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Bioware

Bioware

E3 2014 predictions from the PC Gamer team

PC Gamer at

The Electronic Three is nigh. Next week, the entire gaming industry will descend on E3 2014, eager for big announcements at flashy press conferences and as many video games as can fit in LA's massive convention center. There will be new PC games and new PC hardware. That's all expected. But what about the unexpected? What E3 announcements will blow our minds? Is this the year Gabe Newell finally walks onto a stage and says "Half-Life 3 is done, and you can play it right now," and we all leave E3 early?

Probably not. As we psyche ourselves up for E3, the PC Gamer staff have made some wild and not-so-wild predictions about Oculus and Steam Machines and the biggest surprises we'll see at this year's show.


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Dragon Age Inquisition screenshots show new environments, also The Fade

Phil Savage at

Bioware have released a bumper selection of screenshots from the upcoming Dragon Age: Inquisition—one of the few AAA releases still clinging to a 2014 launch. The new environmental shots show a series of areas set to debut in the RPG sequel, and also offer a look at the returning 'Fade'.


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Dragon Age: Inquisition screenshots offer a first look at some new areas

Phil Savage at

Bioware are teasing some of the new areas set to debut in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Their latest blog post offers a brief tour of the snowy cliffs of Emprise du Lion and the overgrown forests of The Emerald Graves—showing off some beautiful scenes of camps, wilderness and icy desolation. Also: a bloody great big dragon.


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Unreal Engine 4 showcase: Zelda, Deus Ex and Bioshock look great in Epic's new engine

Ben Griffin at

If Nintendo ever got around to licensing Unreal Engine 4, it might look something like this. That is to say, freaking amazing. One man has recreated the iconic Temple of Time from the N64's Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time inside Epic Games' new engine. A designer by the name of Michael Eurek spent six months working in Z-Brush, Maya and Photoshop for the video below. Just look at those stained glass windows.

It's just one of a number of UE4 fan projects that show off the potential of Epic's most recent engine—particularly the lush lighting effects and pretty particles. The really tantalising part is picturing how developers will utilise the engine's power, even if the first wave of releases aren't exactly pushing for realism.


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BioWare delays Star Wars: The Old Republic Galactic Strongholds early access

Tom Sykes at

The Old Republic's Galactic Strongholds expansion adds player housing and a bunch of other stuff, giving bounty hunters a place to hang their boots, their Wookies and their sarcastic Han Solo-style grins between missions. If you're a subscriber you were probably looking forward to the expansion's Early Access period on June 24th - so you'll be disappointed to hear that it's been delayed to August 19th, just one month before Preferred Early Access begins in September, and the content launches for free-to-play players in October. As a reward for your patience, the DLC will be getting a new stronghold location (Tatooine), conquest events and a few other things, as detailed in this announcement post. Hey, remember when games/expansions had a single release date? Simpler times.


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Dragon Age Inquisition update details branching character classes

Ben Griffin at

Bioware have revealed more about the branching class system in Dragon Age: Inquisition. The warrior, rogue, mage trio return, but each can be developed in three different ways, giving mages the chance to wield magical weapons, and rogues the option to lay traps.


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Bioware on Dragon Age: Inquisition's return to epic scope - "Dragon Age 2 forced our hand"

Tom Senior at

"Because of Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age: Inquisition is having to be a lot more ambitious," says executive producer Mark Darrah in our huge Dragon Age: Inquisition interview. Dragon Age 2's narrower scale and 10-year narrative arc proved controversial. Darrah says Bioware are keen "to address those concerns" with "tactical combat and a higher level of deliberate difficulty" as well as a more focused central narrative that's "much more in the vein of Dragon Age: Origins style storytelling."


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Dragon Age: Inquisition digital deluxe edition detailed, bonuses include mounts and skull thrones

Phil Savage at

Later this year, Bioware will release Dragon Age: Inquisition. That's pretty exciting. So exciting, that six months before release, EA are confident in people's willingness to pre-order the game. And if people will pre-order the regular edition of the game, maybe they'd instead prefer the "Digital Deluxe Edition"; the contents of which are now listed on Origin. If it sounds unlikely, maybe you're underestimating people's love for thrones made out of dragon skull.


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Dragon Age: Inquisition release date revealed; Bioware's RPG sequel out this October

Phil Savage at

What was looking to be a year packed full of epic RPGs has become a little more spacious thanks to The Witcher 3's delay. Fret not, though, fans of magic, monsters and mead, for Dragon Age: Inquisition is still on course to land in the back half of 2014. Bioware have now confirmed the game's release date, announcing their October 7th target alongside a new trailer for the RPG sequel.


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Dragon Age: Inquisition interview - on fan feedback, romance, returning characters and the open world

Chris Thursten at

The Dragon Age series has evolved in a tumultuous fashion since Origins. The switch from the world-threatening crisis of the first game to the personal stories of Dragon Age 2 proved too great a shift for some fans. Inquisition will again take the series to a grander stage. An open world with dynamic keep battles will bolster the central story, which sees inquisition—led by you—recruiting aid aid to postpone an imminent apocalypse.

