Need For Speed: Most Wanted- Vita (Criterion)

Criterion decided not to outsource the development of Most Wanted's Vita version and a representative has said, "Well, we're super excited about the Vita; as you said, we're doing it in house and it's a direct port of the game, so everything is still the same, the visuals, the open-world, the events, so we're really excited about it coming out. Obviously we've got a dedicated team in house that are dealing with the Vita version but it's all the same codebase, so it's really easy for us to just port that across. There's 10 extra events for the Vita as well."

I can assure you that the promise of Most Wanted having the same visuals, open-world, etc., is correct. I was going to set a race to the GPS while I was traversing the open world but I kept getting distracted. I was flying down open roads in my Aston Martin, getting chased by police and trying to outrun them. I even sped through a speed camera of 60 miles, doing well over 200 miles.

I think Most Wanted is going to be a great racing game for Vita users because everything about it mirrors that of the console version. The handling of the cars is still awesome, the visuals look crisp and the open world is just as open. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up grabbing both copies of Most Wanted at launch, too.

Assassin's Creed: Liberation (Ubisoft)

In my time with Liberation I came across a small problem, I didn't actually remember how to play Assassin's Creed. I played Liberation before I played AC3 so I hadn't been shown the controls by anyone. Without letting that effect me, I jumped into one of the missions and was tasked with eliminating some guys. While in combat, I sort of worked out how to play. Combat felt just like Assassin's Creed combat feels (the last one I played was AC1) but was a bit more fluent. Although combat controls are simple, it takes timing to master them.

Apart from combat, I was amazed by the visuals I was seeing projected onto the Vita's screen. Although I had seen the trailer, I can't say I was expecting Liberation to look that good (mainly because it was on a smaller screen and I assumed the Vita is not as powerful as the PS3 and Xbox).

I'm proud to say AC: Liberation (Japan's title, Lady Liberty is a much better name) is looking like a great, hardcore Assassin's Creed game for a handheld. I think this is an example of what the Vita is capable of doing and the quality of games we will see on the handheld in the future. Some people are questioning the release of Liberation on the same day as AC3, but I know I'll be buying both and can't wait to see how Aveline's story ties in with Connor's.