Deus Ex: Human Revolution makes highlighting and objective arrows optional
Eidos Montreal have been listening to community feedback from recent showings of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and have decided to make some changes based on complaints about the yellow “augmented reality” object highlighting system.
The garish outlines have appeared around useable objects and points of interest in recent trailers and demonstrations of the game. Many Deus Ex fans found the outlines immersion-breaking, and contrary to the experimental spirit of Deus Ex. In a video response, spotted by RPS, Eidos Montral say that even though they still think the highlighting system is the right way to go, they’ve made object highlighting and objective arrows entirely optional. Watch the video below.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Collector’s Edition has poseable Adam Jensen model
Square Enix have revealed the contents of the Deus Ex: Human Revolution Collector’s Edition, which will include a figurine of the game’s hero, Adam Jensen. The Collector’s Edition also comes with codes to unlock a series of heavy weapons, 10,000 credits with which to upgrade those weapons, and access to a whole new mission, which will contain “a special cameo appearance from one of the original Deus Ex characters.” You’ll find the full list of bonus items below.
And in other PC gaming news…
Apparently a game has just been released. What was it called, Bortal Doo, Wortal Zoo? No, it escapes me. Apparently it has an item shop, though, and an interactive teaser for the upcoming film, Super 8.
Battlefield 3, now there’s a game that’s easy to remember. Learn all about it in our latest preview. Magicka, too, has a tendency to stick in the mind, thanks to some wonderfully insane spells.
But what else has been going on in PC gaming today? There’s so much stuff it’s easy to forget, which is why we’ve put them all in a list. You’ll find it lurking below.
Exploring the new classes and revamped world of MapleStory’s Big Bang
MapleStory’s always been there for us when we felt the urge to destroy, burn, and/or punch cute things in the face. And, thanks to Big Bang, the free game’s latest expansion, therehas never been a better time to join in the addictive demolition of all that is adorable.
Download the Minecraft demo
Minecraft now has a demo. Procrastinating excavators: you no longer have an excuse for skipping our favorite open-world game. Better yet, it has branded cows that Notch made for us. Keep in mind that these animals are specially-programmed to act as voodoo cows: when you punch them, each PC Gamer editor feels a mild thud in their chest. Be gentle.
Click in for the download link.
Battlestar Galactica Online, and two other sci-fi MMOs you can play in your browser right now
There’s not a huge downside to having games run in your browser nowadays (thanks in no small part to the magic of the Unity engine). Take BSGO for example: it may run in your browser, but it’s a legitimate space sim MMO with great off-the-rails combat in an attractive, 3D environment. I’ve been playing in the beta, defending the colonies as Captain Santa, Viper pilot. The beta is open at this stage, so you can join the fight to preserve humanity (or you can be a toaster if you’d rather fight for the Cylons) at http://battlestar-galactica.bigpoint.com/, but you should know three things before you do.
Stand-alone version of DoW2: Retribution’s Last Stand coming tomorrow
This is pretty cool: tomorrow, Relic plans to release a stand-alone version of the Last Stand co-op survival mode of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Retribution as a $10 download from Steam.
Last Stand, which was initially added to Dawn of War II in a patch shortly after release, has proven to be a big hit. It makes a lot of sense to release it as its own game, since it’s essentially a completely different animal from its RTS/action-RPG campaign and multiplayer modes, and appeals to a different crowd. A $10 price lowers the barrier to entry considerably (versus the $30 price for Retribution) for people who want to check it out.
“We saw this as a unique opportunity to introduce new players to the Dawn of War franchise as well as expanding the player base for the already popular Last Stand mode,” says DoW2 Producer Jeff Lydell.
Anybody out there gonna pick this up?
World of Warcraft Armory app updated with guild chat
iPhone-owning World of Warcraft owners rejoice! Blizzard’s already excellent Armory App has just been updated with Guild Chat. That means you can keep up-to-date with your Guild’s current affairs no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Convenient.
Read on for the details.
Minecraft 1.5 update is live
Notch has updated his blog to announce that the Minecraft 1.5 patch is now live! The update adds a full achievements system to Minecraft, and brings rain snow and thunder to its cuboid worlds. As a bonus effect,pigs struck by lighting from the thunderstorms will be transformed into zombie pigmen. You can see footage of the new weather effects in the recent Minecraft 1.5 trailer.
If you find any bugs in the update, fixes might be slow to arrive. Notch also tweeted about patch 1.5 to say “I’m not reading twitter or email until I’ve beaten Portal 2, I won’t know about any bugs in it. ;D.”
Portal 2 has hidden interactive Super 8 teaser level
Hidden away in the Extras section of the Portal 2 main menu, there’s a teaser for Super 8, an upcoming film from J.J. Abrams, executive producer of the Lost TV series, and director of sci fi monser movie, Cloverfield. It’s not a typical movie teaser, though, it’s a short level created entirely in the Source engine. It’s only a couple of minutes long. If you don’t have Portal 2, you can see our playthrough in the video above.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim “mostly a DirectX 9 game.” DirectX 11 support a possibility
Game director Todd Howard has been talking about the PC version of the game will compete with its console competitors. Aside from better quality textures and higher resolutions, he says Skyrim will “looks the same” on PC as it does on consoles. However, possible DirectX 11 support further down the line could give the PC version a significant graphical advantage.
Rage multiplayer modes revealed: no deathmatch or capture the flag
Id software have been talking about Rage’s multiplayer component at a recent press event in Utah. The game will feature a vehicle arena mode and a series of co-op missions, but won’t have any of the deathmatch of capture the flag components that id games are famous for. The developers also dropped an estimated length for their single player campaign. Read on for details.
Operation Flashpoint: Red River trailer details co-op
The Operation Flashpoint: Red River team head to the nearest warehouse to tell us all about the game’s drop-in, drop-out co-op mode in their latest dev diary. They also chat about the four co-op game modes, including convoy escort, last stand, combat sweep and combat search and rescue, in which you must head behind enemy lives to rescue downed helicopter pilots.
For more on the game, check out our interview with Operation Flashpoint’s creative director, or check out the official Operation Flashpoint: Red River site. The game’s due out on April 21 in Europe, and June 7 in the US.
Magicka’s best spells
Magicka: Vietnam was released last week, and we love it. The best part is the glorious union of guns and spells, and the experimentation that comes from combining different elements into spectacular new magics. We’ve gathered ten of the most explosive, useful and entertaining spells we could find.
Portal 2 has item store, trading coming soon
Players booting up Portal 2 for the first time may have noticed an unexpected addition to the start-up menu. The Robot Enrichment option at the bottom of the screen leads to an in-game item store. The items allow you to customise the co-op bots Atlas and P-body with a number of different paint jobs, emote gestures, and, of course, hats! There’s also a trading window which will become active in the next few days.
It looks as though certain objects can be unlocked by completing achievements, too. the one achievement item in my backpack so far, though, is marked as being un-tradeable. It seems unlikely that players will trade items that they’ve paid for. Perhaps there are other ways to get hold of the new items? Unlike Team Fortress 2,there’s no crafting option. Yet. After the recent ARG, who knows what Valve will do next?
