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Guild Wars 2 prepares to unleash Nightmares, music videos

Phil Savage at

I'm on something of a break from Guild Wars 2 at the moment, after a heavy spell of playing it a few months back. But despite barely touching the last few events, I do like the game. I wanted to make that clear upfront, because next week's update contains a competition that I'm having a hard time writing about. A hard time because it's hard to see what you're typing when you're cringing this hard.

That's right, ArenaNet are asking fans to create a music video around the song "The Nightmares Within", which, appropriately enough, is also the name of the update. Also there'll be some stuff to do in the game, which is maybe the hope to cling onto.


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Battlefield 4 server-side update claims to fix two of the most common crashes

Phil Savage at

Battlefield 4's launch has been a bit of a mess, with players facing netcode problems, glitches and crashes. Even when they get into a game, things aren't perfect, as bits of the level start to fall apart as they... wait, I'm being told that's a feature. Fine, well, DICE have been working on the other problems, and today released a new server-side update that they hope will resolve the most frequent server crashes.


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Kerbal Space Program update 0.23 detailed: will bring science tweaks and tweakables

Phil Savage at

Kerbal Space Program's update 0.22 brought a career mode to would-be rocketeers only a couple of weeks ago. But science doesn't sleep. Science stays up all night, experimenting with ever more dangerous propulsion systems, before strapping them onto a small container, stuffing it full of 'willing' volunteers, and detonating the entire mess - possibly into orbit; probably into shrapnel. Which is an inelegant way of saying that KSP developers SQUAD have already released details on the game's next planned patch.


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Dracula demands vengeance in new Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 trailer

Patrick Carlson at

Dracula's still angry. A new Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 trailer puts his rage on display and hints at a few of the likely showdowns set to take place in the sequel's mashup of a modern city and an ancient Gothic castle. This being Dracula, the new footage certainly deals with blood, but it's the blood that binds family that's the issue here, as we see what's become of Gabriel Belmont's son Alucard.


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New Humble WB Bundle lets you pay what you want to be a costumed vigilante

Michael Jones at

There is an important question we all must ask ourselves one day: can I afford to be Batman? If the price for all of those wonderful toys in Batman: Arkham Origins is too high for you, then the folks at the Humble Bundle have got you covered.


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Call of Duty dog: the definitive PC Gamer hands-on review

Philippa Warr at

The most important thing about Call of Duty: Ghosts is the fact there is a dog. Therefore it is only logical to conclude that the most important thing about the Call of Duty: Ghosts launch party is the fact that there was a dog. A real dog, that it was possible to pet. As conscientious videogame journalists we thought it only right that we reviewed this crucial part of the game for you. We're selfless like that.


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Battle Worlds: Kronos out now, trailer explores the morality of artillery strikes

Phil Savage at

It's actually happening. Kickstarter projects are being released. Between Broken Sword 5's release announcement, and last night's release of turn-based tactical strategy Battle Worlds: Kronos, we're going to find out if these games the community has already funded are even any good. In case of the latter, a launch trailer has appeared to persuade you that while yes, you absolutely should murder your foes with rockets, you should really do it for the right reasons.


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Civilization IV designer Soren Johnson starts new indie studio Mohawk Games

Ian Birnbaum at

Mohawk Games, a new independent studio, has been formed under the leadership of Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson. Based in Baltimore, the studio is already hard at work on a new real-time strategy game code named "Mars." Mars will be an economic strategy game in which players found colonies and compete to buy out the other players.

After working on Civ IV, Johnson left to work at EA and then social games powerhouse Zynga. When the Zynga Baltimore office closed, however, his project was shut down and he left the company. Since then, he’s worked to get Mohawk Games started with an eye toward giving the real-time strategy genre a jump start.

“I love RTSs,” Johnson tells PC Gamer. “I’m just bored with what’s out there. I want to see the genre stretch and expand. I feel like it’s a genre that should be as varied as board games.”

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Rise of Venice review

PC Gamer at

This review was written by Jon Morcom.

Venice, 1455. The Renaissance is stimulating dizzying levels of creativity and La Serenissima is acknowledged as if not the crossroads, then at least the Spaghetti Junction of all trade in the Occident. Born into a city rife with political manoeuvring, family feuds and rising damp, you are Giacomo da Narni, continuing your family’s proud mercantile tradition and advancing yourself socially until you reach the exalted title of Doge.

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Velocity Ultra warps onto PC this Christmas, bringing Steam support and custom controls

Phil Savage at

For a moment I thought Christmas wouldn't be full of spaceships, shooting and teleportation, and that would have been terrible. I mean, what else is there? Generosity, human interaction and gentle TV specials? Sounds awful. Luckily, a PC port of PS Vita shmup Velocity Ultra has been confirmed for a Steam release this holiday season. It's guaranteed to be more enjoyable than Brussels sprouts.


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Thumper asks you to kill Crakhed, via the medium of rhythm racing

Phil Savage at

What is it that games have against the English language? If they're not replacing letters with numbers, they're offering up some weirdly capitalised monstrosity. On a related note, meet "T H U M P E R", or "THUMPER", or, from here-on out, just "Thumper", a rhythm racer from DROOL... or Drool. It's a game that appears to sit inside a Venn diagram containing WipEout, Audiosurf and Dyad, only none of those featured a giant and jagged metallic beast called Crakhed.


