The Old Republic tries out survival-horror with its next endgame Flashpoint, Kaon Under Siege
It’s easy to forget that the world of Star Wars is filled with dirty, scary places–it’s not all Gungan cities and Ewok campfires. BioWare’s tapping into this darker side of Star Wars in the first Flashpoint added to The Old Republic after its launch, in the big Rise of the Rakghouls update coming on January 17th. It looks spooky, frantic, and – most importantly – will feature a full story with group choices and consequences, much like the game’s first two Flashpoints: Black Talon and Esseles.
SWTOR’s alignment system will offer exclusive loot for neutral players
I love the idea of Star Wars: The Old Republic’s alignment system. It was one of the reasons I rolled a bounty hunter: I wanted to play as a deadly assassin with a moral compass; a Robin Hood figure in a galaxy far, far away.
But then someone directed me towards the exclusive loot vendors for extreme light side/dark side players. Neutrality was no longer an option. Since then, I’ve given a pensioner with her husband’s head in a bag, killed innocent women, and shot pleading Ugnaughts. I’m Dark Side III, and I have the Interrogation Droid to prove it.
But maybe I should’ve stuck with my original plan. Bioware has confirmed that TOR will eventually provide bonuses for neutral players as well as extremely evil/nice ones.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution – PC Gamer UK’s action game of the year
Deus Ex: a game so good it gave us actual neuroses about its sequels. Invisible War, a shonky but interesting and sometimes hilarious shooter, became reviled as a crime against gaming for declaring itself to be Deus Ex 2. And when Human Revolution started looking seriously, seriously good, none of us could quite believe it.
Battlefield 3 – PC Gamer UK’s online game of the year
Launch bugs and connection problems can’t dent Battlefield 3’s sense of ambition. Call of Duty might have bagged the ‘modern warfare’ label, but Battlefield 3 shows us what a modern online shooter can really be. Developers DICE have tapped into the potential of modern PCs to create online battles on a massive scale, and with technology that makes its competitors look years out of date.
Portal 2 – PC Gamer UK’s co-op game of the year
In most co-operative games, players don’t work together so much as work beside one another. The closest you’ll get to real teamwork is pulling the trigger at the same time. Portal 2 doesn’t work that way. Its co-op problems are impossible without a friend, and each reality-twisting solution forces you to share a brain.
The Old Republic beginner’s guide
The launch of an MMO is a confusing time. The world is fresh and new, and everyone is still learning how to play it. Which is why, now that The Old Republic has launched, we’ve put together a list of our top 50 tips, learned from hours of beta play to help you get to grips with the new game. For MMO newcomers and veterans alike, we’ve created a definitive guide to classes, companions, conversations, crafting and every other aspect of the game.
Check inside for the full list of our fifty things you need to know about The Old Republic.
Syndicate reboot banned in Australia, BBFC yet to make a decision
Updated: Now including comments from the BBFC
EA and Starbreeze’s upcoming reboot of classic top-down tactical strategy game has effectively been banned in Australia – and EA won’t be censoring the game to ensure it gets a release in the antipodean country.
The decision came from the Australian Classification Board (ACB), who refused to classify the game. According to Kotaku Australia, the reason for the banning is the game’s violent scenes, which include dismemberment, decapitation, bisection, exposure of flesh and bone and arterial sprays of blood. Which all sound awesome.
Need for Speed: World introduces $100 car
“Free-to-play” used to mean just that, but now it seems that it’s becoming “Remortgage-to-play”. First, DarkOrbit releases a $1,000 item and sells 2,000 of them. Now EA’s Need for Speed World sells a $100 car, according to GameSpot.
The pricey car in question is a Koenigsegg CCX “Elite” Edition. It heads up Need for Speed World’s “Premium Elite” collection, which is targeted exclusively at people with more money than sense. The car is reduced to “just” $75 at the moment, but even for that price you could pick up Race On ($19) and GRID ($15) on Steam – both of which feature the Koenigsegg CCX – and still have $41 left over to buy a cheapo steering wheel.
