PC Game News

Electronic Arts has released a new trailer for "The Godfather II," giving viewers more of a look at the upcoming action sequel by EA Redwood Shores.

"After being promoted by Michael Corleone to Don of New York, players expand to new cities, as they build up their families through extorting businesses, monopolizing illegal crime rings and defeating new families in an effort to become the most powerful mob family in America. To help players manage their empire, The Godfather II introduces "The Don’s View" – an innovative strategy meta-game that allows players to oversee the entire world as they grow the family business. Using the Don’s View, players will be able to build, defend and expand their crime rings, while keeping an eye on the movements and plans of the rival families. Players will also learn to master the business of organized crime by building a family of Made Men, hiring crew, handing out orders, and promoting their best men up the ranks."

Konami sends word that "Silent Hill: Homecoming," the sixth installment in the horror series by Double Helix Games, has made its PC debut release on Steam. In addition, PC customers will receive a 10% discount if they purchase the game within five days of this release on Steam.

"Silent Hill: Homecoming takes players deeper into the tormented history of Silent Hill and reveals the evil that surrounds Toluca Lake. The story follows Alex Shepherd, who returns to his hometown of Shepherd’s Glen to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his brother. On his quest, Alex discovers eerie occurrences taking place, and investigates the mystery behind his nightmares. As he struggles to maintain his grip on reality, Alex unravels a tale that takes him from his childhood home to the fog-shrouded streets of Silent Hill.  In the end, Alex must face the darkest horrors of his soul to confront the evil that has taken his brother."

Paradox Interactive has released new screenshots from "Elven Legacy," the upcoming turn-based strategy game by Ino-Co.

"In Elven Legacy, a rogue human has discovered the treasured secrets of the elven race and for the first time in centuries, elves are forced to enter the world of man in order to protect this sacred information.

Elven Legacy offers separate human and elf campaigns. Each campaign has its own unique storyline and missions for players to explore, and the choices they make directly influence the game’s multiple endings.

The battle system in Elven Legacy features five distinct commanding heroes and over one hundred military units. Multiplayer combat takes place across 16 scenarios, and players can choose between five factions to swear their allegiance to. Elven Legacy features in-depth customization, and players can take advantage of the advanced character editor built into the game.

“We wanted the rich storyline of Elven Legacy to be enhanced by the choices that players make,” said Max Bodrikovof of Ino-Co, Elven Legacy’s development studio. “Whether elf or human, players can form alliances and use tactics that can alter the course of the game.”

Elven Legacy will be released in Q1 of 2009 and will be available in stores and online through GamersGate."

       
       

Bethesda Softworks has announced that "Fallout 3" has been a huge success since the launch of the game shipped last week. Approximately 4.7 million copies have been shipped, bringing in over $300 million.

"Released on October 28 in North America at midnight store openings in over 2,000 retail outlets nationwide jammed with fans eager to get the game, Fallout 3 quickly became one of the industry’s top sellers around the world. For example, in the United Kingdom where it was not released until Friday, October 31 the rapid sales of Fallout 3 have led the game to be ranked number one among all video games, as well as being the number one game on each of its three platforms.

Hailed as one of the most anticipated games of 2008, Fallout 3 received a 10 out of 10 review score from Official Xbox Magazine, a result then repeated around the world with perfect scores by some of the industry’s most influential and respected critics including: Gamespy, GamePro, UGO, the Associated Press, MSN, The Washington Post, Guardian, FHM, Scripps Howard, G4-TV, The Toronto Star and Eurogamer. MSNBC’s review offered the observation that it viewed “Fallout as a no-brainer for game of the year.” The Daily Star in the UK echoed that conclusion, saying “You can hold all bets on game of the year – I think we have a winner.”

The successful launch of Fallout 3 by Bethesda Softworks follows the success of The Elder Scrolls® IV: Oblivion®, which remains one of the highest scoring games ever published and earned “Game of the Year” honors in 2006. Fallout 3 has been featured on over 100 magazine covers across the globe and is available in eight languages. The initial retail shipments of Fallout 3 included both the Regular version of the game as well as a limited “Collector’s Edition.” A Fallout 3 Official Game Guide in both the regular and collector’s edition versions has also been a strong seller. Fallout 3 is slated for release in Japan on December 4th.

