Hawken will be free to play, out in December, sign up for the closed beta now
“I’m throwing my wallet at the screen but nothing is happening!” is a common reaction to the trailers for stunning indie multiplayer mech-war project, Hawken. According to a blog post on the Hawken site, you won’t need your wallet at all. It’ll be released as a free to play game on December 12 this year.
EverQuest finally going free-to-play in March
Thirteen years ago, EverQuest opened a door that would influence online gaming forever. It taught us how to camp world bosses, how painful dying can be, and most importantly, how to make a ham sandwich and take a shower in under five minutes so you can get back to the game ASAP. It isn’t the flashiest or the most beginner-friendly of MMOs, but it was certainly the foundation for games like World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic. And finally, more than a decade and nearly 20 expansions later, it’s going free-to-play.
EU Giveaway: win Access to the Aion free-to-play beta
Aion is a CryEngine powered MMO in which you play as a winged, angelic warrior tasked with defending the gorgeous realm of Atreia against invading forces. Constant updates since launch have added new zones, flighty PvP, cute pets, afros and more. The once-ponderous levelling speed has been boosted time and time again to give players the chance to see more of Aion’s beautiful zones. It’s going free to play in Europe in the coming months and we’re giving you a chance to spread your wings early.
We’ve got 500 keys to give away for the Aion free to play beta. If you get into the beta, you’ll automatically be granted ‘Veteran’ status when Aion free to play goes live. This will give you a few extra features over starter players, like the ability to open up your own shop.
All you need to do to enter is put your name and email address into the Aion beta key competition page, which you can discover through this link right here.
I want in on the Aion beta. Give me wings, PC Gamer!
And that’s all there is to it. If you win a key, you can redeem it on the Aion Free to Play site. They’ll be sent out once we all 500 have been snapped up, so tell your friends if you want in quicker. The Aion client is available to pre-load here. Good luck!
PopCap killing off Baking Life, not offering refunds or exchanges for customers’ money
Are you one of the 100,000 daily users who enjoy creating recipes, baking goods, hiring your friends, and serving customers each day?
Probably not, but that’s not the point. PopCap are closing down Baking Life at the end of January, and any “Zip Cash” bought with real-life money will be erased from existence.
I’ve never baked a virtual cake via the Baking Life app, but that PopCap aren’t offering any exchange or refund option sets an ugly precedent for the value of microtransactions and gamer’s rights. As pointed out in the screenshot below, PopCap seem keen to redirect players to alternative Facebook titles, but don’t seem so keen on converting player’s funds.
World of Warplanes trailer and screenshots soar in
If Wargaming.net can make World of Warplanes as addictive and accessible as World of Tanks, we may slightly doomed. The new trailer above gives us an idea of the number of customisation options that each plane will have, even if there’s no actual in-game footage just yet.
A batch of new screenshots have been released, though, showing a selection of planes in action. They’ll come in three classes, single engine light jets, heavy fighters and strafing aircraft designed to dominate ground forces. Check them out below. You can find out more on the World of Warplanes site.
Ghost Recon Online trailer shows upgrades and mad gadgets
Ghost Recon Online is a free to play, team-based shooter with three classes and a collection of mad gadgets and unlockable gear upgrades. Owen got to play it a while back and came away quite impressed. You can read his impressions in our Ghost Recon Online preview. The latest developer diary above goes showcases a few of the the high tech toys that each class will get access to. The shoulder mounted heat wave blaster looks like an decent weapon, and a great way to cook some chicken in the field.
Namco Bandai: “Free-to-play games can’t be high-quality”
The F2P empire is expanding so quickly that it may soon build its own Deathstar, but not everyone’s on board. Namco Bandai, however, may just take the anti-F2P rebellion sentiment to a whole new level. The gist of the Dark Souls publisher’s argument? F2P isn’t a dead end; it’s worse. It’s a quality-devouring black hole that the industry’s willingly walking right into.
Star Trek Online sets phasers to F2P today
SWTOR’s shiny, soon-to-be-new tweaks may be hogging the spotlight, but it’s not the only space-faring MMO gearing up for a change of pace. Starting today, Star Trek Online is boldly going where, well, pretty much every other MMO has gone before: into the realm of free-to-play. The game now employees a two-tier pricing system, with Silver providing a solid (and free) starting point, while Gold adds all sorts of bells and whistles – including user-created content tools, a larger inventory, and more character slots – for a $15 monthly fee.