On the whole the free-to-play model does seem to be working, but these costly items make it look like developers and publishers are taking advantage of an audience willing to pay exorbitant amounts for fairly rudimentary power-ups. A report in the Daily Mail is sure to follow shortly.
Battlefield 3 trailer created by Freddie Wong
Battlefield 3 publishers EA have commissioned internet video guy Freddie Wong to create a trailer for their uber-popular manshoot. Wong and his crew were given just 10 days to make the video, according to Kotaku.
And it’s OK. It’s the kind of gameophilic effects-filled extravaganza Wong is very good at making, but bear in mind that Wong is one of those people who probably thinks Michael Bay is good at directing films. According to this making-of video, it also had a proper budget, with real explosions and tanks and $300,000 lenses and everything.
Question is, is it better than CoD’s tongue-in-cheek but similarly Hollywood take on virtual warfare?
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.
The Secret World’s Scorched Desert location mapped out
We’ve just hacked into Funcom’s servers and got a top-secret trailer and screenshots for their upcoming MMO, The Secret World. OK, we totally made that bit about hacking into their servers up for the purposes of trying to do a joke about fact that The Secret World has the word “Secret” in the title. It’s not like you believed it for one minute, anyway.
The new trailer showcases the Scorched Desert location, and unlike many game trailers, it’s actually pretty good. There’s a certain Exorcist-like vibe to the location, with giant locusts and possessed people running around willy-nilly. Only The Exorcist didn’t feature people with shotguns executing all manner of hideous beasts.
The Secret World is set for release next April, and you can read our preview here. Read it now!
Portalarium: Garriott’s Ultima conversations with EA were “casual”
The confusing tale of EA and Richard Garriott exchanging words or suggestive winks or smoke signals or something continues. First, Garriott claimed that Ultima-licensing-related talk had occurred at a “very high level.” Then EA more or less said, “Wait, what? Since when?” So I got in touch with Garriott’s current company, Portalarium, in an attempt to figure out why the two stories sounded like they’d occurred in alternate dimensions. Here’s what I found out.
EA denies Ultima Online discussions with Richard Garriott
Richard Garriott’s ambitious plans for Ultima Online 2 appear to have hit a bit of a snag. Like a bad horror movie plot twist, it turns out that his “very high level” discussions with EA don’t exist. And, I don’t know, his roommate’s actually been dead for 20 years or something. At any rate, EA’s giving the whole thing a big shoulder shrug.
“I’m not sure what Richard Garriott is referring to. But no one at EA is discussing partnership or licensing opportunities related to the Ultima Online franchise,” EA head of corporate communications Jeff Brown told IndustryGamers.
So yes, those stories are rather, er, at odds with one another. Somewhere along the line, wires clearly got crossed. As such, I’ve contacted both sides in hopes of straightening things out. More soon, hopefully – unless, of course, I’m actually a ghost.
First C&C: Tiberium Alliances trailer mixes old with new
After a somewhat surprising announcement earlier today, EA’s wasted no time giving Command and Conquer: Tiberium Alliances the trailer treatment. The good news: I saw a teensy bit of commanding, and some occasional conquering to boot. The bad news: This is probably not even close to what you were expecting. Put the trailer under the microscope, and you’ll discover a rather large helping of tower defense DNA. It may not exactly be the Command and Conquer you know and love, but is it worth your while? Check it out above and judge for yourself.
Richard Garriott in talks with EA at “very high levels” about making Ultima Online 2
Richard “[Whichever title he's going by these days] British” Garriott has been to space. But whatever goes up must come down, and that includes rocketships. So now the legendary game designer/castle-owner is hoping to rekindle memories of a simpler time – you know, back when people were trying to assassinate him.
Garriott’s certainly not keeping any secrets about his “spiritual successor” to Ultima Online. However, if all goes according to plan, that “spiritual” tag may get kicked to the wayside sooner rather than later.
