Mordin Kombat: The Mass Effect Beat-Em-Up
…is not in fact called that, nor does it look like there’s a lot of Asari kicking. Nor can you play as Tali’Zorah vas Kneed-ya, engage in Hanar-hand combat, or many other puns. Instead, it’s called Dark Corners of the Galaxy, and honestly, it’s not great. It is pretty though, and a better way to pass the time until Mass Effect 3 than printing out early screenshots, squinting at them, and jiggling them about until they appear to be moving. Bonus points for the enemies whose entire role in life is to run up to you and explode. Such a noble sacrifice, all in the name of slightly denting your health bar.
Assassin’s Creed Revelations trailer shows Ezio’s Altair-ego
Here’s a nice long chunk of in-game footage from the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Revelations. The revelation in question is almost certainly something insane to do with aliens, or time travel, or “genetic memory.” More exciting is the ability to play as both Ezio and Altair. In Revelations, Ezio’s the grey veteran and Altair’s the violent young upstart. Ezio’s still better, though. His age hasn’t slowed him down, and he can throw bombs. He is truly a master of stealth.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 demo out now
Konami have released the first of two planned demos for the latest edition of Pro Evo. CVG point towards the download link right here, with word that it contains a few training challenges and lets you play a ten minute game with Manchester United, AC Milan, Porto, Napoli, Santos and C.A. Panarol. This demo is based on preview code, a second demo is planned for release in mid-September ahead of its September 27 launch in the US. It’s out on October 14 in Europe.
The trailer above shows off a few new features, like active AI that will make more aggressive runs into open space, and improved off-the-ball control that let you exploit flaws in opponents’ formations during set pieces. The AI is so improved that referees will even play advantage. If you’re not keen on how this trial plays, it might be worth another shot when the second one is released next month. It’s a demo of two halves, after all.
Cobalt: a gorgeous 2D blaster published by Minecraft creators, Mojang
Mojang isn’t just about Minecraft and The Elder Scrolls any more. This autumn, Team Notch is dipping its toes into publishing with Oxeye Game Studios’ quirky platformer Cobalt. We had a chat with studio head Daniel Brynolf to find out what will make his little robot star so attractive* to the indie world.
(* Beyond ferro-magnetism, of course.)
Team Fortress is 15, free hats for all! Also, cake
Team Fortress turned 15 years old yesterday. To celebrate, the TF2 blog announces that everyone who logs into the game today will get a free party hat and a free noisemaker that will have unlimited uses for the duration of the day, and on this day every year from now until the heat death of the universe. Also, health packs look like cake now! And ammunition looks like presents.
The birthday celebrations also see the return of some familiar old birthday items. The Team Fortress Birthday Beach Ball is back, and for the duration of today’s celebrations, players will explode in a shower of balloons and confetti. The blog post doesn’t mention exactly when the birthday celebrations will end, but I just logged in and scooped a birthday cap. Looks like the party’s set to continue a little while longer.
Diablo 3 community site goes live, launches beard competition
Blizzard have launched a new community site for Diablo 3, complete with new forums and a blog that will be regularly updated with Diablo 3 news, fan videos and mad contests. Your first challenge is to grow a massive beard.
Over the past six months, brave members of the Diablo 3 development team have been growing their own enormous, furry food-catchers. The task is simple: “grow and maintain the most awe-inspiring Diableard you can, and don’t shave it off until the day Diablo III is released.” Easy, right?
Deus Ex: Human Revolution pulled from Gamestop shelves over OnLive codes
Yesterday we mentioned that retail copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution are being sold with a bonus OnLive activation code. Today, Joystiq report that Gamestop HQ has sent a message out to employees telling them to move all stocks of the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution to store back rooms in preparation for shipment back to Square Enix.
This is an escalation from an earlier order, which asked employees to remove the OnLive coupons from copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution by hand. Now Gamestop are simply refusing to sell PC copies of the game. A Gamestop spokesperson told Ars Technica that “Square Enix packed the competitor’s coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge.” It’s a remarkable move from Gamestop, and the latest incident in an escalating conflict between digital distributors and traditional retail stores.