Cryptic’s released the above trailer to celebrate your space piggy bank’s new lease on life. Watch it and revel in slight confusion as generic male Shepard from Mass Effect rises through Starfleet ranks. Or maybe it’s his twin cousin. Regardless, mankind may have the technology to live among the stars, but has it lost sight of what matters most: distinctive hairstyles?
League of Legends getting colourblind mode in upcoming patch
This is a nice bit of news from the League of Legend site. Riot Games are planning to introduce a colourblind mode aimed at helping players with red/green colourblindness.
The NHS say that colourblindness affects one in 12 men and one in a hundred women, which means the update will help out a significant number of League of Legends 11 million active players. The new colourblind mode is just the sort of thing we’d like to see more from developers, especially in games like League of Legends where mistaking one ability for another can mean the difference between life and death (in the game).
Riot have posted some interesting images that demonstrate what League of Legends currently looks like for red/green colourblind players, and how the new vision mode will solve the problem. They also say they’re planning to update the alternative colour schemes for those with other forms of colour blindness in future patches. You can find those images below.
The Settlers Online open beta now live
Free to play browser-based city builder, Settlers Online has sprung into open beta phase. Suck the resources from the land to sustain your palaces, raze forests and raid the oceans to raise ambitious new structures. Then, when nature just can’t take it anymore, start a fight and get into some turn based combat with your mates and steal their wood as well. You can sign up and start playing for free on the Settlers Online site now, or check out our Settlers Online preview for an overview.
Age of Empires Online trailer details new skirmish mode
Age of Empires Online is getting a skirmish booster pack. These paid-for bolt-ons normally add new races and missions, but this one will introduce a new mode that will let you and your friends fight a team of tailored AI opponents to gain XP and upgrades. The greater the odds you face, the more loot you’ll get.
The skirmish mode will also unlock all of Age of Empires Online’s units for you to play with, even if you’re at level one. It should be a good way to road test powerful units that you wouldn’t otherwise see for hours. It’s an interesting add-on to the intriguing free to play online RTS. If you’d like to try it, you can download the client from the Age of Empires Online site and start playing now.
Tribes Ascend trailer shows skill shots and skiing
There’s a strange fear that comes with picking up a flag in CTF. One moment you’re the hero, you’ve broken through enemy lines and snatched the one thing they were supposed to protect, then as a reward all your guns are taken away and every member of the enemy team wants you dead. Tribes Ascend’s jetpacks and speedy skiing techniques will let you get away from the enemy base faster, but if you find yourself in the sights of one of the assassins in the trailer above, there’s no escape.
It’s going to be a great year for free to play shooters, with Firefall and Planetside 2 on the horizon, but Tribes Ascend is a real contender. From what we’ve played of the beta so far, it already feels smooth, fast, and satisfying. You can register for the ongoing Tribes Ascend beta on the Tribes Ascend page.
Age of Wushu announced: a free to play martial arts MMO with no levels or classes
Age of Wushu is an intriguing free to play MMO from China. You play as a martial arts expert, but there aren’t any levels or character classes. You learn your skills from one of eight schools of combat, and will be able to raid other schools to gain bonus knowledge and unlock more abilities. You’ll be able to train your character outside of the game as well, using 30 “offline activities.”
Expect lots of customisation, too. Apparently there will be more than 5,000 equipment upgrades, 17 progressions and aerial combat. The fighting style draws heavily from Wuxia genre, so there will be plenty of superhuman acrobatics and, as shown in the trailer above, water-running. It’ll be released in the UK as well, under the name Age of Wulin. An “international test” is supposed to be starting soon. Keep an eye on the official Age of Wushu site for news of the beta.
Free-to-play Microsoft Flight clearing the runway this spring
Microsoft Flight – the spiritual successor to the Flight Simulator series – is just about to touch down. Major Nelson‘s pegged the latest triumph in man’s never-ending war on gravity with a “spring” launch date. He has, however, also dropped a couple other details that may – depending on personal preferences – make you want to praise the heavens or call in an airstrike.
League of Legends – PC Gamer UK’s free game of the year
Do you remember the tail end of 2010? We all wore rags and lived in dirt-floored shacks, dinosaurs ruled the Earth, and ‘free to play’ was still a dirty set of words. 2011 saw those words climb into the word shower and wash themselves clean, courtesy of League of Legends.