How else will Inquisition differ from its predecessors? What have Bioware learned from fans of the series? How will they correct the awkward savegame bugs that could bring characters back to life, and how have they chosen your companions for the new adventure? Chris spoke to executive producer, Mark Darrah, to find out.


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Dragon Age: Inquisition gets appropriately epic box art

Tim Clark at

Perhaps it's just a side effect from the afterglow to watching this week's Game Of Thrones, but I can't seem to stop staring at the recently revealed box art for Dragon Age: Inquisition.


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Star Wars: The Old Republic gets player housing in Galactic Strongholds expansion

Emanuel Maiberg at

BioWare announced on Wednesday that it will add player housing to Star Wars: The Old Republic in a new expansion, Galactic Strongholds. Like the rest of The Old Republic, Galactic Strongholds will be free-to-play when it’s released this summer.


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Star Wars: The Old Republic hosting Double XP weekend until March 17th

Phil Savage at

If you've still got some levelling to do in The Old Republic, this would be the weekend to jump back in. Starting in a few hours, the game will award twice the experience for completing missions, killing things, and... well, generally doing stuff. And, by progressing at twice the speed, you'll get a quicker route to the game's best bits. It'll be like watching the entire film saga, but then skipping Episodes One to Three. I think that's what you're meant to do in the first place.


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Dragon Age: Inquisition trailer and screenshots show wild new landscapes

Tom Senior at

Dragon Age: Inquisition producer Cameron Lee has dropped a new trailer and a couple of new screenshots on the Bioware blog showing off the wild lands we'll get to explore in Bioware's next big RPG, and very pretty they are too.

"Each area in the video has its own realistic ecosystem with predators, prey, factions, and opportunities to expand your Inquisition," Lee writes. "The world’s population is based on an emergent system that adjusts what you’ll encounter based on how your actions tip the balance in the area. You’ll see towns attacked by bandits, deer fleeing from wolves, giant’s feeding on bears, and countless other scenarios." Click through to see the new video and pics.


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The Old Republic's Galactic Starfighter expansion is now free to play

Patrick Carlson at

Star Wars: The Old Republic's latest expansion, the space combat mode Galactic Starfighter, has joined the MMO's free-to-play content. The dogfighting game-within-a-game had until today been playable for subscribers and "preferred status players" only, but now throws open its cockpit doors to anyone ready and willing.


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BioWare still undecided on Dragon Age: Inquisition multiplayer

Emanuel Maiberg at

Dragon Age: Inquisition producer Cameron Lee has made a suspiciously uncommitted statement about a multiplayer mode for the game: "The Mass Effect multiplayer stuff is really good, so we've certainly looked at options like that, but we haven't decided on anything in terms of multiplayer at this point," Cameron tells OXM at a preview event. The statement is the latest in what is now a years-long tease about a multiplayer mode, which would be quite the novelty for a fantasy role-playing game of this type.

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What we want from Mass Effect IV

Leif Johnson at

How do you follow an act like the galaxy's most high-stakes game of three-card monte? Apparently by completely starting over. BioWare has long insisted that Mass Effect 3 marked the definitive end of Commander Shepard's story arc, regardless of whether you picked the green pill, the red pill, or the blue pill. The good news, of course, is that it's created a universe that leaves plenty of room for other stars.

The big question is who that star will be. BioWare has only dropped a few hints that yield some clues as to what kind of ride we're in for during the next installment, and thus we'd like to put forward a few of our own ideas about how the next chapter in the Mass Effect saga should unfold. (Also, there are spoilers ahead, particularly if you somehow missed the furor over the ending of Mass Effect 3 last year. For convenience, the upcoming game is called "Mass Effect 4," even though BioWare has stated that this won't be the title.)


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Dragon Age: Inquisition developers playing through "Holiday Build"

Emanuel Maiberg at

While some of us are anxiously awaiting the holiday break so we can catch up on sleep (nope), see family (nah), and play through a disgusting amount of video games (bingo), the dedicated team at BioWare will also use that time to continue working on Dragon Age: Inquisition, playing through its latest build. Executive Producer of the Dragon Age franchise Mark Darrah explains on the company's blog that BioWare has always used the break to allow its teams to play through what they term the "Holiday Build." Basically, as complete of a build of the game as possible.


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Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer shows the multi-coloured lasers of Galactic Starfighter

Phil Savage at

Every day is space day when you're riding the PC gaming news shuttle, but today perhaps more than most. Between X Rebirth's launch, EVE's new trailer, and now this, a video preview of next month's Galactic Starfighter expansion for Star War: The Old Republic, it's a great day for people who love the inhospitable and unyielding void of eternal darkness. Or, for the less introspective among us, bright lasers and things that go "pew, pew".


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Dragon Age: Inquisition leaked footage shows thirty minutes of combat and questing

Phil Savage at

Quickly, pile on into this post, where the armies of darkness can't see you. We're sheltering thirty minutes of leaked Dragon Age: Inquisition footage, smuggled out from the Finnish Digiexpo 2013. Watch it quickly, before EA's ever-watchful legal dragons swoop down and burn it to a crisp. In it, you'll see combat, dialogue, and a brief glimpse of the less litigious lizards.


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