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Archived News:
Steam now offers a playable demo for Serious Sam Double D, Mommy's Best Games' recently released side-scroller based on the Serious Sam shooters. Here's a reminder of what this game is all about: Serious Sam explodes into the second dimension using everything in his arsenal to battle the abominable legions of Mental’s horde. Pull the trigger to let the heavy ordinance fly in Serious Sam Double D, a hand drawn, side-scrolling shooter featuring all the over-the-top gameplay and chaotic action of the Serious Sam series. Pile on the firepower with the revolutionary Gunstacker and fire all your weapons at once in a symphony of destruction! All that stands between victory and annihilation is a man in a T-shirt and jeans wielding a great big pile of guns.
The DC Universe Online Website announces the launch of update five for SOE's superhero MMORPG, titled "The Fate Of The Fortress," as it concerns itself with Superman's Fortress of Solitude. This forum thread offers the complete patch notes, and the Game Updates page has this overview: The Fortress of Solitude stands on the brink of collapse. When it falls, our world, and what is left of Krypton's legacy, will go down with it. Left with no choice, Superman must turn to his greatest foes for help, or else lose everything. But even a team of Kryptonians with their limitless power, and Lex Luthor, will not be enough. You and seven friends must join with them in an epic battle to defeat Brainiac. The Universe hangs in the balance.
This latest Group Combat Raid takes you in to Superman's majestic Fortress of Solitude where you will fight against a hoard of Brainiac's devastating Sunstone-powered minions. Destroy them, and come face-to-face with Brainiac's most powerful creation yet – the deadly Avatar of Meta. A wealth of rewards await those who can help turn the Fate of the Fortress.
The Take On Helicopters Website announces that the preorder beta for Bohemia Interactive's upcoming flight simulator is now underway. The game is set for release on October 27th, but those who make an advance commitment can check it out right away. Here's what the beta entails:
- A 30x30km section of our Seattle terrain
- Three singleplayer scenarios
- Three Time Trial courses
- Three Tutorials
- An MP scenario
- Our powerful 2D Mission Editor
Matrix Games announces they are seeking beta testers for Field of Glory - Decline and Fall, an army pack for their Field of Glory strategy series. Word is: The new army pack, entitled Field of Glory – Decline and Fall, covers the armies of the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic states and their other enemies, from 493 AD until the mid 11th century with tons of new units and plenty of new battles.
To sign up for the beta head to Slitherine’s beta signup page and submit your application!
Ars Technica's RAGE review is online, giving id's just-released shooter a pretty good savaging. There's also an interview on Gamasutra on "The Creative Intent of Rage," discussing RAGE with id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead and artist Andy Chang and asking some pointed if not hostile questions about it being similar visually to Borderlands and Fallout, the oddly artistic bandits, its linearity, the lack of meaningful choices, the main characters lack of dialog or context, and more. Thanks ^Drag0n^.
This interview on Eurogamer.net chats up Hakan Abrak of IO Interactive about Hitman: Absolution, the next installment in the stealth/action assassination series. Topics include the project's origins, the reasons for doing a more personal story, gameplay changes, non-lethal appropriates to some missions, the hardcore difficulty level, multiplayer support, the new game engine, the influence off the Hitman movie, and more.
An interview with Matt Ployhar on truepcgaming talks with the president of the PC Gaming Alliance about their organization. They discuss the PCGA's ups and downs, DRM and piracy, the role of physical sales in the future, and more. Interestingly, Matt also answers a question about how closely the PCGA adheres to their original vision by saying it "can take a few years to start hitting one’s stride," even though it was was formed over three and a half years ago: "That said though we still have our work cut out for us. It can take a few years to start hitting one’s stride but I believe we’re laying the right foundation pieces in place to have a very strong and healthy organization longer term. Growing pains are, and should be, expected along the way."
- 18 Wheels of Steel Extreme Trucker 2 on GameSpot Impulse. Save 75%.
- Rugby Challenge on Steam. Save 20% on pre-purchases.
The AMD Catalyst - Rage Performance Driver has apparently been updated, though Guru3D notes that they confusingly don't seem to carry a new version number. AMD tweeted about this saying they were originally packed with "very old OGL files," but they now tweet that this has been corrected, and that "If you're playing Rage, you'll see good gains on the 4000 Series as well - link will be updated with that info as well." Thanks Bill.
As promised, here's my Diablo III Beta Preview, based on some hands-on time with the closed beta of Blizzard's upcoming action/RPG sequel. I had fun playing the beta and writing the piece, and again marvel at how people can write comprehensive reviews of full games when it took me so long to get this out based on a beta that can be completed in three hours. Thanks to my friends MrKawfy and Overthecledge for playing with me and to MrsBlue for her invaluable proofreading. Here's a sample: There is less fear of making mistakes that will go on your permanent record and follow you around for the rest of your life, as my elementary school principal used to say. There are no choices for characteristics—this is all automatic. As you level up, you earn active and passive skills but you can change them any time you want. Skills are no longer tree-based, so you don't have to pick a crappy one to get the better one that follows. The death penalty is now almost non-existent: You respawn at the last checkpoint with a ten-percent loss of durability to your equipment, which seems fairly trivial and removes the fear of venturing too far past your current abilities. I find this regrettable: One of the most memorable experiences of my gaming life was a late night when my party got killed in the depths of a Diablo dungeon: We literally spent hours working out how to retrieve our items from where they dropped. I prefer it much more where you dread dying, but I don't know how realistic it is to expect this to be changed.
