One updates.

 

Real names and external storage support are just the beginning for June. With this update, Xbox Live is being improved in a number of ways as we announced last week. You will also be able to take advantage of great new SmartGlass features, including OneGuide and Universal Remote Control, select an account for automatic sign-in, and for Xbox One owners in Canada and Europe, get access to OneGuide and more TV, SmartGlass and voice features.

Easily Increase Games Capacity with External Storage Support
It couldn’t be easier to increase your storage capacity of games and apps with the external storage support features we’re bringing in June. Your Xbox One system will soon support up to two external hard drives at once. Simply plug in your 256 GB or larger USB 3.0 external hard drive and once formatted, copy and move games, apps and game add-ons to increase your storage capacity at home.

This is also a great way to take your content to a friend’s house and get straight into a game directly from an external drive. You’ll need to sign in to Xbox Live if you’ve purchased your content digitally or insert a disc to verify your game ownership when you take your content on the road. The great benefit here is there’s no need to wait to re-download your game and all the DLC. With external storage support in June, you can also choose to copy full games and all of the associated content in one easy step.

Real Names Makes it Easier to Identify Friends
With Xbox One you can have 1,000 friends and infinite followers, but as these lists grow it can become increasingly more difficult to remember the people you know by their gamertag alone. Now with real names feature you can recognize people on your friends list and more easily discover people you already know who are on Xbox Live.

Most importantly, we heard your feedback that to make this most useful you need full control. You’ll be able to share with all your friends, a subset of your choosing, friends of friends or none at all. The choice is yours. Also, your name doesn’t show up in games, and you can change your settings any time from your profile and when adding new friends.

SmartGlass Provides Access to full OneGuide and Universal Remote Control, Pin Reordering and More
We’ve made a ton of changes to your SmartGlass app for Xbox One. After getting great feedback from our SmartGlass beta, we’re thrilled to be bringing the entire OneGuide experience and Universal Remote Control to SmartGlass. Now in supported markets you can view all of your TV listings on your SmartGlass device and set and view your favorite channels and app channels on your smart phone, tablet or PC. With the Universal Remote Control, you can also easily switch channels, set new recordings and select and control recorded content from your DVR. Another great companion feature now in SmartGlass is pin reordering. With the touch of your finger you can easily organize your pins in categories or favorites based on your preferences and have those changes refresh to your console.

Other improvements to SmartGlass will help you stay current on what you and your friends are up to, even when you’re away from your console. We’re bringing hero stats and activity feed front and center, and adding more ways for you to compare achievements via SmartGlass whether you’re on a friend’s profile or viewing a game from the activity feed. Just like on the console, you can choose to get notifications on your smart phone, PC or tablet when a favorite friend signs into their console or starts broadcasting a game. For many devices, you can even choose to start watching the broadcast wherever you are.

Expanded TV and OneGuide Soon Available in More Markets
The TV and OneGuide features we began sharing with select Xbox Live members in April will be available in June to everyone in Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. The update will bring OneGuide, alongside Favorites and App Channels, for people in these markets who have their TV connected to Xbox One via HDMI-in. Additional features in these markets include Kinect voice commands for controlling your set-top box and other AV equipment. We’ve also updated TV and OneGuide settings to provide better power management and control of your devices and improved compatibility with more devices.

New Gold Membership Benefits, Access to Apps for All and More
With this update, you’ll find a new hub in Xbox One for exploring all of the great benefits available to Xbox Live Gold members, including Games with Gold and Deals with Gold. Also, with the Xbox Live Gold changes announced last week, shortly after the Xbox One system update becomes available in June all Xbox Live members will be able to access popular gaming and entertainment apps without a Gold membership.

Finally, we’ve made it possible for you to choose an account for automatic sign-in on your Xbox One – another much-requested feature from fans like you.

 

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Nazis are a classic short-cut. Put a Nazi in your game, and you’ve got a reason to shoot things without curling up into a morally conflicted ball and questioning whether you’re a good person. So quite why MachineGames has gone to such extraordinary lengths to make this Wolfenstein revival something bigger, more thoughtful and, well, touching than that, is anyone’s guess. Perhaps it cares about what it does.

The story begins during a familiar World War II. The skies are filled with bombers, and a movement tutorial takes place against a backdrop of explosions, unlikely stunts and profound bruising of the torso. And from the outset, it’s obvious that Wolfenstein’s scriptwriters are not just competent – they’re actually really good. I felt more for my squad of multicultural heroes in the opening 90 minutes than I managed for Lara Croft’s crewmates over the course of the whole game. It’s so good you won’t even care that a man coming around from a 14-year vegetative state can run around. We forgave Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, we can forgive a man who’s virtually a cartoon.

Speaking of which, Blazkowicz steals Lara Croft’s tiara as videogames’ ‘most battered hero’. The sheer number of blunt impacts and vivid lacerations he tolerates would test the regenerating health of the most resilient protagonist. There are times when this feels a little needless. But you don’t come to Wolfenstein expecting moderation – and seeing your iconic megadude suffer gives you a little connection, in a way that Duke Nukem never managed.

Besides, The New Order is willing to address some problematic themes, and ducks predictable tropes in a way that’s clever and gratifying. A conversation with a fellow guitar-playing resistance member briefly demolishes the good versus evil rhetoric that Nazi-themed videogames like to indulge in. The good guys don’t have a spotless track record with human rights, he points out, in language powerful enough to make you raise an eyebrow. A scene where Blazkowicz picks up a guitar, against all odds, isn’t excruciating. And praise be! The women in this story have their own tales of challenge and empowerment, and tease you with obvious plot developments that never come. It’s nothing short of great.

And yet, this is still a game where you dual-wield guns, and roam through levels like a wandering cloud of muzzle flare. The weapons all handle brilliantly, and the framerate is as smooth as you’d expect from the id Tech engine. If you played RAGE, you’ll recall what a buttery dream that was; Wolfenstein is the same, with better close-up textures. It doesn’t score so highly in the enemy AI department, but then RAGE was truly exceptional there, and Wolfenstein is only ‘very good’. Enemies run, reposition, and keep you guessing. And just enough of them stand cheerfully out of cover to give you a chance to blast them. It feels less like bad AI, and more like deliberately giving you something to shoot.

Wyatt, were you thinking?

A decision made in the first chapter will subtly change your game throughout. No plot spoilers here, but every chapter has two versions across two timelines, unlocked separately. It’s a cheeky trick, really – your decision affects which exploration skill you learn. One way, you learn to pick locks, in a mini-game that’s short and pleasantly annoying. The other path teaches you to hotwire certain panels. So to get 100% you’ll have to play through twice. Cutscenes will also be changed to reflect your decision. It’s a good reason to replay, perhaps on a more difficult setting.