provided abundant soul rewards for assisting other Runescape players in defeating a boss, and there was no shortage of opportunity to assist or to be assisted. The end result was a Runescape player experience that heavily favoured cooperation, taking away the risk/reward aspect of Runescape player in Dark Souls, and the sense of isolation and loneliness. The reward of cooperative play also creates an unintentional domino effect; bosses are so numerous and award so much experience that the sense of achievement upon acquiring a large amount of souls and the tension of carrying such a bounty is entirely removed, and tackling these bosses with a group also removes any difficulty from the encounter. Runescape players are able to easily http://www.rsgaming.com  level up and gain power through assisting others, without learning how to effectively play by themselves, further exacerbating the difficultly spike issues.Another misstep is the availability of unlimited access to healing items; the inclusion of cheap life gems from an early game merchant removed almost all tension from the exploration experience. I was ashamed to admit to fellow undead I had formed a mild addiction to popping life gems like tic-tacs upon receiving even the slightest wound. Furthermore, on the topic of exploration, although initially intrigued by its sprawling nature, I eventually came to the realisation that the world of Dark Souls 2 was far less connected and interwoven than its predecessor. There are no hidden paths or ladders to kick down that link separate areas here, no sudden realisation that the zone you are exploring is part of an interconnected whole. It leads to a far more linear world than one would first realise.My intention here is not to dissuade you from experiencing Dark Souls 2. It’s a good game, just not the great game its predecessor was. Not all of my journey was as bad as I portray it above, in particular I found enemies to be far more devilish and aggressive in their attempts to violently disembowel me. I would recommend Dark Souls to anyone, with the caveat they know what they are getting themselves into. Dark Souls 2, on the other hand, is for the diehard enthusiast of the franchise only. Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself as weary from the whole ordeal as I was and upon completion just want to warm your bones by a fire. Since British retailer Game accidentally leaked news of the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight, the latest installation in Warner Brothers Interactive’s critically acclaimed Arkham series, the news has come thick and fast – instead of disappearing into the shadows, while we’re all left wondering what exactly it is we just saw. How very un-Batman like. The latest issue of Game Informer went live on their website within a day of the leak, Gotham’s protector in all his monochrome glory dominating the cover. This proof of life came with an accompanying array of news from the developers.