By John Walker on September 14th, 2011.
Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard is out at the end of this month – the 27th to be dangerously precise – and that means anyone who was on the beta can talk about it. Except I wasn’t, as I have this full time job. However, it does mean a bunch of new details have been revealed, along with some new screenshots revealing new gear and weapons. As ever we bring you the most helpful coverage, below.
By Lewie Procter on September 14th, 2011.
It’s a simple enough demand, I think. Yes, id, we’ve been increasingly impressed with the constant trickle of promotional trailers you’ve put out for Rage over recent months, and you’ve proven that Mr. Carmack is fully capable of talking the talk. But are you big enough to take on outside feedback? Will you listen to our plea? We think it’s about time for the Commander to return to our screens, and some form of DLC for Rage seems like the perfect opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »
By Adam Smith on September 14th, 2011.
Some of you may remember a dinky demake of Left 4 Dead that Alec posted about at the tail-end of the previous decade. The chap behind it, Eric Ruth, clearly loves nothing more than making retro-pixel-tributes because he’s done a few more as well. There’s one about electronic rackets (not to be confused with Pong, which was electronic racquets) and another starring some gaudy green space marine. You know of what I speak. His upcoming project is another Valve-inspired title though, and it looks like a lot of fun. It’s Team Fortress 2 Arcade: a sidescrolling beat/shoot ‘em up. Here’s an interview and some gameplay footage captured on film by piki geek.
By Lewie Procter on September 14th, 2011.
Methinks the extended stress and strain of game development has made the good folks of Tripware interactive get just a little bit crazy. But in a nice way. After finally being able to buy and install Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad, some fans over at Reddit noticed that there was a few humorous additions to the electronic user license agreement – traditionally the most vast and boring of all the documents in gamingland, but not in this case. It’s all quite sweet, and clearly in good fun: It’s nice to have a story about EULAs that isn’t about publishers trying to further restrict your rights for once. The whole thing has been snapped and had the appropriate bits highlighted here. Read the rest of this entry »
By Adam Smith on September 14th, 2011.
Sometimes it’s hard to write about a game because of its complexity, or because I admire so much about a project but know that I’m probably one of the few people in the world who will really love it. Other times I’ve spilled coffee all over my keyboard. And then there are times like this. The only reason it’s hard to write about Forget-Me-Not is because it means I have to stop playing it. And I want just one more go.
By Alec Meer on September 14th, 2011.
An open question for the floor: how much stock do you put in Steam’s achievements, now they’ve been around for a couple of years? I only ask because they’re cropping up in more and more games, yet yet they don’t seem to have hahahahaha achieved the same game-cultural significance as Xbox 360′s ones, where folk from all walks of life seem invested to the point of violence in their Gamerscores.
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By Lewie Procter on September 14th, 2011.
Surprise! The company that is responsible for the operating system what runs on most of our computers is planning a new version. Again. Following on from the success of Windows 7 comes, for once logically, Windows 8. Major changes are afoot in the world of Windows, and some of those changes might even be relevant to us. Microsoft is currently holding its Build conference, intended for developers to get clued up about what’s going on with their latest OS version – if you’ve got a spare couple of hours, why not fill them with Microsoft employees talking about Windows 8 by watching the Keynote presentation here? Or don’t, because it’s a bit dry. So here’s my summary of the more game-relevant bits… Read the rest of this entry »
By Alec Meer on September 14th, 2011.
With the Diablo III beta looming at last, Blizzard have flung open their heavily-defended wrought iron gates of informational doom -allowing an unfettered browse of the various skills and modifiers on offer in their forthcoming hacky-slashy opus. This comes by way of a extensive Skill Calculator, with which you can both try to devise the ideal character build for you, or simply explore the full delights of the game’s various abilities. And delights they are – if you’re expecting D3 to offer subtle, incremental ramping up of skills, as per WoW, you’re in for a treat. This, clearly, is a game that entirely embraces over-the-top, giganto-slaying.
THE NUMBERS. THE NUMBERS ARE SO BIG.
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By John Walker on September 14th, 2011.
VG247 spotted a story spotted by GameFront spotted by Kotaku which I then spotted, and now you are. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is going to contain a casual mode, for lame-o n00bs like me. The reinvention of the game (rather than being any form of sequel) has a mode that will let you strip out the “in-game money restrictions on which weapons and items the player can buy.” Which sounds like, to my eareyes, an attempt to make it much more gamey.
By John Walker on September 14th, 2011.
Is it morning for you too? I’m sorry. This incessant plague of mornings that has been affecting the Earth since the Great Schizm is wearing us all down. But this might help. It’s the new sort-of-trailer for Trine 2, that’s a bit like a week of afternoons off on a tropical island in the moonlight. All those things. It can only help.
By Adam Smith on September 14th, 2011.
Last month, John wrote about same sex relationships in Skyrim and SW:TOR. Specifically the fact that the Elder Scrolls will allow them while Star Wars will not. Now, in what I’m going to refer to as an extraordinary volte-face, BioWare have confirmed that “same gender romances with companion characters” will be in the game. As a “post-launch feature”. The full official quote, which I extracted from The Old Republic’s forum, is below.
