Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer pits Smuggler against Sith Warrior
It’s time for the Smuggler and the Sith Warrior to battle it out in the final class vs. class video for Star Wars: The Old Republic. It’s Han Solo vs. Darth Vader. Who will prevail? The Sith Warrior, surely. The Smuggler can only run backwards so far before the Warrior’s leap abilities close the gap. For all the groin kicks and grenades, there’s not much an unarmoured man can do against a lightsaber … apart from call in an orbital strike from his own personal attack ship. Okay, perhaps it’s not so clear cut after all.
Players who pre-ordered the Old Republic are already past the starter zones. The Old Republic will go live tomorrow. If you’re based in Europe, you’ll find us on the Nightmare Lands server, if you’re in the US, you can join us on The Crucible Pits.
F1 Online open for closed beta registration
Codemasters’ free-to-play web-based racer F1 Online has opened for closed beta registration ahead of its launch in the first quarter of next year. The Unity-powered top-down racer includes assets from F1 2011, and includes the requisite team management on top of the driving.
From what we’ve seen it’s rather entertaining, pleasingly recalling Codemasters’ own long-lost Micro Machines franchise, albeit in a shinier package. The top-down single-button controls aren’t going to please those who’ve spent thousands on recreating the interior of an F1 car in front of their monitors, but the low system requirements could make it a lunch-break hit.
Sign up for the closed beta here (warning: requires stupidly complicated password and the drop-down boxes are tiny), watch the brand-spankin’-new trailer above, and see the brand-spankin’-new beta screenshots below.
Get your face in Max Payne 3!
It’s a bit like that online dating site where only beautiful people are allowed access, only your chances of sleeping with a supermodel are greatly diminished. Unless they happen to play the game when it’s released in March and take a shine to your in-game noggin.
Notch makes Minicraft in 48 hours for Ludum Dare
The latest Ludum dare competition challenged developers to create a game in 48 hours based on the theme “Alone.” Minecraft creatory Markus ‘Notch’ Persson has turned in his entry already. It’s called Minicraft, a top down, 2D take on Minecraft. You have to roam the world, punching trees, blocks and zombies in your way as you try to find the only other sentient being in the world, the Air Wizard, so you can kill him.
DICE hint at Battlefield 2143 with another Wake Island Easter egg
Battlefield 3’s Wake Island might as well be called “Easter Egg Island” due to the amount of content tucked away in obscure corners of the map. What is this hint? A futuristic warrior hiding up a tree? A gunship hidden at the bottom of the ocean? Neither, according to bf3blog.com – who also posted the above image. It’s the numbers “2143” painted on a wall. It could be a hint that the eagerly-awaited sequel to future manshoot Battlefield 2142 is in the pipeline, or it could be that one of the developers wanted to make a note of his PIN number.
In addition, a Reddit user found a toy dinosaur tucked in a cave on one of the maps. Apparently there are six scattered across the map, with this YouTube user on a mission to find them all. To be honest, they’re the most rubbish in-game toy dinosaurs I’ve ever seen. If I was a child and I got one of these for Christmas I would be bitterly disappointed. They make Barney look like the monster from Cloverfield.
Terraria Christmas update adds snow, Snowman gangsters and “Mister Stabby”
It’s Christmas on Sunday! That means we can expect lots of Christmas events to start appearing in our favourite games. Terraria proves that you don’t need the third dimension to get into the Xmas spirit. From now until December 25 newly generated worlds will contain new snow biomes. You’ll be able to make houses out of candy, add festive Christmas lights and engage in the traditional Yuletide pastime of smashing a snow globe to summon an army of evil snowmen wielding Tommy guns. What, what?
Win one of 10,000 Settlers Online beta keys
The influence of the Settlers series looms large on social games, all of today’s browser based trading and city building games owe a huge debt to Blue Byte’s original games. Which is why it’s no surprise that they’ve decided to launch their own browser based, online version of the classic series, complete with a dynamic player driven economy, where gold is only the currency of choice because market has decided it will be.
If this sounds like your kind of thing, then you’ll be wanting of our beta keys so you can get an advanced look at the game, and you’re in luck! Because we have a whopping 10,000 keys to give away to your lucky readers.
To get a code, simply go to our competition site and fill in your details. First come, first served, so be sure to apply right away. Your beta code will be emailed to you next week when the competition ends, and you can redeem it on the Settlers Online website.
Don’t forget to check out our The Settlers Online preview for more details.
Ultimate Christmas Giveaway: Win one of ten copies of Shogun 2: Total War
Welcome to the PC Gamer Ultimate Christmas Giveaway! This is the biggest competition we’ve ever done: packed with peripherals, games, and exclusive items signed by some very important people. Why are we doing this? Because it’s Christmas! And we love you.
The Ultimate Christmas giveaway will run until Christmas Eve. Every day we’ll be posting about a new prize that’s up for grabs, and you’ll have 24 hours after the time of publishing to enter. Sadly, we’re only able to open this competition to UK residents.
On the tenth day of Christmas PC Gamer gave to me… ten Daimyo’s ruling! Okay, so it isn’t really the tenth day of Christmas, but that doesn’t mean we can’t give away ten copies of Shogun 2: Total War to celebrate the season of goodwill. Because what says Christmas like taking over feudal Japan?
