Elementary My Dear Majesty becomes “first 3D hidden object adventure game for PC,” out today
Hidden object games test important life skills, like the ability to pick out that elusive bottle of ketchup in a well stocked fridge. They’re a testament to the human ability to spectacularly fail to see things that are clearly right there in front of us, even when our girlfriends are literally pointing at them and saying “it’s RIGHT THERE.”
Even on a 2D plane, seeing objects when other objects are nearby can be tough. Bad news. The challenge of finding things in piles of other things is about to get harder. Elementary my Dear Majesty is adding the Z(omg)-axis to the equation, claiming to become “the first 3D hidden object adventure game for PC.”
Batman: Arkham City demo available now through OnLive
Batman: Arkham City is out today in the US, but Europeans will have to wait until Friday to save Gotham. Wherever you live, you can play a free demo of Batman: Arkham City right now through the cloud gaming service, OnLive.
Once you’ve signed up for a free account and downloaded the client simply search for Arkham City in the games list and launch the free trial. It’s limited to 30 minutes, but that’ll give you chance to take control of Catwoman and thrash some burly men with Arkham City’s super slick combat system. Hold down the crouch button while moving for some comedy cat-crawling.
Anno 2070 demo arrives, play the first two missions
Upcoming city-building sim, Anno 2070 has a demo! It covers the first two missions, in which you’re tasked with funding and building a hydroelectric power plant at the behest of a tycoon leader. It should provide a gentle introduction to the construction and resource management mechanics, and also give us an opportunity to gawp at the lovely graphics engine (see more of it in these Anno trailers). The full game contains two factions, and will let you extend your cities beyond the shores of your island to the bottom of the ocean. Grab the Anno 2070 demo here.
Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 demo out now
Lego Harry Potter was great. You could take control of the world famous wizard-kid and all his mates and zap the shazam out of almost every object in the world. Whether it was a pot plant or a ghost, targeted items and people would react in hilarious and unpredictable ways. The pot plant would grow to a monstrous size and swallow a nearby student, the ghost would start singing opera. Mix that sense of playful exploration with the Lego games’ trademark brand of silent, slapstick humour and you had something rather wonderful.
It’s great news, then, to see more Lego Harry Potter heading our way. In fact, RPS mention that a small chunk of the upcoming Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 is already available in magically shrunken demo form. Grab it now from Gamershell. Years 5-7 covers the events of the last three books, and the final four films, culminating in the big magical show down with He Who Must Not Be Named, aka Voldemort.
Exclusive Core Blaze interview reveals MMO platforming and secret boss encounters
Nobody likes a mindless grind in their MMOs, following in the footsteps of the countless players who have already optimized all the content. One upcoming MMO hoping to shatter the mold is Core Blaze, the Unreal 3-powered hack-’n'-slash from Gamania. We asked Jacky Chu, chief operating officer at developer RedGate Studios, how Core Blaze will differentiate itself from the pack. Check out his responses, translated into English.
Football Manager 2012 demo out now
The Football Manger 2012 demo is available now on Steam, offering the first half-season of 11 quick-start leagues set in England, Australia, Scotland, France, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. If you manage to put together a decent squad and can’t bear to lose them, you’ll be able to carry over all of your progress into the full version when it’s released on October 21.
“The demo includes the biggest leagues in the world and allows you to put your managerial skills to the test on a global stage,” reads the Steam blurb, which explains why it weighs in at just over 2.7 GB. That’s 2.7 GB of pure, sweet footballing data. Yum.
Orcs must die! demo hits Steam!
The Orcs have invaded Steam! Slay them with the demo of Orcs Must Die! Spotted on RPS! The full game is out next Wednesday October 12, which gives us days and days to practice planting traps and crossbow-blasting streams of green fools. There’s 995 MB worth of Orcs to kill, and a pleasing variety of traps with which to do it. See a few of them in action in the interactive Orcs Must Die! trailer. You can pre-order the full version on Steam now at a discount and some shiny pre-order armour, which comes with a great big hammer. For killing Orcs, you understand.
The Sims 3 demo launched, runs in a browser
EA have launched a Sims 3 demo that will theoretically run in your browser. The demo was announced on the EA site, spotted over on Blue’s News, and contains “elements from The Sims 3, The Sims 3 Late Night, The Sims 3 World Adventures.”
