Rock, Paper, Shotgun

World Of Tanks! Three words that just make so much sense. It’s a free-to-play MMO that’s already doing well in Russian-language lands, is heading Westward. It really does sound splendid: a garage full of tanks, destructible surroundings, a global map for clans to fight over. But what of the details? Fortunately we’ve got some of those, right here. We recently spotted Mike Zhyvets, the game’s technical director, coming over the horizon and so we positioned our self-propelled 40mm word-cannon to land questions squarely in his mind. Read on for a full examination of his response crater.
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Sundays are for writing about Norse Gods, reinstalling Windows and compiling a list of the fine (mostly) games related reading from across the week, while trying to avoid linking to what one of your favourite music critics have been recommending this week.

• We haven’t mentioned this story yet, by Activision are running a competition for unannounced indie games. This has caused much debate in Indie Circles because… well, the small print has raised eyebrows. Let Wolfire walk you through it, and its various implications.
• Paul Millen takes apart the Deus Ex: Human Revolution trailer and highlights its – er – influences. Yes.

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The days when small unadventurous devs would glance out of their windows and use the first thing they saw as the basis for a second-rate tycoon game, are thankfully long gone. Now small unadventurous devs glance out of their windows and use the first thing they see as the basis for second-rate simulation games. Tow Truck Sim, Dustcart Sim, Hearse Sim… who buys these things? Me, apparently. A few days ago I dropped nine guineas on Woodcutter Sim. I couldn’t help myself – I had to find out how it compared to a forestry game I knew and loved back in the Nineties.

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Most of Eve Online’s denizens will already be paying some attention to this, I suspect, but here’s a mention for anyone else that might otherwise be interested. The alliance PvP tournament, which this year takes place across three weekends in June, is about to kick off. Sixty-four teams are signed up, and if this is anything like the last few tournaments then there are going to be some crazy tactics and some giant upsets as it unfolds. CCP have blogged about the event here. Other details of this year’s rules, and the full list of contenders, can be found on the forums. Winners get rare ships and plenty of prestige.

You can watch the tournament streamed live here.

I haven’t been following FEAR 3 – and if you think we’d call it F.3.A.R., you’re mad brand manager, mad – for the simple reason I found FEAR 2 such an empty experience. As such, not knowing its twist, the trailer at least made me smile – a co-op mode with two very different characters (the trad psychic-commando chap and the psychic-horror-chap) is appealing. Ever since Gauntlet – or later the similarly period-heavy SWIV – asymmetrical co-op games have been something I’ve looked out for. Trailer follows.
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No one tells us what to write about. You may think that our every decision is made by some sort of alien space robot who controls all our whims, but you’d be wrong. We’re not a number. We’re a free… website? Here’s this week’s staunchly independent roundup of discounted PC Gaming. Remember to head to SavyGamer.co.uk throughout the week for more cheap games.

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These leaked last night. Frankly, we’re not entirely 100% convinced. Some look like some manner of concept art or render. Some look like either extremely, extremely posed or photo-shop jobs. But at least a couple look pretty feasible. Since these would be the first assets released of the game to illustrate the initial previews, this kind of heightened-reality shot/imagery is pretty much par for the course. Talking personally, I’ll believe them, despite the sense that – as Jim puts it – “It looks like some guy’s photoshop portfolio rather than a megabucks sequel”. Go here to make up your own mind.

I have to admit that Fallout 3 was one of those games that I played a bit of and then thought “well, I’ll come back to that.” I never did go back, and consequently I haven’t done much to follow New Vegas, which is due at the end of the year (and is what a cynical person might suggest Obsidian had been working on when they should have been making Alpha Protocol shine… I’m sure it’s far more complicated than that, of course.) Anyway, it’s a big standalone sequel to Fallout 3, which takes place in and around Las Vegas, which was largely untouched by the nuclear apocalypse. Of course, the landscape remains typical blasted, and mutants have words of advice for you, as you’ll see below. The game is out in “Q4″.
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A new Red Faction game might be something to be excited about since Guerilla was such a laugh. This new game isn’t looking much like its sandboxian prequel however, as you can see from the trailer below. There’s also a preview website up here, with a stack of screenshots and smattering of information. Seems that an apocalyptic cult has risen on Mars and drive the colonists underground. For hot tunnel-shooter action? I am only guessing. The game is due March 2011.
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Well, the Valve rumours are firing again. The thoughts are, once more, that this E3 could see the surprise announcement of Half-Life 2: Episode Three, or even, the forum chatter likes to think, Half-Life 3. Of course we’ve been here before. This time there’s this image floating around, although I’ve yet to track down whether it’s sourced from Valve, which reveals the ghostly face of one G-Man at the bottom of what might be a flyer. It could be another fake. It might be real. Look, I don’t know. As soon as it’s confirmed either way I’ll update, and then get angry emails.

Edit: A mysterious man in a black cloak and hat just snuck up to me and whispered in my ear: “This is fake.” Ah well.

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They’re back. Ice-Pick Lodge, creators of previous art-pop-powerhouses like Pathologic and The Void return, with a new game that should be with us before the end of the year. With only a press-release and some art, it’s hard to get a handle on it – but it’s a radical aesthetic inversion from its none-more-gloomy predecessors. It promises to blend a game with a musical-featuring carnival and hint of the resource-management of some of their previous games, centering around collecting the concentrated happiness element known as FUN. And if that isn’t a meta-gag about people’s usual critique of their games – “Where’s the fun!?!” – I’ll be very surprised. I’m showing the whole press-release below, because it’s a work of art and ambition. Can’t wait to see more, Ice-Pick.
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