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Jazzpunk trailer promotes comedy adventure through the medium of Thunderbirds

Phil Savage at

Hello, I have just watched the trailer for Jazzpunk. Normally at this point, I'd use the knowledge osmosed from said trailer to explain to you what Jazzpunk is. Er, okay... um... well. Ah, yes, there was a fish, and gibs, and a Thunderbirds pastiche. Also spies, maybe? A sheep exploded, but I can't be sure of its significance. You know what? Maybe you should watch the trailer too, then we can try to suss things out together.


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Broken Sword 5 being split into two episodes, first one out next month

Phil Savage at

Thanks to Kickstarter, adventure games are back! Okay, yes, so they never really left... in fact, between Europe's continued love for the genre, Telltale's licences and indie projects like Wadjet Eye's Blackwell series, it's been easy to find games to point at and click on. More accurately then: thanks to Kickstarter, a certain brand of classic '90s adventure is back, reuniting fans with characters either previously abandoned, or worse, subjected to a clunky 2000s revival in a 3D engine.

One such series is Broken Sword, which raised over $770,000 in August last year when Charles Cecil asked the community if a fifth game would be to their liking. The fruits of that approval are about to bear out, as the game is due to be released next month. In typical Kickstarter fashion, though, it's not without an unexpected twist. Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse is now comprised of two episodes, with the first due out December 4th, and the second to follow in January.


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AMD Radeon R9 290 review

Dave James at

Almost two weeks after AMD released their Radeon R9 290X they’ve taken a scalpel to the Hawaii XT GPU and produced this ever-so-slightly cut down version, called the AMD Radeon R9 290.

First off though, an apology. Sorry if any of you guys went out and bought an R9 290X after our review of AMD’s latest top-end graphics card. You were, unfortunately, victims of a graphics card price war between AMD and Nvidia. At the time it was released it was a fantastic card, offering incredible performance compared with both the GTX Titan and GTX 780 but for a good deal less than they were retailing for. Because of that, with a few caveats about heat and noise, the R9 290X got a glowing recommendation from yours truly and an Editor’s Choice award.

Then the inevitable happened. Nvidia hit back, announced their own GeForce GTX 780 Ti, due to be released in early November, and slashed the prices on their standard GTX 780 and GTX 770 cards. Dropping the GTX 780 to around £400 / $500, or below, meant AMD had to follow suit with this R9 290. And so we’ve got a new graphics card, based on AMD’s top graphics silicon, for just £320 / $400.


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Battlefield 4 Mythbusters video shows that you can revive friends in midair, save them by diving on bombs

Tom Senior at

Server troubles aside, Battlefield 4 is as bonkers as previous entries in the series, as the mythbusters team have discovered. For example, you can dive on a planted bomb while screaming "noooooo!" and absorb the force of the explosion with your body, saving your friends from certain death. Or you can dive after a dead friend who's falling off a skyscraper and revive him with electric paddles in midair, allowing them to activate their parachute and glide to safety. A Hollywood action movie director somewhere absolutely needs to steal this sequence for their finale. Michael Bay, this is your chance for redemption.

The video also shows a man shooting a rocket through the gap in a chopper to hit another chopper behind it. Time to spend the next ten games of BF4 trying to replicate this in a live environment.


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Broforce trailer contains a Matrix parody, and other action movie throwbacks

Phil Savage at

I'm not sure what it is about this year and references to The Matrix in games. Saints Row IV was all over its virtual battery farm reality, and now the new Broforce trailer mirrors that scene, as 'Bropheus' offers the choice between a red and blue bandana. Way to stay current on your cultural parodies, video games. In fairness, late '90s action is surprisingly modern for Broforce's 2D side-scrolling tribute to '80s action stars. Here, the cast of the "Brotrix" are joining the Brominator, Rambro, Indiana Brones, and Robrocop, among others. It should go without saying that those with an allergy to bro puns should turn back now.


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Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag trailer targets multiplayer features

Phil Savage at

Over the course of the last few months, Ubisoft have released what seems like every single scene from Assassin's Creed 4: Hooray for Pirates! in an unstoppable parade of trailers. Having run out of campaign chum to throw into the waters, they've turned to the multiplayer, providing a quick run down of its features, modes and customisation options.


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Valve shows alternative prototypes for Steam Controller

Michael Jones at

That sleek, polished dime up there wasn't made by Valve with the snap of Gabe Newell's fingers. It came after other prototypes the company tested first. When initially designing its Steam controller, Valve experimented with numerous iterations and designs before coming to one that it felt comfortable with. Valve detailed two of the unused prototypes today during the newest info dump on its upcoming Steam Machines, including one "Frankenstein" of a gamepad.


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Elegy for a Dead World, an indie game for dreamers and poets, coming from Dejobaan

Patrick Carlson at

A speaker for the dead indeed. Boston developer Dejobaan's latest experimental game concept, Elegy for a Dead World, involves tales of forgotten civilizations and extinct societies, all filtered though the textual influence of British Romantic poetry, according to an interview with studio head Ichiro Lambe at Indie Games. The project is a collaboration between Dejobaan and Ziba Scott of Popcannibal.


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Destiny for PC would spread Bungie too thin; no port planned at present

Shaun Prescott at

If you were still holding out hope that Bungie's forthcoming co-op shooter MMO Destiny would eventually arrive on PC, then you can stop doing that now. Speaking to IGN, Destiny senior writer and Bungie community manager Eric Osborne has made it clear that PC users won't get their own version of the game. The reason, he says, is that the studio doesn't have the resources for it.


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