007 Legends is a videogame celebration of the James Bond film franchise’s 50th anniversary, featuring five classic Bond movie-inspired missions along with a downloadable mission based on the next Bond film, Skyfall.

Skyfall is an integral part of 007 Legends story, the action from the film bookends the other missions and we’ve built the overarching narrative of the game around a pivotal event that occurs early on in the film. EON Productions, the production company who produce the James Bond films, have been fantastic partners to work with, granting us exclusive behind-the-scenes access to many of the film’s stunts and action sequences, allowing us to recreate those breathtaking moments you’ll see on the big screen within the game as fully interactive segments within the game. During the Skyfall mission, we visit two striking locations that have been faithfully recreated from the film, as well as some fantastic acting talent including Daniel Craig as Bond that will appear on the big screen when the film is released on November 9th, 2012.

As a special PlayStation Network exclusive, two of the main characters featured in the film Skyfall, — MI6 field agent Eve (played by the actress Naomie Harris) and the assassin Patrice (Ola Rapace) — are available as multiplayer characters, each with their own special features and abilities. To re-create these two characters we were given special access to the wardrobe and armory departments of the film and took high-resolution digital scans of the actor’s likenesses to ensure that what you see in the game is as close to their real-life appearance as possible.

The films that make up the other six missions featured in 007 Legends are Goldfinger (1964), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Moonraker (1979), Licence to Kill (1989), Die Another Day (2002) and Skyfall (2012). If you’re a keen Bond fan, you’ll have noticed a pattern to the movies that we’ve adapted for 007 Legends – one movie from each of the six actors who’ve played Bond over the last 50 years. This was a way for us to pay homage to not only the original actors, but also to all of the other cast and crew who’ve been involved with the various eras of Bond over the last fifty years.

Each movie-inspired mission features multiple levels and you’ll experience moments as diverse as fast paced skiing, gadget laden car chases, daring helicopter assaults, space shuttle launches and combat in zero gravity. Alongside high intensity first-person action, 007 Legends also allows the player to really submerge themselves into the world of James Bond. A range of user upgradable gadgets are available, offering you the choice in how you achieve your objectives; do you go in guns blazing or use the radar in your wristwatch to plan a route past the guards, then use your distraction and tranquilizer darts to take down the opposition without raising the alarm?

Alongside the rich single-player campaign, 007 Legends provides a great selection of multiplayer content and game modes, including the classic four-player split-screen game mode. There is also another single-player game mode with an online leader-board component, MI6-Ops. In this mode, you’ll have missions for Bond, as well as some of the other story characters from the game, with the setup for these missions inspired by events from the main story. Now you get to experience the action through another pair of eyes and, in some cases, through the eyes of the villains.

When designing the game, we wanted each mission to have its own unique flavor and feel. 007 Legends will take you on an adventure that spans the globe, and then up into space. From palaces made of ice to the underground vaults of Fort Knox, the hustle and bustle of a market in Istanbul to the snow-capped peaks of the Alps and the dry arid ruins of an ancient Mexican native settlement.

Throughout the development of 007 Legends, we worked very closely with EON Productions and screenwriter Bruce Feirstein to re-imagine these classic stories that we all know and love. The task of bringing 007 Legends to life fell upon the shoulders of a highly talented cast of over 60 actors, who provided the voices, performances and likenesses of the characters in the game. A number of stars have reprised their roles from the original films – Michael Lonsdale, Carey Lowell, Richard Kiel, and Toby Stephens.

As a lifelong Bond fan, developing 007 Legends has been a fantastic experience, we’ve had a hugely talented and passionate team of developers at Eurocom dedicated to the title. We, along with our partners at Activision and EON Productions, hope you enjoy the unique experience that is James Bond in 007 Legends.

Dishonored is a complex, nuanced game that empowers players to make important decisions — not the least of which is who lives and who dies. To ease the learning curve, I’ve put together some helpful (and spoiler-free!) tips to get you sneaking smoothly on day one. If you picked up a copy of the game, share your own strategies in the comments below.

1. Playing lethal is easier, but nonlethal is more fun. One of Dishonored’s fundamental charms is that a properly motivated player can progress through the entire game without killing a soul. The nonlethal route requires patience and sacrifice, and as such you’ll rely on running, hiding, and stealthy strangulations punctuated by the occasional Sleeping Dart. But it’s also immensely rewarding, giving the game a supercharged nervous tension as you stalk your prey, then Blink in from behind to deliver a sleeper hold using R2.

Of course, slashing off heads and slitting throats is all in good fun too, and it may be an easier approach for beginners. Because your death count has an effect on Dishonored’s storyline and even some of the enemy types you’ll encounter, it pays to make a choice early on and try to stick to it.