A thread on the Steam Users' Forums offers a RAGE tweak guide that explores what PC users can do to improve their experience with id's just-released first-person shooter by going under the hood and using console commands. These include commands for anisotropic filtering, turning off head bob and weapon sway, and to disable mouse smoothing. It seems any such changes must be entered manually every time the game is launched, however, as no one has yet discovered a way to make them stick. Thanks ^Drag0n^.
Steam news announces the release of the promised new Peer Review DLC for Portal 2, adding additional co-op missions to the first-person platformer sequel for the low price of free. Speaking of low prices, this is accompanied by a "midweek madness" sale offering a 50% discount on the game. Here's word on the new DLC: Also, FREE DLC just released! Peer Review is the first DLC for Portal 2, the year's most brain-bending action-adventure game. Featuring a devious new co-op track that continues the story of Atlas, P-Body and GLaDOS, the DLC also includes both single and multiplayer challenge modes, plus leaderboards so you can compare your portal placement and time scores with the Portal community.
Today is the North American release date for RAGE, and the game is now unlocked in some territories on Steam. Reviews are also popping up. You can read about id's new first-person shooter on AtomicGamer, AZ Central, Computer and Video Games, Destructoid, Edge Magazine, Eurogamer, gamesTM, GameTrailers, guardian.co.uk, IGN, IncGamers, Joystiq, PC Gamer, and Strategy Informer. There also seems to be quite an uproar among some PC gamers, there's a lengthy thread on reddit saying "The PC Steam version of RAGE is riddled with graphical problems and bugs!" pointing to complaint threads on the Steam forums here and here as well as on the Bethesda forums. Another large reddit thread is titled "RAGE - We need to fix this problem," and another on the topic of the game seeming like a console port, pointing to this Steam Users' Forums thread saying the game requirements have changed: "Minimum: XBOX360 or PS3 - Recommended: XBOX360 or PS3." Finally, AnandTech points the way to a new AMD Catalyst - Rage Performance Driver.
Robot Entertainment announces pre-purchases are now underway on Steam for Orcs Must Die!, their action/strategy game that's due for release on October 12th. This comes with a bonus, as word is: "Pre-purchase before October 12th and receive the Steam Exclusive 'Knight of the Order' costume!" A playable demo is also now available for the game through Steam, offering a chance to check it out firsthand. Here's word on the game: Slice them, burn them, skewer them, and launch them - no matter how you get it done, orcs must die in this fantasy action-strategy game from Robot Entertainment.
As a powerful War Mage with dozens of deadly weapons, spells, and traps at your fingertips, defend twenty-four fortresses from a rampaging mob of beastly enemies, including ogres, hellbats, and of course, a whole bunch of ugly orcs. Battle your enemies through a story-based campaign across multiple difficulty levels, including brutal Nightmare mode!
Will you roast orcs in pits of lava, pound them flat with a ceiling trap, or freeze and shatter them with a slash? No matter the weapons and traps you choose, you’re sure to have an orc-killing blast!
Paradox Interactive announces Victoria II: A House Divided, the first expansion for the grand strategy sequel which will offer gameplay set in the American Civil War when it is released in Q1 of next year. Here is a new developer diary outlining what this will include, and here's word: From the development team behind Hearts of Iron and Europa Universalis, Victoria II: A House Divided introduces a new starting point in 1861 allowing players to experience the US Civil War from the start, from the era of absolute monarchies, encompassing expansion and colonization, culminating in the emergence of the US as a global superpower at the dawn of the 20th century.
2K Sports announces NBA 2K12 is now available for Windows PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, and PSP. "Hoops fans have long argued about the hypothetical outcomes among basketball’s most legendary players and storied teams," said Greg Thomas, president of product development for 2K Sports. "We took that passion to heart in creating NBA 2K12, giving gamers the opportunity to end the debate once and for all with 15 electrifying basketball icons in NBA’s Greatest mode." Here's a bit more: Fans can now take control of 15 hoops icons, including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Julius Erving in NBA 2K12’s all new NBA’s Greatest mode. Each of these 15 basketball legends were meticulously recreated with an uncanny level of detail, including period-specific depictions of their arenas, team uniforms, signature moves, and even historically accurate broadcast presentation styles. NBA 2K12 also features a revamped shooting mechanic with Total Shot Stick Control and an all-new post-play system, which allow fans to experience an unprecedented basketball simulation.
- 3D Monitor Shoot-Out: Acer HN274H & ViewSonic V3D245 on HotHardware.
- AMD Llano A8-3800 CPU and GIGABYTE A75M-UD2H microATX Motherboard on Missing Remote.
- ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 (Intel Z68) Motherboard on TweakTown.
- Auzentech Cappuccino EX Audio Adapter on Guru3D.
- BitFenix Outlaw Case on Vortez.
- Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid 1050W PSU on PureOC.
- Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Keyboard on PureOC.
- CM Storm Sirus 5.1 Gaming Headset on Examiner.com.
- HP Pavilion Elite h8-1050 PC on TechReviewSource.com.
- HyperX SSD 240GB Upgrade Bundle Kit on Test Freaks.
- Innergie mCube Slim 95 SU on XSReviews.
- NZXT FX 120LB and FX 140LB Fans on APH Networks.
- Razer Onza Tournament Edition Controller on Overclock3D.
- Sapphire Radeon 6850 Vapor-X Graphics Cards with Dirt 3 on TechwareLabs.
- Silvestone TJ08-E Case on MetkuMods.
- Thermaltake Spacecraft VF-I Computer Case on Benchmark Review.
My PC was quite cranky this morning, having trouble accessing the hard drive to write and hanging up at several different points. I recently decided it needed replacing before I managed to clear all these things up, so I'm hopeful about finding a root cause of all this and putting the problems behind me, but there's only so long I can be patient if these issues persist. Grrrr.
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