Fallout 3 features one of the most realized game worlds ever created. Set more than 200 years following a nuclear war, you can create any kind of character you want and explore the open wastes of Washington, D.C. however you choose. Every minute is a fight for survival as you encounter Super Mutants, Ghouls, Raiders, and other dangers of the Wasteland.

Fallout® 3 has been rated Mature by the ESRB. For more information on Fallout 3, visit https://fallout.bethsoft.com and www.prepareforthefuture.com."

Valve has announced that the previously announced "Left 4 Dead" demo is scheduled to be released at 7AM PST (Nov. 6th) for those who pre-ordered the game.

"This promotion is being offered in addition to the 10% savings for those who pre-order and applies to all Steam PC pre-orders and all PC and Xbox 360 pre-orders from GameStop and EB Games in North America.

On November 11 the demo will be made available to all PC and Xbox 360 gamers worldwide, with no obligation to purchase. The demo concludes on November 18, when Left 4 Dead will be made available at retail outlets across North America and worldwide via Steam.  "

The first patch for "Far Cry 2" has been released bringing the recently released first-person shooter/role-playing game to version 1.01.

The 42.3MB patch can be downloaded from AtomicGamer, FIleFront, FileShack, Gamer’s Hell, GameUpdates (torrent), Strategy Informer, or Worthplaying.

Changelist:

Multiplayer

• Server’s IP address now displays in lobby, beside the match’s name (for direct IP join to work)
• Dedicated Server can now be launched in command line.
• Improved match start conditions. Ranked games can now also start if the player max is attained and everybody but the host is ready.
• Fixed a bug causing random crashes when joining a game.
• Ranked matches in progress will no longer display in the match list.
• Fixed players with same name by using identifiers instead of names.
• Fixed crash when creating a LAN game without a network cable.
• The diamond pool is now always validated after class upgrades, reset or rank up to avoid getting more diamonds than you are supposed to for your rank.
• When creating a dedicated server with PunkBuster enabled, then close it to create another but this time with PunkBuster disabled, PunkBuster will still be considered ON, on this new server.
• Fixed a problem where a player could get stuck (and couldn’t get killed) after pressing the interaction key while wounded and getting rescued by a teammate at the same time.
• Fixed players getting disconnected if they have too many user maps and try to enter the map rotation menu in a Player or Ranked match.
• Vehicles will now always respawn even if they are never used.
• Fixed users not being able to see a match if the host switched match mode after a rank.
• Fixed a glitch that could make a player invisible to another.
• Fixed incorrect check for negative values when adjusting diamond count.
• Fixed a problem where a player would render through objects if healing a wounded playing while being wounded at the same time.
• Fixed reload not being interrupted on the host when a client picks a weapon while reloading.
• Fixed Field Manuals not unlocking after game mode change.

Singleplayer

• Fixed health not changing with the difficulty level.
• Keyboard controls remapping in single mode now carry into multiplayer mode.
• A buddy will no longer get stuck when healing him while player is receiving damage.
• Stats of favourite weapon are now properly reset between loaded save games.
• The mortar will no longer move the player through wall.
• Mission objectives markers are now show properly after loading a save game.

General

• Fixed glider key remapping.
• Game will now minimize in order to show the website when clicking on ubi.com.
• Dolby 5.1 is now supported for most sound cards.
• Fixed a random crash that could happen when pressing ESC to cancel a Benchmark run.
• Added CPU Intensive benchmark test run.
• Fixed Jackal Tapes and Partner Tapes pages.

Map editor

• Fixed crash in editor when deleting many objects in very rapid succession.
• Fixed crash in editor during parsing of the map headers.

CDV Software Entertainment has released two new intro trailers for "Sacred 2: Fallen Angel," giving viewers more of a look at role-playing game by Ascaron Entertainment that is scheduled to be released next week.

"Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is an Action-RPG with a rich story that takes place in a giant, open-ended and seamless world. This world contains hundreds of dungeons, treacherous opponents and a variety of challenging quests. Intelligent enemies, steadily adapting in number and difficulty based on player progress, challenge players in heroic single- and multiplayer battles."