2. Max out Blink and Dark Vision right away. Whether you employ lethal or nonlethal tactics, these two skills are flat-out indispensible. Blink is a short-ranged instantaneous teleport that’s useful for both navigation and offense. Spend extra Runes and you’ll upgrade your teleporting range. Dark Vision is also a go-to, and enables you to peer through walls to see patrolling guards and other lurking threats. Upgrade Dark Vision to highlight any nearby loot or traps, too.

3. Shadows won’t save you. Most stealth games task you with using darkness to cover your movements. But Dishonored puts the emphasis on line of sight — that means you’ll want to keep objects and structures in between yourself and enemies as much as possible, peeking out using the Triangle button. Shadows still help conceal you, but only to distant enemies.

4. Upgrade your Bone Charms early. With the help of a gruesome device called the Heart, you’ll be able to see hidden Runes and Bone Charms that are stashed amongst Dunwall’s many nooks and crannies. Bone Charms bestow passive bonuses such as more health, extra mana from potions, and faster nonlethal takedowns; Runes go towards new skills and skill upgrades.

By default, you’re limited to equipping three Bone Charms at a time. But spend a few Runes and you can raise that limit to six Bone Charms, a price absolutely worth paying as soon as you can afford it.

5. Sleeping Darts are the best weapon in the game. These little beauties are worth your attention whether you’ve chosen lethal or nonlethal tactics. Sleeping Darts are cheap, quiet, and knock out most enemies with just one hit. In fact, their only shortcoming is the fact that you can carry just 10 at a time. Use them wisely!

6. Use grenades as pest control. Dishonored’s grenades pack a punch, but they’re best saved for close encounters with ravenous rat packs — one well-placed explosive will smear the whole lot of them, saving you a lot of frantic leaping and shrieking. Grenades are also handy against river krusts, the acid-spewing barnacle-like creatures you’ll sometimes find breeding underneath docks and near sewer drains.

7. Fight only when you must. That towering Tallboy makes for a tempting target, right? Though you could probably pop an oil tank with a well-placed Incendiary Arrow, it’s safer and smarter to avoid conflict, using stealth to bypass it or the Possess spell to temporarily assume command. Weepers are another major nuisance, especially later in the game — your best bet is to run and hope they lose interest!

It’s officially October, and we have a great new promotion for you to get the most out of your PlayStation gaming experience this month. If you spend $100 or more on the PlayStation Store in October, we’ll give you a $20 credit to your wallet to spend in November! This is a store-wide promotion, so anything you purchase using your wallet will count towards the $100 total. One caveat: the credit back is limited to the first $100 you spend.

With great new programs like PSN Day 1 Digital, offering day-and-date digital PS3 games on the same day they hit retail, there are plenty of ways to participate in the “Buy $100, Get $20” promotion. As a reminder, PlayStation Plus members receive an additional 10% discount on a number of titles in the line-up when they pre-order. Additionally, if you’ve already pre-ordered one of the awesome titles in the PSN Day 1 Digital program, the money you’ve spent on those will count toward your $100 for October. Not bad, eh?

Since the promotion includes anything purchased with your wallet on the PlayStation Store, there are many ways to put purchases towards receiving a $20 credit. You can grab a PlayStation Plus 1-year subscription, or sign up for DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket. You can even hop into the video store and catch up on any new releases you may have missed!

With the month of October so packed with scorching-hot game releases, you’ll definitely want to look out for titles like Resident Evil 6, Dishonored, Assassin’s Creed III, The Walking Dead: Episode 4, Assassin’s Creed: Liberation, Street Fighter x Tekken on PS Vita and plenty of others.

Here’s to the start of a great month of gaming on PlayStation Network. Let us know in the comments what you’ll be downloading on PSN in October to count towards a $20 credit. Game on!

Click here for more info, and to pre-order PSN Day 1 Digital titles

The month of October is an exciting one for PS3 gamers, with a plethora of AAA titles hitting store shelves over the next four weeks. I’m excited to announce today that eight of the hottest upcoming titles will be available on PlayStation Network the same day they hit retailers through a new program called PSN Day 1 Digital!

To celebrate the launch of this new program, we’re giving you access to participate in “digital game launches,” so you can get your hands on great games releasing in October, without having to leave home. We’re also giving you the chance to pre-order select games ahead of their release date and offering 10% discounts on a number of titles for PlayStation Plus members.

This new program aims to bring you the best PS3 titles digitally through PlayStation Network. Throughout the month of October, we will be offering the following titles for download on day 1:

* Available for pre-order
+ 10% discount for PS Plus members during first week of availability

We have more exciting info on all these titles to tell you about in the coming weeks, so be sure to check the PlayStation.Blog each week for in-depth posts on these games. And let us know in the comments which Day 1 Digital titles you’ll be downloading on release day!