With Ubisoft’s most recent title, Assassin’s Creed Unity, being a travesty at launch and a good example of the problems in modern day gaming, it’s surprising to learn that despite it’s myriad flaws, the game actually out performed it’s far superior predecessor, Assassin’s IV: Creed Black Flag.

Yet, while it beat out the impressive pirate themed Assassin’s Creed title in terms of sales, overall it was smashed aside by Activision’s seemingly unstoppable Call of Duty, with Advanced Warfare taking the top spot by a comfortable margin, leading Assassin’s Creed Unity by around 16,000 sold units.

Call of Duty may have been down on sales by a factor of 77%, but that was still more than enough to beat the wielders of the hidden blade who have, undeniably and factually, seen a decline in quality as the years go on. Assassin’s Creed Rogue only entered the charts at 6th place, putting it too below another popular first person shooter franchise, Halo, with the Master Chief Collection taking the third spot. Fourth and Fifth were held by Fifa 15 and Lego Batman 3.

Brainiac is one of the deadliest villains of the DC universe. Depending on what version of the DC-verse you are following, he was single handedly responsible for the destruction of Krypton, Superman’s home planet, and then for making his life hell for several years after that. Superman, I must remind you, is pretty much invincible, so that takes some serious skill.

Brainiac will also be in the upcoming Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. In what must be one of the most nerdgasmic plots for a video game about assembling tiny plastic bricks into the likenesses of popular comic book characters, the new trailer reveals Brainiac’s diabolical plan to shrink the Earth and take control of his enemies using the power of the Lantern Rings. Now, the super heroes of the DC Comics universe must join forces with the Legion of Doom on a journey across the Lantern Worlds to stop the nefarious evildoer from adding Earth to his twisted collection.

Yes, they are basically crossing over and going all out with the DC-verse stuff.

Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham launches on the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and PC this fall.

This is really getting out of hand now. I’m actually all for pre-order bonuses- it’s a nice way to drum up early sales and anticipation, and to reward those who are jumping headfirst into your game blind- but this kind of retailer exclusive pre-order bonus bullshit that has become the norm lately has to stop. Ubisoft did it to an absurd degree with Watch Dogs, which had nearly a dozen editions available on sale, and none with all the content. And now, it seems Warner Bros. wants a piece of that action too, as its upcoming, highly anticipated, Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham will have its pre-order bonuses split across six different retailers.

The split is as follows:

• Amazon: Lego Batgirl Keychain
• Best Buy: Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Digital Comic Book by Comixology
• GameStop: Lego Plastic Man Minifigure
• Target: Lego Batwing Miniset
• Toys “R” Us: Lego The Joker Keychain
• Wal-Mart: Lego Tumbler Miniset

Lego Batman 3 launches later this year for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Wii U, 3DS, DS (yes, the original DS), and PC.

Batman: Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight was one of the best games of E3 2014 and despite its delay into 2015, we’re looking forward to exploring the expanded Gotham City, annihilating foes (non-lethally of course) with the Batmobile and taking on the rogue’s gallery as the Dark Knight. Check out the latest screenshots of the game below.

LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

Another side of Batman will be seen later this year with LEGO Batman 3 as the Dark Knight travels to space to team up with the Justice League to fend off the threat of Braniac. There will be several selectable characters as usual and the signature humour of the franchise. Check out the trailer below.

Dying Light

Techland’s Dying Light may be more than just a simple free running survival horror game as we got our first look at the combat mechanics. Hopefully it won’t turn into another hack and slash fest, but even so, Dying Light is looking to be a stand-out release when it arrives in February 2015.