By Quintin Smith on February 16th, 2011.
Our assembly of the definitive list of the most important PC games of the last 150 years continues! On Monday Dr Rossignol talked us through his first instalment, with an eye for first-personly shoot-games. Yesterday saw a guest lecture from Professor John Walker detailing another fifth of our unambiguous inventory. What classics will we cover today? Ah! We must remember our manners. First, let us all thank Intel’s AppUp developer program for their generous sponsorship. Now, to business.
By Lewis Denby on February 16th, 2011.
The mod community can be interesting at times. When a mod goes commercial, snapped up by a major digital distributer for a full release, you’d think its original fans would be delighted. This, it would seem, is not necessarily the case. To what extent should mods be anti-commercial? Should they be designed with no aims to ‘go pro’ should the opportunity arise? They’re interesting questions. While you think about your answers, have a read of the last week’s most interesting in mod-related gumph.
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By Alec Meer on February 16th, 2011.
Attention, fans of shooting things again and again: the undying Painkiller is to receive a fourth follow-up, Redemption. It’s due next week, which means it is perhaps unwisely going head-to-head with the latest game from original Painkiller creators People Can Fly. That’ll be Bulletstorm, which we might have mentioned here and there a couple of times. Both games are due out next week.
Redemption was formerly a mod, now transformed by Polish devs Eggtooth into a $5 expandydandydandelionalone.
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By Quintin Smith on February 16th, 2011.
RPS’s natural state is well documented as a kind of electric bewilderment, but this is surprising even for us. A new sliver of DLC entitled The Rising Sun Pack has just been released for RPS favourite R.U.S.E., adding the Japanese to the game as a brand new faction with 28 new units, plus 3 new Japan-centric Operations (standalone scenarios), one of which sees the Japanese taking on the US National Guard in an assault on Fort Knox. Look, here it is on Steam. I had no idea this was coming. I haven’t even had my morning tea yet. This is horrible. Unless this is some kind of… ruse? No, it’s not a ruse. Full press release after the jump.
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By Jim Rossignol on February 16th, 2011.
Or, to give it the full title, Shattered Origins: Guardians Of Unity. The game appears to feature a spacecraft which is definitely not an X-Wing doing space fights with other boats of the void. The fireworks are lovely. There’s a trailer for you to view below, or you can go right ahead and get the demo from here.
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By Jim Rossignol on February 16th, 2011.
This is excellent news! There’s a demo available for the new Men of War game (out Feb 25th) and you can get it here. It’s not really clear which level the demo is, but I am guessing it’s the first one, where the USA attacks a Japanese fortified position. I played it last night, in fact, because I have a build of the full game. Related to that last fact: a big old bit of writing is coming up. You’ll be able to read it soon.
EXCITING UPDATE TO ORIGINAL STORY: You can’t use that link if you have the game pre-ordered on Steam, for some reason, so go here if you want the standalone demo.
By Jim Rossignol on February 15th, 2011.
(Well, almost on the ides thing. It would have been so perfect…) Ubi’s UK forum manager has posted the release date for the PC version of the critic-pleasing Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. He says that the game “will be released on March 17th [NA and certain EMEA countries] and the 18th of March for [UK].”
But will we like it? And what kind of DRM will it feature? I’ve dropped Ubi a line to get an answer to that second question. The first question we’ll answer ourselves next month. Fuss-explaining trailer below.
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By Alec Meer on February 15th, 2011.
I’m very, very disappointed in all of you. This news broke yesterday and NOBODY TOLD ME.
Spotted at Toyfair by Kotaku was… was… I can barely say it. It’s just too beautiful to be true. Was…
Was a Plants vs Zombies boardgame. At last, the divided PC/boardgames mind of RPS is united.
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By Jim Rossignol on February 15th, 2011.
So, yes. According to THQ bossman Danny Bilson a new Relic RTS will be announced in August 2011. But what could it be? Carefully placing my speculation coronet on my head, I am able to say that it will probably be a new Company Of Heroes game. The Company Of Heroes Online project seems to have sputtered out, so the devs from that will have to use their expertise somewhere else. We’re unlikely to get a “new” Dawn Of War game (there’s got to be at least one more expansion for 2 in the pipeline) and as far as I understand it the Homeworld franchise is entombed somewhere deep in the bowls of ActiBlizzard. THQ does own Homeworld after all. So CoH it probably is.
Unless – gasp! – it’s something that is actually new. Could it really be possible? Maybe they will do an Epic scale 40K RTS. That might be fun/impossible. Any thoughts, internet?
By Jim Rossignol on February 15th, 2011.
JoWood have announced that ArcaniA is to received a standalone expansion, called Fall of Setarrif, on March 25th. In it you can play a new character, or you can import your character from the original game. The new campaign is reportedly ten hours long, so it’s significantly smaller than the main game – and so we can perhaps expect a budget price tag on this? TBC!
And what happens in this brief new sojourn? This: “A mysterious demon, consumed by hatred, terrifies the population and pools his force against the coastal city of Setarrif. The dramatic situation exacerbates after a volcanic eruption in the mountains nearby. Thereupon the nameless hero joins forces with his strongest allies and courageously faces the new menace.” I wish I was nameless and/or able to courageously face anything. You can read our impressions of ArcaniA here.
By Alec Meer on February 15th, 2011.
We’re in for a whole lot more of this kind of thing, I suspect. Assassin’s Creed 2 did it, Mortal Kombat’s doing it, and now Dragon Age 2 is planning it. As the web becomes ever-more important to marketing games, viral techniques are springing to the fore. And what’s more viral than a video you can embed all over the internet?
In this case, it’s to be a live-action, six-part online TV show set in Bioware’s Dragon Age universe. Both writing and starring in it is actor Felicia Day, a perennial Joss Whedon favourite and creator of WoW player-beloved MMO sitcom The Guild. So it probably won’t be a cheap affair, but what kind of tone will it take?
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