A new trailer for "Mirror’s Edge" titled runners has been released, giving viewers more of a look at the upcoming action adventure game by DICE.

"Mirror’s Edge is a revolutionary first person action adventure game that delivers players straight into the shoes of Faith, a modern day heroine who traverses the vertigo-inducing cityscape, engaging in intense combat, fast-paced chases and challenging puzzles."

The list of new PC game releases, DVD releases, and movies opening the week of November 3th, 2008.

PC Games:

• CSI: New York
• James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
• Operation Mania
• Space Trader
• Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

Movies Opening This Week:

• House
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
• Repo! The Genetic Opera
• Role Models
• Soul Men
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (limited)

DVD Releases:

• All She Wants for Christmas
• Barbie in a Christmas Carol
• Blue Man Group: How to Be a Megastar Live! [Blu-ray]
• Classic Albums: Rio
• Extreme [Blu-ray]
• Foyle’s War: Sets 1-5 Bundle  
• Gamma Ray – Hell Yeah!!! The Awesome Foursome: Live In Montreal
• Get Smart
• Kung Fu Panda 
• Primeval: The Complete Series 1 and 2
• Shrek the Halls
• Spin City: The Complete Season 1
• Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
• The Bourne Trilogy
• The Complete Master Works 2
• The Outer Limits Original Series Complete Box Set 
• Trans-Siberian [Blu-ray]
• Waterworld

A new patch for "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky" has been released, bringing the FPS prequel by GSC Game World to version 1.5.07.

The 55MB patch can be downloaded from The Official Site, Atomic Gamer, FileFront, FileShack, Gamer’s Hell, Strategy Informer, or Worthplaying.

Note: There are separate patches for the retail and download versions of the game.

Changelist:

Saved games
1.5.04 and 1.5.05 saved games will be compatible with patch 1.5.07.

Game changes

• Fixed an error when the wounded guide didn’t want to lead the player anywhere.
• Increased the number of items for sell for the trader at the flea market.
• Added the possibility to upgrade SVDm 2 at Freedom’s mechanic.
• Fixed game crash upon the attempt to speak with the wounded character.
• Fixed an error, which led to the blocking of the storyline quest completion at Yantar (the door to Sakharov’s bunker couldn’t be opened).
• Increased the amount of money of the bandits’ trader.
• Fixed the displacement of the military warehouses on the PDA map.
• Added the possibility to load the last saved game by pressing space bar after the player’s death.

Render improvements

• Added DX10.1 support.
• Added MSAA for alpha-tested objects ("alpha-to-coverage" for DX10.0, custom "alpha-to-coverage" for DX10.1 for better performance, native DX10.1 implementation for better quality).
• Added new quality level for sun-shadows (ultra) for better picture quality.
• Added new min/max shadowmap technique (which takes advantage of DX10.1 when available) allows to speed up high quality sunshafts rendering for top video boards and high resolutions.
• Added high quality sunshafts acceleration for DX9 renderer.

Multiplayer:

• Fixed various game crashes of server and client sections.
• Added the detailed server’s statistics.
• Changed the saving of the server online-dump (dump is saved to online_dump.ltx).
• Added the changing of keyboard layout by pressing LCtrl +LShift.

Valve has announced that its new "Steam Cloud," a program that stores application data such as configuration settings, will be packed with the "Left 4 Dead" demo that is scheduled to be released on Thursday.

"Steam Cloud is a free extension to Steam, a leading a platform for PC games with over 15 million accounts worldwide.

Steam Cloud support will ship with Valve’s Left 4 Dead demo later this week and the full game on November 18. In this first release, the information stored and accessible through the Steam Cloud includes keyboard, mouse, and gamepad configurations, as well as multiplayer settings such as spraypaint images.

The Steam Cloud will "just work," meaning any user changes to their game options will propagate to the Cloud by default. Upon logging into Steam from another PC, these settings will be brought down from the Cloud and automatically leveraged by the game. Any configuration changes on this second machine are then synced to the Cloud for future sessions.

