And in other PC gaming news…
Today in the PC Gamer offices debate raged after we watched this anti-aug protest video, which is totally real and not at all a viral ad for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Graham was worried that we were playing god, Rich wondered if bionic arms would improve his actions per minute in Starcraft. I asked Tom Francis, who was recently augmented himself, if he thought he’d lost an essential part of his soul, but he would only say “101010111101100001″ while staring at me with his glowing red eyes.
Check inside for a round up of today’s other PC gaming news.
Rage trailer talks open world, vehicular multiplayer
Rage really is id’s attempt to move away from traditional corridor shooters, and that’s what their latest ‘making of’ video is all about. The developers talk about creating an open world, crafting memorable NPCs and a vehicle based multiplayer. There are some great character designs on show; the monocled Mayor Clayton in particular looks fantastic. Rage is released on October 4th.
Prototype 2 release date confirmed, new trailer burns everything
BluesNews report that Prototype 2 will be released on 24th of April 2012 and to celebrate the announcement, a new CGI trailer has been released. The trailer shows Prototype special ops team Black Watch engaging in their favourite pursuit, setting fire to everything. It also quickly explains the story driving the sequel; as explained in the last trailer Alex Mercer, the ‘hero’ of the first game apparently killed James Heller’s family (he killed so many people, it’s hard to keep track). Now Heller has Mercer style powers, and he’s not a happy bunny.
We’ll see just how angry he is next year.
Red Orchestra 2 system specs, box art released
Like so many tinkering, well-armed elves in a war factory, Tripwire Interactive is putting the final touches on its 64-player, WWII multiplayer FPS, Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad. Today, they’ve passed along the final system specs for the game, along with the retail box art.
Battlefield 3 trailer takes the fight underground
We brought you some leaked footage earlier, now it’s time for an official Battlefield 3 multiplayer trailer. It’s chaotic, destructive, brutal, and features a glimpse of some of the frantic underground fire-fights featured in the Operation Metro multiplayer map. The trailer comes with built-in flickery video effects and angry machine noises. Don’t blame your monitor, that’s how war is supposed to look. Battlefield 3 is out on October 25.
Terraria to become “150% more difficult” with upcoming patch
Terraria developers Re-Logic are working on a huge update for Terraria. Patch 1.06 plans to rebalance combat and make bosses like The Eater of Worlds even more dangerous. Health potions will be less effective and have longer cooldowns, so you’ll no longer be able to chug them down as you wade through Terraria’s toughest enemies. Developer Blue writes on the Terraria forums that when 1.06 lands, “most boss battles will be nearly impossible to win without gearing yourself up fully, and planning out the battle beforehand.” You find more details and preliminary patch notes below.
Space Marine interview talks characters, multiplayer, customisation
Good news for fans of bright pink Space Marines, Relic’s new third person shooter has extensive character customisation in multiplayer. In this interview, Kim chats to Relic’s James McDermott about characters, story, multiplayer and taking inspiration from Dawn of War. Take a look if you plan to create an Adeptus Fabulous chapter when Space Marine is released on September 8th.
EA Steam keys can be activated on Origin
We recently learned that it’s possible to activate a selection of EA games bought on Steam on Origin. We’ve successfully redeemed keys for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, Alice: Madness Returns and Dragon Age 2. There may be more.
In the case of Dragon Age 2, once the product key key had been validated on Origin, it was possible to launch the Steam version of the game from the Origin client, complete with Steam overlay and chat functions.
Battlefield 3 leaked alpha footage shows throatstab, magic paddles
The Battlefield 3 alpha is up and running. Quite a few people have leaked videos from it, but this six minute epic is undoubtedly the best. The video shows off a whole variety of play styles including sniping, vehicles, shotgun usage, the classic magic defibrillator and some good old fashioned knife fighting.
Check inside for a selection of other videos, courtesy of the NeogGaf forums.
Star Wars: The Old Republic pre-orders available, £130 Collector’s Edition detailed
A post on the Star Wars: The Old Republic site announces that the game is now available to pre-order. There are three versions. The standard edition will be available in retail stores. The Digital Deluxe edition will only be available to buy through EA’s Origin download store, and the Collector’s Edition will only be available as a physical purchase, because it comes with an enormous statue of “Gentle Giant” Darth Malgus.
Any one of these editions can be pre-ordered for early access and a colour stone that will let you change the colour of your lightsaber or blaster shots, hopefully offering one lucky player the opportunity to become the first Jedi with a beige lightsaber. Read on for a summary of the bonuses that come with each version of the game and find out what’s inside the £130 Collector’s Edition boxed set.
Meet the sci-fi Soldier—Valve partners with WETA to release new TF2 items, available now
Wonder no more what all those mysterious rockets are doing in the back of Team Fortress 2 maps! Valve has partnered with WETA Workshop, the design studio that’s created countless movie props and creature effects, to release a new item pack based on Dr. Grordbort’s Infallible Aether Oscillators (say that three times fast). Come take a gander at what it looks like when the Soldier decides to enlist with space marines.
First details on Minecraft’s XP system. Notch: “When you die you lose all levels. You lose all XP”
Yesterday, Notch posted an image of a massive mountain on his Twitter feed. But that’s not all. Look closely at said image. See the bar that looks a bit like an XP bar? It is an XP bar, but it also brings something extra – permadeath. In a forthcoming update to Minecraft, not only will you be able to gain levels. You’ll lose your levelling progress if you die.
And in other PC gaming news…
We included this video at the end of our article regarding DOTA 2 earlier, but here it is again to sing us out for the day. What you can see here is GLaDOS and Team Fortress 2 announcer voice actress Ellen McLain singing ‘I Want You Gone’ from Portal 2 live. She’s accompanied by her husband John Patrick Lowrie, who voices the Sniper in TF2. Now we know why he really gets extra points for headshots.
Check inside for a round up of today’s PC gaming news.
Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard screenshots show new Dunland zones
The Hobbits are going to Isengard. They’re going to roll right up to the tower of Orthanc and punch Saruman in the mouth. Then, when their cooldown timers have expired, they’ll punch him in the mouth again. First, they’ll have to travel through the swampy villages and airy wild areas of Dunland, one of the three new zones that will be added in the upcoming expansion set to hit Middle Earth on September 27. To see the six new screenshots, simply speak, friend, and enter.
Cthulhu Saves The World PC sales smash Xbox Live
Here’s some heartening news for a Wednesday afternoon. Developers Zeboyd recently decided to launch their comedy fantasy RPGs on PC after a long time spent trying to sell on Xbox Live Arcade. Now RPS have news that Cthulhu Saves the World and the superbly named Breath of Death VII have made more in less than a week on Steam than they did in more than a year on Xbox Live, a fact the devs proudly announced on their site.
Zeboyd’s games are affectionate parodies of 16-bit era JRPGs. Cthulhu Saves the World casts you in the role of the Lovecraftian beast on a quest to break free of a sorcerer’s curse. In order to consume the world, Cthulhu must first save it. “Romance” and “redemption” are promised. Breath of Death VII teams you up with a ghost historian and a vampire techie to uncover the secrets of the past. Kind of like Time Team, but with more turn based combat. Both are currently on sale at 10% off on Steam and Gamersgate.
