And in other PC gaming news…
LA Noire is coming to PC! The news broke late today without warning, leaving us with all sorts of questions. What extra features will it include? Will the video tools from GTA4 be available for it? Does this mean we’ll get a port of Red Dead Redemption too?
Rockstar may have stolen the headlines, but there’s far more news out there than that, check inside for a selection:
Deus Ex: Human Revolution trailer details the world of 2027
The first of two new developer diaries for Deus Ex: Human Revolution has landed on CVG, giving us a behind the scenes look at the team responsible for building Human Revolution’s golden future-scapes. Up until now, trailers have focused heavily on Human Revolution’s combat, but there are plenty of opportunities to roam the streets of the game’s futuristic cities in the full game. These videos give us a good sense of the politics and controversies that make up the world in 2027. For our in-depth impressions of the game, check out our Deus Ex: Human Revolution diaries.
Operation Flashpoint to be re-released as Arma: Cold War Assault
Following the release of Arma 2: Free earlier today, Bohemia Interactive drops another surprise. Operation Flashpoint, the landmark military-sim originally developed by Bohemia a decade ago, has been rebranded as Arma: Cold War Assault, and will be re-released with the Operation Flashpoint: Resistance expansion thrown in as a bonus.
If you already own Operation Flashpoint, you’ll be able to download the new version for free. The rest of us will be able to buy the pack when it’s released “through various online stores in the near future.” There’s no news on a precise date or pricing details just yet. Bohemia are re-releasing the classic to celebrate ten years of making military shooters, and promise that “more exciting releases will be made in the coming days and weeks ahead.” Head over to the Bohemia Interactive site for more.
LA Noire coming to PC this autumn. “Increased fidelity, graphical enhancements and 3D”
Rockstar Games are bringing LA Noire – the critically acclaimed detective game released for consoles last month – to PC this autumn.
The news was just announced on the official Rockstar website. Click through for the details.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim pre-orders to get bonus map, will Skyrim use Games for Windows Live?
Breaking news, everyone! We have just received word from Bethesda that pre-orders will come with a bonus map. And you thought unlimited dragons were exciting. If you pre-order the game you’ll actually be able to plan your route by physically tracing your finger over the map’s contours, before reaching over to press the fast travel button on your keyboard.
The map is listed as “premium quality,” but will it be made of cloth? Cloth maps are on average 150% more caressable and andventurey than paper or plastic ones. You’ll find a picture of the map below, floating in a grey void with copies of the game perched on top, carefully obscuring any information written on the map’s surface. In addition, RPS commenter JFS spotted what could be the Games for Windows Live logo on the PC box of the game, suggesting that Skyrim could use Microsoft’s much maligned system.
Dragon Age 2 DLC will be shown off at Comic Con
Bioware will be revealing its Dragon Age 2 DLC at the San Diego Comic Con next month, say IGN. The developers will be there throughout the show and will be hosting the “First annual Bioware cosplay competition.” Our money is on this guy.
What would you like to see addressed by the Dragon Age 2 DLC?
The Old Republic writer: “A Bioware writer is a games designer”
In an interview in PC Gamer UK issue 228, Bioware writing director Daniel Erickson gave some insight into the Bioware writing process and how it is at the forefront of their game design. “A BioWare writer is a game designer.” He said. “What I’ve learned though, and what the rest of the industry is still wrestling with, is: you can teach a writer to be a junior game designer. You cannot teach a junior game designer to be a writer. You need somebody who is a senior master level writer and then you teach them the basics of game design.”
Arma 2: Free is free to download and play right now
One of the biggest surprise announcements of E3 this year was that Arma 2 would be going free to play. Just a few weeks after that announcement, Arma 2 is now free to play. You can grab the 960MB download right here. Thanks to RPS for the heads up.
The free version will let you play the full game, including multiplayer, but locks off the highest graphics settings and cuts out mod support and the single player campaigns. Full map editing tools are present in the free version. If you’ve always been tempted to try a hyper-realistic war sim, this is one you have to try. We’ll see you on the battlefield.
OCZ updates firmware for SandForce SSDs
News of SSD firmware upgrades may not be the usual fodder for the PC Gamer, but OCZ Technology is hoping that a firmware patch released yesterday will finally end a quiet controversy that’s been going on for over a month regarding it’s latest superfast SSDs. The ones based on the SandForce SF2281 controller.
Crysis 2 patch 1.9 to add DirectX 11 features next week
Yesterday we gave an overview of some of the DirectX 11 features we can expect to see in Crysis 2 in the next update. The patch will add advanced “parallax occlusion mapping,” and improvements for shadows, water, particles, depth of field and motion blur.
There will also be additional DirectX 11 compatible tessellation and high-res texture packs, which can be downloaded separately to improve world geometry and surface detail throughout the game. The Crysis forums bring word that we can expect all of these updates to hit next week, and a report on Shacknews suggests Monday June 27.
To get an idea of what the new features will look like, check out these side-by-side comparison shots, found by forum member Vivec. You’ll find the full 1.9 patch notes below.
FIFA 12 will be “as good on PC as it is on console”
FIFA eh? It’s a sore point for PC gaming football fans. Especially when they’re told the PC version won’t be as hot as the console counterparts. As Rich mentioned in his FIFA 11 review: “It’s hard not to be jealous of FIFA 11′s flashier console cousin.”
But it’s all change on the FIFA front. Eurogamer report that executive producer Kaz Makita has been bigging up our version of the ball-kicking sim, saying: “This is the moment all PC gamers have been waiting for, as they are finally going to fully experience the award-winning FIFA gameplay on their preferred platform.” Contrary to popular belief we are getting the Player Impact Engine – that’s the new tech that makes fatter players heavier and thinner players more flimsy.
Click through for the first PC screenshot and gameplay trailer.
Dead Island screenshots have dodgy haircuts and zombie violence
Four new Dead Island screens have appeared, showing the back of playable character Logan’s head in action. Even this limited glimpse of his scalp is enough to tell us that he’s sporting the horrendous not-quite-a-mohican hairstyle that we thought we’d seen the last of with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2′s Soap Mactavish. While Logan’s head lingers in the uncanny valley of haircuts, his hands are busy fending off the zombie apocalypse that has gripped Dead Island’s open world paradise.
Call of Duty: Black Ops trailer shows Annihilation maps in action
A man in a burger joint is serving up Call of Duty: Black Ops maps. An expensive meal, no doubt, but the zombie course might make it worth the price. Maybe. The Shangri-La setting looks like it could be the most interesting environment of all of of Call of Duty: Black Ops’ maps. The pack is set to be released on the XBox on June 28. Using former Black Ops map packs as an example, Annihilation will come to PC a few weeks later, and likely share the £10/$15 price point as First Strike and Escalation.
PopCap for sale? EA rumoured to be making a $1 billion offer
There are strong rumours flying around suggesting that EA are in the late stages of negotiating a deal to buy up PopCap for a massive ONE BILLION dollars. Edge picked up a report from TechCrunch, who have been approached by two unnamed sources who say that Electronic Arts are about to spend 13% of its stock market value to buy up the casual games developer.
Team Fortress 2 Über Update: Day 3
The hits just keep on coming. By now, you know the drill: Team Fortress 2′s upcoming Über Update is unloading new items for every class, with the latest two being the Scout and Soldier. Crafty types will know that the Scout pack was hidden in the Timbuk Tuesday post, but we’re all seeing the Soldier items for the first time. Check ‘em out, if for no other reason than to lay eyes on the first weapon to buff your allies when you smack them with it (medi-gun heals don’t count).