Steam Cloud will be available to all publishers and developers using Steam, free of charge, and Valve will add Cloud support to its back catalog of Steam games. Cloud services are compatible with games purchased via Steam, at retail, and other digital outlets.

"For some time now, Steam has allowed gamers to log on from any computer in the world and access their applications. This also makes it easy to upgrade a PC without worrying about losing your games," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "Steam Cloud is a natural extension of the portability Steam affords gamers and developers, and we intend to expand its feature set as it is used in Left 4 Dead and other games coming to Steam."
For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com"

THQ has announced "Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor," the next chapter in the popular real-time strategy game by Relic. The stand-alone chapter will feature three campaigns, new multiplayer modes, and a new "direct fire" feature, and is currently scheduled to be released in the spring of next year.

"Featuring three intense campaigns, brand-new multiplayer modes and an innovative “direct-fire” feature that allows even more tactical control during the heat of battle, Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor will immerse players in some of the most historic, tide-turning clashes of World War II. Internally developed by Relic Entertainment, the game is currently scheduled for release in spring 2009.

“Company of Heroes is one of the most critically acclaimed RTS series of all time,” said Peter Matiss, vice president of global brand management, THQ. “With Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor, Relic Entertainment is delivering an all-new, standalone chapter in the franchise and continues to push the boundaries of innovation and quality in the genre.”

”In Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor, we’re offering players a ton of rich, new content including more strategic options in single-player and multiplayer,” said Tarrnie Williams, general manager, Relic Entertainment. “With fresh new campaigns and multiplayer modes, brand-new units, additional maps and the introduction of the ‘direct-fire’ feature, we’re once again committed to delivering the best in strategic gaming.”

About Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor is the next standalone chapter in the award-winning Company of Heroes franchise, featuring all-new content, including three single-player campaigns, new multiplayer modes, additional maps and units. Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor also introduces a new “direct-fire” feature that allows players more tactical control of their units and more strategic options in-game. Developed by internal studio Relic Entertainment and powered by Relic’s proprietary Essence Engine™, Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor is fully compatible with Company of Heroes and Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, allowing players who own the entire series complete access to the epic battles of World War II. For more information on Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor, please visit www.companyofheroesgame.com."

A "Tomb Raider: Underworld" demo has been released, giving players a chance to try out the upcoming action adventure sequel by Crystal Dynamics.

"For generations, stories have been told of the fearsome weapon of Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Legend holds that Thor’s hammer had the power to smash mountains into valleys and to destroy even the gods. For more than a thousand years it has existed only as a myth…until now.

In an ancient ruin on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea, Lara Croft uncovers proof of the Norse underworld and the mythical hammer. As she attempts to unravel the secrets behind these myths, Lara’s perilous journey leads her toward a forgotten power that, if unleashed, could lay waste to all civilization."

The 1.19GB demo can be downloaded from The Official Site, AtomicGamer, FileFront, FileShack, Gamer’s Hell, Strategy Informer, or Worthplaying.

Valve has released the opening cinematic for the upcoming survival horror FPS "Left 4 Dead," giving viewers more of a look at the anticipated game that is scheduled to be released in a couple of weeks.

"Set in a modern day survival-horror universe, the co-operative gameplay of L4D casts four "Survivors" in an epic struggle against hordes of swarming zombies and terrifying "Boss Infected" mutants.

Valve’s next generation AI technology, allows for games of 1 to 8 players. Players can play as a Survivor or as one of four types of "Boss Infected," each of whom possess a unique mutant ability such as a 50-foot tongue lasso or a giant belly full of explosive methane gas.

The gameplay takes place across four massive campaigns. The "zombie" population of each mission is choreographed by an "AI Director" that monitors the human players’ actions and creates a unique and dramatic experience for them on the fly."

Electronic Arts released a new teaser video for "The Sims 3," the upcoming simulation sequel, which is a spoof of a Palin vs. Biden debate.

"Featuring a brand new engine that has been in development for nearly three years, The Sims 3 allows you to immerse your unique Sims in an open living neighborhood right outside their door. The initial feature-set unveiled includes the new seamless, open neighborhood, new Create A Sim, new realistic personalities and new unlimited customization. The Sims 3 will launch globally in 2009."