Check inside for details of how to win.
This week’s best free PC games
As Noddy Holder once screeched, “it’s Chriiiiiiistmaaaaaaaas” next week, so the next time you see me rounding up the week’s best free PC games it’ll be either just before or just after the New Year. No bother, though: before then we’ll be counting down the top 10 PC freebies of the year, and this week there’s a nice collection of titles to get stuck into, including a gorgeous platformer, a point-and-click adventure set within an angry space station, and a game I enjoyed but in which I have no idea what the hell happened.
Saturday Crapshoot: Click Video Magazine
Every week, Richard Cobbett rolls the dice to bring you an obscure slice of gaming history, from lost gems to weapons grade atrocities. This week, if you want to know what to play, press Play!
Back at the start of the 90s, the PC was still at war with both the Amiga and the Atari ST, nobody yet felt like roadkill on the information super-highway, mullets were finally an endangered species, and simply adding the word ‘cyber’ onto a word made it the most proto-radical thing since, like, something totally triumphant. But on the plus side, Gremlins 2 was brilliant and some other things were okay.
Click isn’t simply a nostalgic glance back at those days. It’s a video time capsule that lasted just two issues, largely I suspect due to the difficulty of persuading stores to fill their shelves with VHS tapes, and its then-staggering cost of £5. Let’s crack it open and take a peek at its secret juice.
Ultimate Christmas Giveaway: Win a Minecraft poster signed by Notch
Apologies: we’re facing some technical trouble. If the link above isn’t working for you, please click here
Welcome to the PC Gamer Ultimate Christmas Giveaway! This is the biggest competition we’ve ever done: packed with peripherals, games, and exclusive items signed by some very important people. Why are we doing this? Because it’s Christmas! And we love you.
The Ultimate Christmas giveaway will run until Christmas Eve. Every day we’ll be posting about a new prize that’s up for grabs, and you’ll have 24 hours after the time of publishing to enter. Sadly, we’re only able to open this competition to UK residents.
Our old Minecraft server was a wonderful place, full of amazing constructions. Sadly it was also laggy and unstable, so we were recently forced to hit the big red ‘reset’ button and start over again. Before we did though we created these enormous posters rendering our old spawn area to commemorate it. Better yet, we sent them to Mojang, where Notch and the guys all signed them, just for you. Now here’s your chance to win one!
Check inside for details:
The Elder Strolls, part 2: That Sinking Feeling
I’m playing Skyrim as an NPC: walking everywhere, trying to avoid excitement, and seeing if I can scrape out a living without resorting to adventure. You can read Part 1 here.
I get a lot done on my second day in Dawnstar. I visit the Jarl and listen to him air all the problems he has that I have no intention of helping him with. I buy my own pickaxe and work in the mines some more, chiseling out every last bit of ore and selling it to Leigelf, the mine-owning racist. I find a group of Khajiit nomads camped on the edge of town, and sell them some of my jewels in exchange for some hide boots, bracers, a hunting bow, and some iron arrows.
And now, to the hunt!
Lord of the Rings receiving the Lego treatment next summer
Generally, it’s bad form to put every last ounce of an article’s info in its headline, but that is – quite literally – all the information available. Via a teaser page, Lego’s announced that it’s giving Frodo and friends a nice, blocky makeover. Which, of course, raises the question: How does one wear the one ring of power when they, er, don’t have fingers? Frightening claw appendages are great for many things (holding cups, imitating Darth Vader’s force choke, frightening children, etc), but evil jewelry isn’t one of them. Regardless, I’m sure the game will be charming as a puppy that communicates entirely with hugs and rainbows. It is, as the headline and image suggest, launching in summer of 2012.
Alan Wake to be self-published by Remedy, will use Steamworks – not GFWL
Beggars can’t be choosers. We’re finally getting a chance to strike fear into Alan Wake’s baddies with our mighty flashlight, so we should just– aw, screw it. I’d really, really prefer that GFWL keeps its clumsy mitts off my favorite game hero whose name is a pun. I imagine most PC gamers feel the same.
And Remedy’s listening. This time around, Microsoft’s not in the picture, so neither is GFWL. Instead, Remedy’s self-publishing the game on Steam, which means it’s officially kicking GFWL to the curb. We waited, and good things came. At this rate, I fully expect a PC port of Halo 3 that includes a full suit of Master Chief armor and keys to a real-life Warthog.
Dragon Nest in-game goodies giveaway [US only]
You put in your time with the family. You ate the cookies, you sat by the fire, you pretended that you could hear whatever grandma was mumbling just fine. But now it’s you time. With skill-shot combat and an adorable anime-esque visual style, Nexon’s action-MMO Dragon Nest is the perfect way to enjoy the rest of your holiday break. Battles aren’t just passive skill rotations—you’ll need to dodge attacks and string together combos if you want a chance at surviving. Yeah, cake-induced blood sugar spikes might set your reflexes back a bit, but you can give yourself an edge with a free digital bundle of Dragon Nest loot from Nexon itself.
