Push Rewind

As the match sticks stuffed beneath this sleepy editor’s eyelids testify, we post quite a lot of content on Push Square every week. However, with busy lives and backlogs to bust, it can sometimes be hard to keep on top of all of the key content that hits the site’s homepage. Fortunately, we’ve come up with a solution, and you’re reading it right now. From now until the end of time*, we intend to post a weekly recap of all of our top stories for your Sunday perusal pleasure. Selections will be based on page views, comments, and general impact, so do point your peepers around the rest of the publication for more. Here’s everything that you really need to know about for now, though.

The Last of Us: Left Behind

Reviews

The Last of Us: Left Behind - 9/10

With a standalone asking price of £11.99/$14.99, The Last of Us: Left Behind is an admittedly expensive proposition considering its slender running time. However, quality almost always trumps quantity, and Naughty Dog’s inaugural solo expansion packs plenty of the former into its two or so hour campaign. This is a touching, intelligent, and largely refreshing extension to the core escapade, and while it’s not exactly brimming with narrative revelations, it’s still a beautiful story that you shouldn’t let pass you by.

TxK - 8/10

It may be a cliché, but you should never judge a book by its cover. TxK may look like an ordinary, low-budget arcade shooter at a glance, but if you fly a little deeper into this intergalactic romp, you’ll find an addictive experience with some satisfying gameplay mechanics, mind-melting graphics, and electrifying audio. This title expertly fuses classic arcade staples with modern game design to provide a sleek gaming rush right in the palms of your hands.

Other Reviews

Evolve

Features

First Impressions: Turtle Rock Is Transforming Co-Op with Evolve on PS4

Boss battles are quite common in games. Usually equipped with a sequence of rules, they give you the opportunity to face a gargantuan challenge in search of closure or progression. So what happens when you open this ideology up and create a game that’s a constant non-scripted, unpredictable, and intense boss fight? Well, Turtle Rock – the Californian developer that's best known for maintaining the Counter Strike series and creating Left 4 Dead – has attempted to answer that question with its latest endeavour, Evolve.

Feature: Five PS3 Favourites That Deal with True Love

It’s that time of the year where we find ourselves bombarded with terrible Hugh Grant romantic comedies, overpriced chocolate shapes, and vomit-inducing teddy bears holding twee little love hearts. But just because it’s the ideal day to showcase your soppy side, that doesn’t mean that your games can’t join in on the festivities, too. With real relationships being a little more grounded than an overpriced gift card, though, we’ve compiled a list of PlayStation 3 titles that tackle love in a manner that isn’t all rainbows and roses. The big question is: which of these would you pick to be your Valentine?

Other Features

Borderlands 2

News

PS Vita Slim Ventures Stateside in Borderlands 2 Bundle

It may have received the most muted launch in console history here in Europe last week, but the PlayStation Vita Slim is shuffling overseas this Spring. The creatively dubbed PCH-2000 model will be available in North America for $199.99, and will launch as part of a Borderlands 2 bundle featuring the fairly recently revealed handheld port of the game.

January NPD: PS4 Reclaims Lead in Console War by Almost Doubling Sales of Xbox One

Stock shortages may have caused a setback in Sony’s assault on North America in December, but the PlayStation 4 has climbed right back to the top of the console tree in January. According to the Japanese giant, its freshest format was the best selling next-gen system in North America last month, with the burly black box almost doubling the tally of its nearest competitor, the Xbox One.

Whoa, There Are 100 Games Coming to PlayStation 4 in 2014

If you were thinking that, after a particularly taxing 2013, your wallet would be getting a break this year, then think again. At a recent press event in Santa Monica, Sony's vice president of marketing John Koller revealed that 2014 is going to be an action packed 12 months for the PlayStation 4. The big wig noted that a massive 100 games in total are coming to the burly black box, ranging from indie titles like The Witness, all the way up to blockbusters such as The Order: 1886. In other words, we probably don't need to worry ourselves over a potentially devastating software drought.

Weirdness: This PS4 Owner Managed to Get a 21 Year PS Plus Subscription for Free

You may recall that Sony has been offering 14 day free trials for subscription service PlayStation Plus to new PlayStation 4 owners as a means of demonstrating its value. Well, it seems that, as always, one devious fan has found a way to twist this act of goodwill for his own personal gain.

Rumour: Europe, You May Be Getting a Free Copy of Dead Nation for PS4

It seems that Resogun developer Housemarque has been busy porting its macabre isometric undead-'em-up Dead Nation to the PlayStation 4, as speculation suggests that the arcade shooter could be gunning its way into Europe's PlayStation Plus lineup for March. Despite not even being announced for Sony's next-gen super machine, the Finnish outfit has been hinting at something to do with the franchise for quite some time, so it's not exactly outside of the realm of possibility.

Other Noteworthy News

Video of the Week

Over in Japan, the PS4 Launch Is an Excuse for One Hell of a Party

There’s little over a week to go until the PlayStation 4 officially deploys in Japan, and that means that platform holder Sony is starting to put its launch marketing campaign into gear. Fresh from cruelly teasing Eastern gamers earlier in the year, this brand new commercial makes the next-gen console’s release look like an excuse for the best bash ever.

[ * Pending any outstanding circumstances, of course. ]