Exclusive to PS3 Attitude, we bring you the monthly 'most wanted' PS3 charts at GameFlirt

GameFlirt are one of the UK's top games rental companies, and you won't find this information anywhere else - not even at the GameFlirt website.

Like the often seen Netflix charts for US movie titles, it's a great indicator of what's hot in the PS3 community.

Haze has taken over as the number one rental, pushing Assassin's Creed into second place, which is unsurprising following the wide range of scores the game received. The rest of the current rental chart remains the same, with Ridge Racer being pushed off the Top 5 by Haze's arrival.

Metal Gear Solid 4 remains the number one pre-rent title and both Race Driver: GRID and Top Spin 3 enter the chart to replace Haze and GTA: IV. GTA: IV only remained on the chart for one month and the game hasn't appeared in a current rental slot, which indicates that pretty much everyone decided to buy rather than rent.

Here are the charts in full.

Top 5 current rentals year-to-date:

1 - Haze
2 - Assassin's Creed
3 - Blacksite
4 - Unreal Tournament III
5 - Devil May Cry 4

Top 5 pre-ordered games for April:

1 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
2 - Mercenaries 2
3 - Race Driver: GRID
4 - Top Spin 3
5 - Monster Madness

Labels: Assassin's Creed, Devil May Cry, GameFlirt, Haze, MGS4, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Racedriver, UT III

This is certainly going to be one of the more interesting Big Three features we've done, simply because many of you will automatically be thinking 'but GTA: IV is out, why would I buy anything else?'.

And to an extent, you'd be right.

The GTA effect means that many publishers are not releasing titles in early May as there is really no point in competing with 'the big one'. But that doesn't mean May can't offer us three great titles to pick up or rent later in the month.

Here's the rundown on the Big Three for May. Remember, the Big Three is based on UK and European titles that will launch in May only...

1. Haze [pre-order] [pre-rent]

With a confirmed release date finally in our hands, it's time to revisit a former Big Three title. Yes, back when we thought Haze would hit the streets in time for Christmas, it was one of the games we thought you should spend your hard earned cash on.

Although a few months have passed by since then, our opinion hasn't changed. In fact, we're even more certain about this game then we were back in 2007. Why?

After being invited up to London to get a sneak preview of the co-op and multiplayer modes that Haze has to offer, we can tell you that the gameplay is sublime. The multiplayer mode is as good as any FPS we've been playing to death recently (CoD4, if you hadn't worked that out).

In terms of the single-player campaign, Haze is a game that dares to treat us like the adults we are, with political themes that resonate well against the current world climate despte being set in a sci-fi future.

We will have a lot more to say about Haze before it launches, but I promise you this is one game you definitely should pick up in May - in between GTA fixes, of course!

2. Race Driver: GRID [pre-order] [pre-rent]

When we got hands-on with this new racing game from Codemasters we must admit to having mixed reactions.

On the first hand, it is as good as any of the TOCA series that Codemasters did so well with on the PS2. The action is fast and furious, it looks fantastic (especially the race replays) and sounds wonderful. For an 'arcade racer', as opposed to the simulation tag GT5: Prologue enjoys, you really can't beat it.

On the other hand you may have noticed we're big fans of Burnout Paradise here at PS3 Attitude, and we can't help but think that everything Race Driver: GRID has to offer can also be had in Paradise City, only with more race-type variety, better crashes and ridiculous stunts.

There is no denying that Race Driver: GRID is a polished game that delivers more on the out-and-out racing scene than Burnout, and it certainly does a 100% better job than games such as the recent Need for Speed effort.

For me personally, this is more a 'rent' than a 'buy' title, but that's just because I'm still into Burnout in a big way. You may be less of a 'gimmick racing' fan and more an 'arcade racer' purist, in which case Race Driver: GRID is worthy of your attention.

3. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars [pre-order]

You didn't really think we'd put Top Spin 3 or Iron Man in the Big Three, did you? So that means that we only really had one choice left as May is certainly a sparse release month.

Does that mean Quake Wars doesn't deserve to be here? Certainly not.

Firstly, for those of you comparing it to Haze, here's a few statements:

Is it another FPS? Yes.
Is it another FPS that has asymmetric teams? Yes.
Is it another FPS that has asymmetric teams and various vehicles to control? Yes.

But it does have one thing that the other FPS in this month's Big Three hasn't, and that is the Quake universe.

The follow up to Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Quake Wars really acts as a prequel to Quake II and that alone will have series fans clamouring for the release of this game.

