A lot of it is down to the fluid, refined controls and visceral sound direction – from the very first mission, you can get a real sense of the slower, rhythmic pace of this third-person tactical shooter. Whilst sneaking around, you are handed many opportunities to cap unsuspecting terrorist soldiers in the head. Each shot feels powerful, and every kill returns a satisfying ‘thud,’ making you feel a little bit like Superman every time.

In Future Soldier, America’s worst enemy has once again become the Russians. A para-military faction looks to overthrow the current Federation and re-establish the country as a superpower.

Where Ubisoft has really laid down some impressive work is in the artificial intelligence. Your squad mates are smart enough to know where to go, what to do and how best to assist you without the player issuing any commands whatsoever. Similarly, the enemy AI has been improved to the point where you will be fighting against formidable opponents. Without paying attention to the benefits of the future-age gadgets you wield and the nuances of the game’s mechanics, you’re going to fall pretty hard.

Picking up where the release of Max Payne 2 from series creator Remedy Entertainment left off, Max Payne 3 is a true cross-studio collaboration between Rockstar Games’ global development teams. The game utilizes cutting edge technology for a seamless, cinematic action experience, incorporating the latest advances in Natural Motion physics and a brand new iteration of Rockstar’s own Rockstar Advanced Game Engine. The result offers highly-refined gameplay, with an extensive range of realistic weaponry, an intelligent cover system and sophisticated Bullet-Time mechanics.
In addition to an expansive single-player campaign, Max Payne 3 will be the first title in the series to introduce an addictive multiplayer experience. Max Payne 3 promises to deliver a dark, gritty action experience that is sure to satisfy newcomers and fans to the historic franchise.

Picking up where the release of Max Payne 2 from series creator Remedy Entertainment left off, Max Payne 3 is a true cross-studio collaboration between Rockstar Games’ global development teams. The game utilizes cutting edge technology for a seamless, cinematic action experience, incorporating the latest advances in Natural Motion physics and a brand new iteration of Rockstar’s own Rockstar Advanced Game Engine. The result offers highly-refined gameplay, with an extensive range of realistic weaponry, an intelligent cover system and sophisticated Bullet-Time mechanics.
In addition to an expansive single-player campaign, Max Payne 3 will be the first title in the series to introduce an addictive multiplayer experience. Max Payne 3 promises to deliver a dark, gritty action experience that is sure to satisfy newcomers and fans to the historic franchise.

Physics will be a big part of the game. Examples include taking into consideration all three coordinates, and bullet drop caused by gravity, crosswinds, as well as muzzle velocity. One will have to aim accordingly to compensate for these factors.

• Firing at explosive components (such as grenades hanging on someone’s belt) to take out a group of enemies.
• An improved real-time, dynamic “Killcam” that explicitly portrays the bullet penetrating organs/skeleton.
• Improved ballistics.
• Players will be able to drag bodies and use them as bait to attract nearby enemies.
• Heart rate will be one of the factors to watch out for when aiming.

According to our man, who had the opportunity to get a first-hand demonstration of CoD: BlOps 2, this time around Treyarch will be using the game’s improved multiplayer engine for zombies, which means double the amount of shuffling corpses to sink your bullets into.

It’ll also be able to “handle a co-op tally double that of Black Ops 1′s”. Eight-player zombies mode? Sign us up. Although Treyarch is still being coy with the deets it has promised there will be some other fresh modes too.

Strong sales of Black Ops’ Rezurrection DLC pack has afforded the studio’s zombies team some freedom to move. “Treyarch have given their zombie team free reign to do pretty much whatever they want with the mode regardless of the direction the campaign is headed in.”

Product Description time (as taken directly from hifi-tower.co.uk. Click to view their full range of Home Theatre Speakers):

The Auna WLS-7 Sound Projector© is a wireless home theatre system with a 600W output and fantastic sleek design.

The Sound Projector© communicates wirelessly with the subwoofer over long distances and without signal loss over a 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum. No more need for cables!

One of the unit’s main advantages is its ability to connect with portable audio devices like MP3 and CD players. The front of the unit also has a jack input for compatible MP3 players or even computers, while the rear RCA inputs accept devices such as DVD and CD players.