EA’s link doesn’t seem to work, but we managed to launch the demo from the Gakai front page, the service providing the streaming tech behind the trial. The demo is time limited to 20 minutes. You’ll be able to create a sim and lead them to their a gruesome death in an Egyptian pyramid, a haunted house and a vampire lair. Or you could keep them safe and watch them live long, happy fulfilled lives, but where’s the fun in that?
How one WoW fan is memorializing the big bad bosses of yesteryear
Cataclysm might’ve saved Azeroth, but Andrew Kuhar believes that the old world deserved a proper send off. We talked with the longtime World of Warcraft player and PCG reader about the vintage posters themed after old school bosses he’s making, and what the heck that really abstract one is all about. Best of all, you can download these gorgeous posters with the click of your mouse—just click which ones you want (we recommend all of them) and you’ll be downloading the 50MB original file in no time. We wouldn’t be offended if you took ‘em to the printers to be made into actual posters; there’s no doubt that your end-game experience will be enhanced as you reflect on bosses past, staring at your from your wall, while you raid the newest content.
WoW patch 4.3 Dragon Soul interview, part three: Void storage and Darkmoon Faire revamp
With World of Warcraft’s Patch 4.3 set for release with tomorrow’s update, we’re more excited to jump back into Azeroth than we’ve been since Cataclysm’s released. Today, we conclude our interview with WoW’s lead designer Tom Chilton, who gave us the 411 on the battle against Deathwing and the new Transmogrification system. He’s got more info to share on the new-and-improved Darkmoon Faire, the Void Storage system (that’s overflowing with slots), and what needs to happen for WoW’s design in order to keep players happy.
WoW patch 4.3 Dragon Soul interview, part one: Downing Deathwing
Yesterday, we gave you a look at Dragon Soul, the upcoming Patch 4.3 for World of Warcraft that’ll finally let you face off against Catacylsm’s biggest baddie: Deathwing. We had the pleasure of speaking to WoW’s Lead Designer, Tom “Kalgan” Chilton, and picked his brain about what’s coming up in the lore-riffic patch and just how crazy the big boss of this expansion will be. Be warned: if you want to encounter Deathwing entirely spoiler-free, you’ll need to cover your eyes for some bits. But if you want a leg up on how to take down the colossal black dragon, read on.
Check out Core Blaze, an action MMO complete with blue ice panthers
Call me crazy, but an MMO’s aesthetics can go a long way towards making it stick out from the rest of the pack. That’s how I first noticed Core Blaze, an action MMO in the same vein as Vindictus, being made by Taiwanese developer Gamania. This hack-’n'-slash RPG is quite the looker, using an appealing Chinese art style built in the Unreal Engine 3 to give your monster-slaying an extra coat of polish. Read on to see gameplay footage and a grip of sweet screenshots that’ll put the fear of Liang Qu in you.
Hedone EU beta key giveaway
Hedone is a new free-to-play MMO FPS from Acony set in a near future where hedonistic combat game shows are all the rage. Their closed beta has recently started, and we’ve got 1,000 beta keys to give away so our European readers can try your hand at this world of ultra-violent blood sports for yourself.
Check inside for details of how to enter.
PES 2012 demo released, with new teams, improved keepers and smarter defenders
It’s the battle of the football demos! EA released the Fifa 12 demo earlier today, now it’s Pro Evo’s turn to strike back with its second trial. You can download it now from the Konami site.
Spurs, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Rangers, Club America and Internacional are all playable in this version of the demo, which features a number of tweaks inspired by feedback from the first PES 2012 demo released several weeks ago. It’s now harder to score, keepers have been improved and defenders are smarter, to the extent that defenders can become smart. The full release will put PES head to head with Fifa in North America on September 27, but Europeans will have to wait until October 14 to test those defenders properly.
Fifa 12 demo out now
For the first time in years, the new Fifa on PC gets all the same bells and whistles as the console versions. That means we’ll get the crunching tackles enabled by the Player Impact Engine. You can see the new tech in action right now, in the 1.5 GB Fifa 12 demo, which offers 3 minute matches in Man City’s Etihad arena. Arsenal, Man City, Barcelona, Milan, Marseille, and Borussia Dortmund are all playable, and the demo includes a series of tutorials to teach you the finer arts of tackling horribly late and mangling up your opponent. Fifa 12 is out on September 27 in the US, and September 30 in Europe.