Already out on the PC since Autumn 2007, Quake Wars has done universally well in reviews. In our opinion, it doesn't play as well as Haze or have the interest level of that new IP, but Quake devotees will certainly enjoy the latest foray into the franchise that has sold over 4 million copies.

Labels: Big Three, Haze, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Quake, Racedriver

Wembley Stadium played host to the inaugural Play.com Live show today, with another day of the event coming tomorrow.

PS3 Attitude were there to cover the event and whilst there was a lack of items we felt needed 'live' updates, there were some highlights for PS3 fans.

The bottom floor of the event was almost exclusively Xbox 360 hardware. And yet there were still new builds of multi-platform products to be played. The latest Soul Calibur IV was there and looks very slick indeed.

Playing as one of three characters - Taki, Cassandra or Mitsurugi - it is exactly what you would expect from a Soul Calibur title. Only this time the graphics have taken a real ramp up since the PS2 incarnation. Everything looks pixel perfect.

Rainbox Six Vegas 2 was also present and was another title that seemed to deliver exactly what was expected of it. A straight sequel, and whilst that's not a bad thing it also doesn't appear on the surface to bring anything new to the franchise.

Moving upstairs marked the shift from white to black as everything became PS3-oriented. Immediately to the right was the Rock Band setup from EA. With still no release date for the UK, I was surprised at the skill of some of the players, the best of which were chosen to battle on the music stage later in the day for a complete Rock Band kit each.

Sony's stand was very well put together with some impressive 'pods' set up for GT5: Prologue. Around the driving area Sony had a number of screens showing videos from LittleBigPlanet and God of War: Chains of Olympus for PSP. In addition, they had playable demos of Time Crisis 4 and the new Buzz! game.

We covered Time Crisis 4's FPS functionality earlier today. In the standard game mode it doesn't offer anything new, but the new GunCon 3 is a remarkable piece of equipment that we expect will be made use of in the future to much better effect.

Buzz! now comes with wireless controllers, although your old wired ones will do just fine. The game has taken a real step up graphically as you'd expect, but the new game modes are a lot more fun and I can see this version being a massive hit for families. I played against three other players (and won with 5,000 points - woo hoo!) and it really helped me to forget just how much my feet were hurting!

The latest build of Haze was also available to play upstairs and although it doesn't look like it has graphically moved on from the build of Haze we played at GameCity, it's still as exciting to us as before. In the deluge of FPS titles available for the PS3, I can see Haze being one of those that raises its head above the rest. The responses I got from other players seemed to suggest they thought so too.

Capcom showed the Street Fighter IV trailer and had Lost Planet set up to play, so I'm afraid we didn't spend much time with that.

On the third floor were a few third-party stands, such as the memory manufacturer SanDisk and Corgi, who had light sabres and other merchandise for sale. I was fortunate enough to meet my favourite ever Dr. Who - Tom Baker - who was being as effervescent as ever. On the next stand was Robert Llewellyn of Red Dwarf and Scrapheap Challenge fame who I shared a few comedy moments with.

The e-sports section of the show saw one lucky PES 2008 player walk away with £50,000 in cold, hard cash. The Soul Calibur IV competition had a Dodge car as the prize. Certainly Play.com seemed to have lined up some pretty decent prizes for their first show, and it's good to see e-sports becoming more serious and gaining better rewards.

The two outstanding moments for me were the actual gameplay video from Codemasters of Race Driver: GRID, and the demonstration from the guys who are making Far Cry 2.

Race Driver: GRID looks amazing, but it is the little things that make a difference. The environments you race in and the detail in the crowd and surroundings are superb, but also subtle. Unlike some racing games I've played, the crowd don't all move in unison as if they're connected by a metal rod, and they're not cardboard cut outs either. It's this subtlety that makes all the difference.

Far Cry 2 will be coming to the PS3, and it looks like a serious step up for FPS titles. The real selling point is the natural weather and enemy AI. Virtual wind blows the palm fronds (which are all destructible) and also allows you to set fires that blow towards your enemies, helping you gain cover and create a distraction. The world (which is 50Km in size!) gradually moves through a 24-hour cycle. If you spend long enough, you'll see the sun set. If you want to perform a mission at night, you can sleep for a while and tackle it in the dark.

We'll have more on Race Driver: GRID and Far Cry 2 in the near future.

So - on to Day Two. We'll cover anything that needs a quick update live from the show, but come back same time, same place tomorrow for a wrap-up.

Labels: Far Cry, GT5, Haze, news, PES, Play.com Live, Playstation 3, PS3, Racedriver, Soul Calibur, Time Crisis

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, Racedriver