Both the sound bar and the subwoofer have a white finish that will suit any décor or style. The Sound Projector© itself can be wall-mounted and looks especially impressive under wall-mounted LCD televisions. With a depth of only 5cm, the unit fits almost seamlessly to the wall (a suitable wall mount is available separately).

Operating the Auna WLS-7 is very user-friendly via either remote control or the console. The sound system’s space-saving design allows it to be smoothly integrated into your living space.

Included in the Auna WLS-7 speaker package are separate two units – the 2.1 sound projector and subwoofer. Both of the units come pre-fitted with two-pin power plugs, but included in the package were two x three pin power converters.

The sound projector features a sound bar type design (very sleek curved rectangular construction), and is an impressive looking bit of kit that sits at 87cm long x 10cm high and only 5cm deep on the measurement scale and weighs 2.3KGs. Sporting a high gloss white casing with strategically positioned silver strip edging, the WLS-7 sound projector was certainly designed to give maximum impact on first glance and was produced to fit in with almost any design decor.

A handy feature of the sound projector is the ability to wall mount it, the only downside to this is that the specially designed bracket is actually and additional addon and is currently sold as a separate accessory, personally i would have liked to see this included within the package as i think this would be a feature desired by many of the design conscience.

Situated on the front of the sound projector are 4 x satellite speakers that are covered/protected with metal grills and finished with a stylish silver edging. In the middle of the unit is the control panel. Sitting in the middle of the center functions buttons is a handy 3.5mm mini-jack auxiliary input, giving the user the ability to connect a variety of portable audio devices (such as MP3 players, CD players and even computers).

Front control panel functions include: The remote sensor, Standby/TV/AUX/PC indicators, Power/Standby button, Input selection button, and Volume Up/Down buttons.

Included with the WLS-7 speaker set is a remote control handset, i’ll be honest, this is the one part of the set that was a little bit disappointing from a design point of view. While the casing colour is somewhat matching (white with a black fascia), the unit as a whole does feel somewhat plasticy. I’m guessing it’s longevity will depend on how often it’s used – one has to ask, exactly how often would a person change/customize the audio output in a home cinema setting? The size of the remote control unit in comparison to the buttons available is also a little overkill – however i suppose the bigger the unit, the less chance of losing it in amongst all the other remote controls dotted around one’s home. The remote control settings available are: Power/Standby, Input (allowing the user to switch between TV and AUX/PC options), 3 selectable audio modes: Normal, Music, and Movie, Reset button (allowing user to reset all SW and speaker setting to factory defaults), Volume UP/Down, Bass UP/Down, and Treble UP/Down.

On the reverse of the sound projector is the power cord, ON/Off switch, AUX left and right ports (allowing the user to connect devices such as DVD and CD players), and TV left and right inputs.

The Subwoofer unit is designed to match the speaker projector and features the same white glossing casing/housing. One of the biggest selling features of the Auna WLS-7 for me is the wireless aspect. Unlike other speaker kits, the subwoofer can be positioned away from the sound bar/projector – less wires is a definite positive from a gamer/music/movie fan. The Sound Projector communicates wirelessly with the subwoofer over long distances and without signal loss over a 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum.

The subwoofer itself measures 32 x 16 x 24cm and weighs 2.7KGs. The WLS-7 subwoofer employs a side-firing design as opposed to a down-firing design – the difference between the two:

- Down-Firing Subwoofer: A down firing subwoofer means the sub emits the sound directly onto the floor surface below, increasing the vibrations and rumbles heard and felt particularly during movies.

- Side-Firing Subwoofer: Side or Front-firing subwoofers employ a speaker mounted so that it radiates the sound from the side or front of the subwoofer enclosure.

There is much debate on whether there are noticeable differences between the two woofer characteristics – i guess the real test will come when we switch the unit on and crank up the volume?. In addition, the WLS-7 features a Bass Reflex design:

A Bass reflex system (also known as a ported, vented box or reflex port) is a type of loudspeaker enclosure that uses the sound from the rear side of the diaphragm to increase the efficiency of the system at low frequencies as compared to a typical closed box loudspeaker or an infinite baffle mounting.
A reflex port is the distinctive feature of a very popular enclosure variety. The design approach enhances the reproduction of the lowest frequencies generated by the woofer. The port generally consists of one or more tubes mounted in the front (baffle) or rear face of the enclosure. Depending on the exact relationship between driver parameters, the enclosure volume (and filling if any), and the tube cross-section and length, the low frequency limit or efficiency can be substantially improved over the performance of a similarly sized sealed box enclosure.

