Tomb Raider is hardly the most taxing game we've ever played, indeed there are moments when we rather hungered for some of the fiendish puzzling of earlier games. However, there are still a handful of tips and tricks to keep in mind when scrambling about Yamatai.

Remember, you can check out our Tomb Raider review here.

1. Skills For Salvage

Though it might be tempting to plump for as many combat skills as possible when boosting Lara's capabilities at campfires, if you drop a skill point for Survivalist to begin with, you'll up the amount of XP you earn from looting animal corpses and food caches. Follow that up with Advanced Salvaging and Bone Collector, and you'll be earning XP and Salvage at a much faster rate, allowing for quicker accumulation of precious skill and salvage points.

The YLOD. The Yellow Light of Death. This is the dreaded sickness that PlayStation 3 owners fear. With my PS3 nearing its sixth birthday, it finally happened to me. While hardly as prevalent as the Red Ring of Death in the Xbox 360’s early days, the flashing yellow light is still cautiously feared amongst the PS3 community.

In order to cope with this grim occurrence I’ve incorporated the experience into my regular feature, The Sunday Seven. This isn’t a guide on how to fix the problem yourself, no, no, that’s a different fire hazard for a different day and for someone else to tell. This is what was running through my mind as I tried to come to terms with it and ultimately how to bring it back to life.

Hopefully, this won’t happen to you. So use this as a cautionary tale, an amusing anecdote by someone clearly a bit too much attached to a console or as a comparable accompaniment to your own past woes. Let’s face it; this is probably some form of karmic retribution any smugness of having a PS3 when everyone’s 360s were melting.

Sony’s PS4 reveal event this week gave us lots to look forwards to and get excited for over the coming months. Unlike Nintendo, they revealed the system specs straight away, which in the long run could be a big boost in gaining support from third-party developers at an early stage -the same area that is killing the Wii U right now.

We were always going to have questions left unanswered by the event though. Some for obvious reasons, like Sony themselves not even knowing yet, others a little less clear. We’ll be tapping Uncle Sony on the shoulder for info and leaning heavily on known squealers until launch day, so keep an eye on our news section for all the updates. For now, here’s what I thought were the seven most important items missing from the meeting.

Maybe it’s seeing Stallone and Arnie back in the cinemas recently that has me feeling nostalgic and hankering for the good old days. I even had a good root through some of my older games that I’d packed into the attic. Or perhaps I can’t blame it on the return of the aging action stars, it’s more likely to be the amount of kickstarter campaigns for retro game reboots, studio closures, stagnating sequels and brand retirements that made me think about what games from years gone by could lift gaming out of this over-familiar slump in which it finds itself.

Onimusha

Seriously, how bloody awesome was Onimusha!? The Feudal Japan based hack ‘em up titles were one of the most respected series on the PS2. The third game even managed to have a storyline that involved modern day Paris and still be brilliant, in no small thanks to a chain-blade wielding John Reno.

It may have relied on many pre-rendered backgrounds, but they were frequently jaw-droppingly gorgeous on the PS2, just imagine what they could do with today’s or even the next-gen’s technical grunt. Capcom have flogged the Resi series to an embarrassing death and there’s only so much they can do with Street Fighter.

A lack of enthusiasm for the setting can’t be blamed for the series’ disappearance. Just think how many Dynasty Warriors games have been released this generation. Actually, don’t, it’ll make you sad. Well Capcom, if you’re not going to bother with this, at least think about bringing back Okami or Dino Crisis.

This week saw the sad end of an era as THQ’s assets were finally sold off at auction. While many of the licenses, franchises and development teams found new homes, there were a few that are still holding out hope for a lifeline. Check out Jon’s roundup of who has gone where in his feature article.

Amongst all the misery, there have been numerous reminders of some of the great times THQ games have provided over the years. So here’s my tribute to some of the best games I’ve played from THQ over the years on this generation of consoles.

Scouring through patents, blueprints, rumours and ‘twitter leaks’ (aka bollocks) has put us on a seemingly endless chase in recent months for information about what we’re getting from the next-generation of consoles. With the Wii U sitting uncomfortably between two generations, Sony’s task of judging where to go next with their controller in an unenviable one. Do they once again add minor tweaks to the DualShock, an iconic controller that’s dutifully served them and millions of gamers for over a decade, or move forwards to keep up with what may turn out to be the popular trend in years to come?

There were undoubtedly some tough choices made at the drawing board, or perhaps nothing is set in stone yet, the rumours of a March reveal simply digital whispers and Sony will be gluing together a prototype minutes before this year’s E3 presentation. Fingers crossed they don’t try anything like that ridiculous bananarang redesign that they tried for the PS3.

