Rift giveaway winners: Soul combos of choice
When it comes to what role you want to play in Rift, you’ve definitely got options. Thanks to the game’s Soul system, classes get much more complex past the initial Warrior, Cleric, Rogue, and Mage. Now that’s it’s been seven days since our Rift giveaway started, it’s time to say congratulations to our 25 lucky (and randomly chosen) winners. Read on to see which class combinations they prefer, and if your name is among the chosen few.
Heroes of Newerth giveaway winners, and their bizarre hero concepts
Well folks, it’s been a week’s time, and the results are in: SW4Y1N, Caecus, MassCreed, revanxp, Nyoron, smalltrouble, Gilgafish, kestrel150, Godunderscor and Felverick are the ten lucky winners of a free copy of Heroes of Newerth, and will be contacted shortly. Thanks to everyone who entered, and made my Friday afternoon that much funnier! But what if you want to know why these people won? What was their concept that amused me so? There’s only one way to find out. Read on to delve into the visions of madmen—or are they geniuses?
EVE Online pokes fun at doomsayers with a new login screen
Are you prepared for the coming apocolypse? Is your kitchen full of canned food and non-perishables, just in case the Rapture is happening tomorrow? What about a first aid kit and water? Are you planning on spending your last hours on street corners shouting angrily at stangers passing by? Maybe you can still save their–Ah, forget it. Let’s just stay inside and play EVE Online instead.
Next year’s Ford Focus is a LAN party on wheels
What better way to kill the time on a long drive than an impromptu game of StarCraft II using backseat broadband? That’s obviously the first thing we thought of when Ford told us that next year’s Focus will have a built in WiFi router capable of setting up a mobile LAN in the back seat.
Magicka Dev Diary: Shards, shields, and spam
Magicka taps into the curiosity in all of us; we can’t help but want to know how two elements will react together. But, more importantly, how effective will the result be at killing stuff? Soon, however, enemies won’t just include monsters and your “buddy” who always seems to friendly-fire a Meteor Storm right on your head. PvP is finally making its way to Magicka, and the devs from Arrowhead Game Studios want to tell you all about. Come and enjoy a sit-down chat with Arrowhead’s Johan Pilestedt. Feel free to brew some tea while you read.
Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword review
I spur my steed to a full trot, swivel on my saddle to aim behind me, and squeeze the left mouse button. With my rifle level with my eye, I release my grip on the mouse. Blam—a spearman slumps forward on his saddle, ragdolling off the mount. That’s one less Cossack roaming Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword’s sandbox world.
Hard Stuff: Razer Naga Epic review
When the Naga (April 2010, 94%) emerged, its 15 impeccably-placed buttons (designed to catch the overflow of abilities in most MMORPGs) and super-comfy design caused us to hail it as the finest mouse that MMO gamers could buy. Only its leash—the USB cable tying it to the PC—held it back.
And in other PC gaming news…
Remarkably, Brink is still unavailable to purchase on Steam in the UK. We managed to find a way around this minor problem, and delivered our verdict on PCGamer.com today in our Brink review.
Elsewhere, Bioware confirmed that they’re working on Dragon Age 3 (surprise!), Black Ops DLC got a date, Bulletstorm DLC got released and Fallout: New Vegas DLC slightly exploded. But what else has been happening in the world of PC gaming? Read on for news of a new Carmageddon, Breath of Death VII and a life sized Portal 2 turret.
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission to be shown at E3 2011
Bohemia Interactive announce that they will be showing their modern remake of the ’80s classic, Carrier Command at this year’s E3 conference. Carrier Command was a ground breaking title on early PCs and the Amiga. It gave players control of a robotic aircraft carrier and challenged them to conquer an archipeligo of 64 islands before a terrorist owned enemy Carrier could do the same.
Bohemia’s remake, Carrier Command: Gaea Mission, is set to stay true to the original format. This time there will be 33 islands spread across 6 different climate areas. The robotic Carrier in the original game had some serious on board weaponry (including a giant laser turret), but could also deploy a number of sea and air units to strike from a distance. The modern sequel promises first and third person battles on land, air and sea. There’s no mention of giant lasers just yet.
The new game is likely to be a few strides ahead visually. Carrier Command was famous for its pioneering use of 3D vector graphics, but can’t quite compete with the technology on show in the latest Arma 3 screenshots. A faithful Carrier Command remake in Arma’s engine is a very exciting prospect.
EU Giveaway: Win a Rift 30 day pass
How would you like to spend a month in Rift‘s world of Telara? It’s a lovely, picturesque place. Once you look beyond the constant threat of demonic invasion and the otherworldly weather there’s a lot to recommend it. It’s good good pubs and nice food, just stay away from the spider mines. You’ll find out why.
We’ve got 20 month long free Rift passes to give away to our European readers, courtesy of Green Man Gaming. Read on for your chance to win.
This week’s best free PC games
Ladies and gents? After almost a year of writing them, I am sad to announce the end of [Month's] Best Free PC Games here at PC Gamer. Sniff.
But hey, look! A new thing exists! So welcome to the first ever roundup of the best free games of the week. Good gracious! These will, as you can imagine, be published weekly. Read on to find out what I’ve been freely enjoying in the past seven days.
Fallout: New Vegas Honest Hearts bugs shut out players
Hold the phones, everyone, all-new bugs have been discovered in Fallout: New Vegas! Players who had to endure the protracted bug-fixing period after New Vegas’ release will hardly be surprised to hear that the latest DLC instalment, Honest Hearts, is having a few teething problems.
Fifa 12 trailer leak shows “impact engine” in action
A leaked and slightly fuzzy chunk of in-game Fifa 12 footage has found its way to VG247, showing offthe improved animation system, and the vaunted “impact engine” that promises to deliver bone crunching collisions with accurate injury after-effects on players.
Skip to the five minute point to get straight to the good bits, which feature famous footballers falling on their millionaire faces. if you’re not a football fan, it’s worth nothing that DICE are borrowing their animation tech from EA’s sports games for Battlefield 3. Imagine the same realistic collisions applied to grenade blasts and bullet wounds.
Bulletstorm Gun Sonata DLC out now
The first slice of Bulletstorm DLC hit the consoles over a month ago, but Bulletstorm fans can now finally get hold of the pack on PC. The Gun Sonata pack for Bulletstorm is now available to buy for $9.99. It adds three new Anarchy survival multiplayer maps, Hotel Elysium, Villa and Sewers, and two new levels for Echoes mode, Guns of Stygia and Crash Site. If you fancy giving Bulletstorm a go then there’s a demo available on Steam. You can get our verdict on the game in our Bulletstorm review.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation release date announced, Steam pre-orders now available
The Escalation map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops will be making its way to PC on June 2. The pack adds four new multiplayer maps and a new Zombie level. For a good look at the new arenas, check out the Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation trailer, and the recent in-game footage.
The stand-out map of the pack is set in a Russian zoo with a monorail. Sadly, there are no animals there. The day I get to shoot a zebra in the face with an uzi is the day I put money down for Call of Duty DLC. Though, looking at the £10/$15 price tag, maybe not. The pack’s available to pre-order now on Steam with a 10% discount.