Watch EverQuest II’s raptor mount get drawn from scratch in this sweet time-lapse video
World of Warcraft isn’t the only MMO with kickin’ raptor mounts: EverQuest has some of the fiercest looking dinos this side of the Cretaceous period for you to ride around on. We’ve got an exclusive five-minute video that shows the game’s latest raptor leaper mount being designed from start to finish in excruciating, beautiful detail. Feast your eyes as SOE production artist Nate Temple starts with a blank canvas, creates the concept, colors it, and turns it into an armored dinosaur of war. Between the mesmerizing freehand Photoshop sketching and Temple’s narration of his thoughts behind each detail, you may never look at raptors the same way again.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim character screenshots show every race
People of Tamriel, rejoice! No longer must you endure the shame of looking like peeled onions, or Plasticine horrors after a savage beating with the ugliest of ugly sticks. Now, all of you, Breton, Khajit, Imperial or Wood Elf… actually, no, you guys are still out of luck… can look forward to stepping out in Skyrim looking like the hero you are, instead of Nondrick’s rejected prom date. Huzzah!
Check out the full lineup and pick your future face from the lineup below, taken from the Bethsoft Blog. Scroll past the new headshots to see all of the character images Bethesda have released over the past few weeks collected together so you can see what each race looks like in situ. Click on each thumbnail to see the picture at maximum size.
And in other PC gaming news
The Space Marine demo landed today, giving us the first crack at it’s Ork stomping action. Thoroughly inspired, we’ve drafted a business case for power armour. We think having six foot shoulders will seriously improve our ability to bring your the best gaming news, and being able to stop an anti-tank round as important to reviewing games as it is to exterminating xenos. All hail the Emperor.
Check inside for a selection of heavily armoured PC gaming news.
Dishonored screenshots show rat hordes and fabulous facial hair
Graham got to see Dishonored at Gamescom. He says it’s was one of the most exciting games of the show. No moving footage has been released yet, but a steady trickle of screenshots have been uncovering more and more of Dishonored’s mysterious world. The five new screenshots below confirm that rat mobs and handlebar moustaches will be part of that world. For more on Dishonored, you can check out the brand new official website at Dishonored.com.
Diablo 3 game director: mod support would “add a couple of years” development time
Speaking with Jay Wilson at Gamescom, we’ve already heard bad news for anyone with poor internet connections and thrifty habits, though plenty of good ones for people who want to head online with friends and crack skulls until the cows come home. But what about tweaking and adding your own stamp to the game with a few mods? You’re out of luck, at least officially…
“None of the Diablo games have ever supported mods and primarily because being able to do modding along with high fidelity art that is also randomly generated is a really, really big challenge. And when we started the project we went ‘Well, if we’re going to do mods, we’re going to add a couple of years onto the product.’”
Get OnLive with Deus Ex: Human Revolution
One for the US only, unfortunately, but if you’ve been meaning to give game-streaming service OnLive a try, Deus Ex: Human Revolution could be just the kick-start you need. Buy a copy from a store (not, unfortunately, a digital download version) and you’ll get a special code that also unlocks it for streaming over the wires. This means you can play it wherever you go, on any PC, Mac, or even a TV… as long as you have a hefty internet connection to get the bits to you fast enough to play it.
OnLive’s general service costs $9.99 a month for unlimited access to games like the original Deus Ex, Borderlands, The Witcher and Just Cause 2, plus special offers on other games. To make sure your connection is up to the challenge of cloud computing your way to gaming bliss, download the system checker first. OnLive is currently scheduled to launch in the UK on September 22nd.
Update: Commenter dancingcrab mentions has been told by OnLive that this offer only works with retail copies purchased from Gamestop.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 Gamescom footage shows close combat marksmen
Here’s some in-game footage of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 from Gamescom. The footage is a mite fuzzy, but we still get to see the ambitious environments City Interactive have built using CryEngine 3. There is one frustrating moment, though, when the player can’t save a woman from being shot because his Xbox 360 pad he’s playing on isn’t precise enough to target her killer. We’ll be able to show console players how it’s done when the game’s out. No release date yet, mind.