Motion-control mania seems to have come and gone. Does the controller still even need SixAxis tech? Seeing as only Heavy Rain made decent use of it on PS3, it doesn’t look like developers lost enthusiasm for it early on. PlayStation Move may continue to be supported, but Sony may well cut their losses, as it’s hardly been a big success despite being technically impressive.

So, after staring at my beloved DualShock 3 controllers for an unnatural amount of time and digesting some internet rumours I’ve opted for these seven steps that I think could be useful to rebuild the controller for the PlayStation 4.

Seeing as the apocalypse couldn’t quite be arsed turning up, it looks like we better shape up and carry on with the tradition of making up New Year’s Resolutions that we have no intention of keeping. Or maybe not. While eating five fruit and veg a day and swearing less is a distant and obscene pipe dream, there’s plenty of room to improve our gaming time with some healthy steps to enjoying our favourite past-time to its maximum potential.

1. Finish More Games

Blame the Christmas schedule or our distraction for newer shinier things, but it’s high time we finished the games we started. Especially the ones we were enjoying! Shorter games like Black Ops II and Uncharted: Golden Abyss were probably finished by most. But longer efforts like Assassin’s creed III or Borderlands 2 are typical of the sort of titles that may get distractedly abandoned around the 60% mark. Finish these games before buying new ones and not only will you avoid having to restart because you’ve forgotten the controls and the story, your next game will probably be cheaper too.

Far Cry 3 is a hot contender for Game of the Year and should be on any FPS fan’s Christmas list. The postcard-perfect tropical location is fraught with danger though so you’ll want to take note of our handy survival guide before you pack those grenades, assault rifles and sun cream. These seven tips will make your life much easier and allow you to enjoy the game to its maximum potential. Feel free to add in your own tips in the comments section or anything cool you may have come across in the game.

We’re used to all the big games coming out in the months leading up to Christmas and this year is certainly no different. However, many of our most wanted titles slipped into the 2013. Many of them are coming out in the first quarter, essentially giving us Silly Season Part 2. We’re still trying to get this year’s line-up finished but next year looks set to be even busier. Hopefully, we’ll actually have something to play in the summer next year instead of everything bookending the release calendar.

7: Aliens: Colonial Marines

Gearbox have a patchy history, Borderlands 2 was great, but before that, they shat out Duke Nukem Forever. With all the delays we’re a little worried about the Aliens game, but it’s important to remember that the studio aren’t finishing off somebody else’s mess this time. The game is picking up straight after the events of the second film, taking place on the same planet and in the ship orbiting above. Essentially, it’s a proper sequel to Aliens. We’ve been eagerly ticking off our fanboy lists when devouring the trailers and playing early builds of the game. Pulse rifles, Alien queen, cargo loaders, auto-turrets, Bishop’s torso on the floor, it’s all here. Hopefully Gearbox won’t delay it anymore, not that another Randy ‘slightly enthusiastic’ Pitchford video wouldn’t be amusing.

The PlayStation 3 has just turned 6 in the USA, so what better time to give it The Sunday Seven treatment and put down a list of the Top 7 PS3 Exclusives. Frankly, in terms of the number of high-quality exclusives, the PS3 is a tough machine to beat. Looking through the long list of PS3-only releases, I instantly regretted setting myself a lowly target of seven instead of at least ten. It may be a while before I’ll be able to forgive myself for leaving some outside. I’ll be taking a look the top PSN exclusives in the near future too, so keep an eye and we’ll see if I have the guts to put Calling All Cars at the number 1 spot.

We’re sure most of you are planning on picking up Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on Tuesday. If you’re still on the fence though, we think you should take a look at our new Sunday Seven feature that gives you our Top Seven reasons to buy the game. Even if you already have your pre-order down, take a look and join in the excitement for the year’s biggest shooter. Don’t forget to sound off in the comments section with your own reasons for or against the game too.

1: New Setting

Last generation it was all about World War II, nowadays everything’s set in sandy Middle Eastern hellholes. Finally, after years of rumours we’re getting that futuristic Call of Duty game. Forget space and lasers though, instead the year is 2025. There’s a blend of familiar and futuristic styles everywhere, from buildings, vehicles and of course the weaponry. The story will have some links to the last game, you play as the son of Alex Mason for a start, but it seems to work as a standalone narrative too. Essentially, while America and China are squabbling over natural resources, some lunatic sneaks in and steals the keys to the America’s Skynet-esque automated army system, turning it against those it was built to protect.