Features

Finger-Slinging Good

First- and third-person shooters are usually the bane of handhelds due to their finger-ruining controls. But with its spangly twin sticks (a first for a handheld), the PS Vita can laugh in the face of any console-loving shooter snobs. Need proof? Enter the third-person, gun-toting Unit 13...

Featuring the titular group (made up of beefcake soldiers), you're charged with ploughing through bad guys across 36 standalone scenarios. Choose from six characters including a stealth specialist, a marksman specialist and a "I'm gonna kick in the door and kill everything" specialist; all we know is that the latter looks like a cross between Solid Snake and a hobo with a shotgun.

The game comes packing a host of PS Vita-exploiting technologies including the use of those gorgeous twin sticks, touch screen options that let you bring up rifle scopes, defuse mines and select items in your inventory (yes, at last, you can get your hands, well, fingers on an M16 assault rifle for 'real'!).

Strength In Numbers

Most importantly though, Sony is boasting about it being a "socially connected shooter" (altohugh we think shooting folk in the face is a tad anti-social...). What such impressive hyberbole actually means though is that you can play online multiplayer, compare your score on a particular mission with other wannabe-commandos, and even play co-op, allowing you to chest-bump your way through all the missions with a fellow PS Vita-wielding chum.

As is becoming a common trait with the new PS Vita, the graphics are typically impressive, offering slick frame rates and sharp visuals to enjoy on your crusade to liberate the free world from tyranny. So for those cynics of hardcore gaming on handhelds, boot up Unit 13 and show them just why the PlayStation Vita can hold its own against the big boys of the gaming world.