As 2009 has now been officially recognised in Chinese astrology as the year of the beat ‘em up, Namco Bandai’s Tekken 6 is most likely the last entry of the year. It doesn’t have the status as the long-lost grand master as Street Fighter IV did, or as the hungry challenger as was the case with BlazBlue. No, Tekken has remained relatively mainstream, even throughout the more strained years of beat ‘em up popularity, and while it doesn’t push hardware sales in the way it did in the nineties, you’d be hard pushed to find a gamer that wasn’t familiar with King, Law and Paul Phoenix.

Given that arcades have all but died in the UK, this will be most gamers’ first contact with Tekken 6 so it’s only right to talk about what’s changed since the incredible PS2 conversion of Tekken 5. New characters are always the focal point of any fighting game sequel and to its credit, Tekken 6 has some very memorable new faces.

Tekken 6 is still heavily reliant on juggles. Energy bars have even been extended to accommodate lengthier combos.

Taking the lion’s share of attention (and space in the sofa), Bob is responsible for the new wave of obese but deceptively fast characters in fighting games and may well have had the “coolest new face” category in the bag if it weren’t for the nonchalant matador Miguel. Sporting an attitude matched only by his haircut, Miguel’s brawling antics translate wonderfully from bull ring to battle arena. Zafina is a middle-Eastern beauty that utilises a variety of unorthodox stances similar to SoulCalibur’s Voldo, while kung fu tom-boy Leo’s main claim to fame is causing endless speculation over her gender.

Walking tall with the aid of a cheat or two.

Hola, bonjour and welcome to the inaugural issue of Cheat Sheet, in which we lump together a bunch of codes and exploits from recent or upcoming games for your breathless perusal. In this episode: Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, Borderlands, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2 and Tekken 6. Go crazy with gratitude and relief.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony (Xbox 360) – vehicle cheat

Any time you’re outside, break out your cell phone and insert the following phone numbers to unlock the vehicles below.

Annihilator (Helicopter) – (359)-555-0100
Cognoscenti (Car) – (227)-555-0142
Comet (Car) – (227)-555-0175
FIB Buffalo (Car) – (227)-555-0100
Jetmax (Boat) – (938)-555-0100
NRG-900 (Motorcycle) – (625)-555-0100
Sanchez (Car) – (625)-555-0150
Super GT (Car) – (227)-555-0168
Turismo (Car) – (227)-555-0147

(Big ups to IGN user James Gutierrez)

Tekken 6 (PS3) – weapon cheat

All male characters can use the Sledgehammer and all the female characters can use the Naginata by pressing BACK + LEFT PUNCH + LEFT KICK + RIGHT KICK. Other weapons and special items can be used as well, but the commands to use them vary.

(Hearty back-claps to IGN user BloodyDollFace)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) – unlockable Killstreak

Chalk up 25 kills to get the Tactical Nuke, which obliterates everybody. Sorted.

(Not sure who first discovered this beauty.)

Borderlands (PS3, Xbox 360) – saved game/experience exploit

In the first scene, when you’re getting the tour with the scrap robot, follow him all the way through to the small campsite with the car up on the lift next to the burning tires. Collect all the loot (guns, money) along the way and kill all of the guys. Once everyone is dead simply pause the game and go to exit. It will save your character (level & loot) and start you at the very beginning upon loading your game. You can repeat this as many times as you’d like!

(Tender hugs for IGN user Ray Chambers)

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) – tweak/difficulty exploit

1. Start a game on a difficulty you haven’t finished and go all the way until you have a real gun.
2. Go to in-game option and set the difficulty to one that you have the tweaks unlocked with.
3. Enable your tweaks.
4. “Save and quit”
5. Go to main menu option and set the difficulty back to the one you originally choose.
6. “Continue” the game.
7. Enjoy.

(Grateful kisses to GameFAQs user Flame060)