Though helpful with extending bass performance, bass reflex cabinets can have poor transient response compared to sealed enclosures at frequencies near the lower limit of performance. Proper adjustment of the cabinet and port size, and matching with driver characteristics can reduce much of this problem.

Setup & Ease Of Use:

I know i always say this, but the Auna WLS-7 has got to be just one of the simplest speaker sets to set up – 2 power leads, 1 audio cable and about 5mins of your time is all that is required to be up and running and enjoying quality audio. Likewise and just like the setup – every setting/function/control is pretty much self explanatory – un-fussy and uncomplicated – a non-techies dream speaker/media system.

Sound Quality:

The Auna WLS-7 features several selectable audio output types along with a variable 2 band equalizer. This allows the consumer to be able to completely customize their audio output depending upon the audio type. For our tests we used the speaker in several everyday situations – hooked up to our 50″ plasma, we used the Auna WLS-7 for gaming, listening to music and watching a few of my all time favorite movies.

In gaming situations (using the Movie mode) the WLS-7 is spectacular – and offers specific sound highlighting exactly when it’s needed/required. Modern Warfare 3 in particular was where the WLS-7 excelled – all important footsteps were magnified, grenade and car explosions were emphasized. Higher volumes only intensified audio output resulting in a more pleasurable gaming experience.

Like gaming, in movies situations, where certain audio highlighting is needed in particular scenario’s and this is where the WLS-7 works perfectly – action packed movies such as Avatar and the Taking of Pelham 123 sounded magnificent and audio output was definitely enhanced. The lower frequencies were very clear offering up very deep, rich bass that was free of any distortion – even at higher volumes. Likewise the higher tones were crystal clear, sharp and ‘crackle’ free. Musical environments were equally as good, in particular the hard house and bass orientated RnB genres is where the WLS-7 held it’s own and didn’t disappoint.

Design & Construction:

The Auna WLS-7 certainly looks every bit the part with it’s glossy cabinet finish and silver edging. The sound bar type construction will certainly appeal to those looking for top end design for minimal outlay. The sound projector and subwoofer feel very solidly made, my only gripe with the system as a whole would have to be the included remote control. Colour wise it matched the rest of the system, design wise it didn’t compliment the rest of the system. This part of the construction felt like an after thought as opposed to an essential piece of the system equipment.

Summary:

The Auna WLS-7 is one of those systems that surprised me, the images via the hifi-tower website really don’t do this system justice – it’s quite simply a designers dream. The soundbar type design really give this system the ‘wow’ factor, combine this with great sounding audio and the target audience that will fall in love with this system really widens.

Price wise the Auna WLS-7 can be bought for £99 + shipping direct from hifi-tower – this makes the whole kit certainly affordable – why pay the earth when you can own a decent home cinema kit for less than a night out with the missus!!!!!.

Technical Details on Page 2

What happens after this is up to the player, as Silent Hill: Downpour reveals a new, expansive environment that is similarly claustrophobic and where the player is never truly alone.

Picking up where the release of Max Payne 2 from series creator Remedy Entertainment left off, Max Payne 3 is a true cross-studio collaboration between Rockstar Games’ global development teams. The game utilizes cutting edge technology for a seamless, cinematic action experience, incorporating the latest advances in Natural Motion physics and a brand new iteration of Rockstar’s own Rockstar Advanced Game Engine. The result offers highly-refined gameplay, with an extensive range of realistic weaponry, an intelligent cover system and sophisticated Bullet-Time mechanics.
In addition to an expansive single-player campaign, Max Payne 3 will be the first title in the series to introduce an addictive multiplayer experience. Max Payne 3 promises to deliver a dark, gritty action experience that is sure to satisfy newcomers and fans to the historic franchise.