PC Game News

Blizzard Entertainment today announced that Diablo III has been shipped and is now available in retail stores.

“Diablo III continues the epic Diablo storyline, with players taking on the role of one of five heroic characters – barbarian, witch doctor, wizard, monk, or demon hunter – and embarking on an epic quest to save the world of Sanctuary from the corrupting forces of the Burning Hells. As players adventure through rich and varied settings, they’ll engage in pulse-pounding combat with hordes of monsters and challenging bosses, grow in experience and ability, acquire artifacts of incredible power, and meet key characters who’ll join them in battle or aid them in other ways . The game features the intuitive interface, fast-paced action, and visceral gameplay that Diablo players have come to expect and enjoy.

Designed from the ground up to leverage the full functionality of the Battle.net® platform, Diablo III also provides gamers with industry-leading matchmaking and communication tools, allowing adventurers to seamlessly join forces for cooperative play. Battle.net also provides the infrastructure for the Diablo III auction house, a feature-rich marketplace that Sanctuary’s heroes can use to trade their hard-earned treasures. To learn more about the auction house and the other features of Diablo III, please visit the official website at https://www.diablo3.com.”

A new gameplay video for MechWarrior Online was released, giving viewers more of a look at the upcoming new mech game by Piranha Games.

“Set in the year 3049 during the early stages of a massive interstellar war, MechWarrior Online puts you in command of the most powerful war machine to ever walk the field of battle, the mighty BattleMechâ„¢. Command your Mechâ„¢ and customize it to suit your battlefield role; upgrade systems, replace weapons, and tweak armor with endless options.”

Blizzard Entertainment and Valve today announced an agreement over the use of DOTA trademarks in which Valve will continue to use DOTA and DOTA 2 commercially and Blizzard will use DOTA non-commercially in Warcraft III and Starcraft II. The terms of the agreement were not released.

“Both Blizzard and Valve recognize that, at the end of the day, players just want to be able to play the games they’re looking forward to, so we’re happy to come to an agreement that helps both of us stay focused on that,” said Rob Pardo, executive vice president of game design at Blizzard Entertainment. “As part of this agreement, we’re going to be changing the name of Blizzard DOTA to Blizzard All-Stars, which ultimately better reflects the design of our game. We look forward to going into more detail on that at a later date.”

“We’re pleased that we could come to an agreement with Blizzard without drawing things out in a way that would benefit no one,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “We both want to focus on the things our fans care about, creating and shipping great games for our communities.”

Valve today announced that the Portal 2 Perpetual Testing Initiative, which released on Tuesday, has been downloaded over 1.3 million times and over 35,000 user maps have been created. To celebrate, they are holding a sale on Steam in which Portal 2 will be 66% off, Skyrim 33% off, and several TF2 items will be 50% off.

“The Perpetual Testing Initiative allows players to easily create, share, and play Portal 2 puzzles. The Initiative comes with a simplified Puzzle Maker that allows that creation of mind-bending puzzles without ever leaving the game.
 
The Puzzle Maker directly publishes maps to the Steam Workshop where users may browse, vote on, and select to play them. Selected puzzles are automatically downloaded and installed inside Portal 2.
 
For more information please visit www.steamgames.com“

Valve today announced The International Dota 2 Championships 2012, which will take place in Seattle during PAX.

“The International was launched last year in Cologne, Germany during Gamescom with 16 of the most elite Dota teams competing in a group stage, double elimination playoff format for a grand prize of $1 million. This year, The International moves to Benaroya Hall in Seattle, WA during the PAX Prime event, August 31 – September 2, 2012.

The tournament will again be broadcast in multiple languages, free of charge.

Coming to the PC this year, Dota 2 promises to take the unique blend of online RTS and RPG action that has made Dota popular with tens of millions of gamers around the world.

For more information on Valve and its games, please visit www.dota2.com“

Lukewarm Media released a new alpha gameplay video for Primal Carnage, the upcoming shooter with dinosaurs.

“A predator’s thirst for prey cannot be satiated by anything other than a perfect kill, and soon players will be wielding the blood-parched, unrelenting force of history’s greatest generation of hunters – the dinosaurs.  Delivered with immense pride by developer Lukewarm Media and publisher Reverb Publishing, Primal Carnage sets players in a man versus pre-historic beast online deathmatch as savvy survivalists collide with foes of brute force, allowing players to choose a side. A new video of alpha footage showcasing the FPS/third-person blend has been unveiled, and it packs a ton of primitive fury and human finesse.

For more information about Primal Carnage, check out the website at www.primalcarnage.com“

NeoCore games today announced The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, an upcoming action RPG  based loosely on Bram Stroker’s classic Dracula novel. The game is currently scheduled to release in Q4 of this year.

“Set in a gothic-noir universe resembling a fantastical 19th century Europe filled with monsters, magic, and weird technology, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing will follow the son of the famed hunter, known in-game as Van Helsing, in a tale wrought with wry humor and snappy dialogue. Van Helsing, a larger-than-life hero possessing a dark yet romantic charm, will follow his path to the dismal land of Borgovia where former supernatural foes have enlisted his help to defeat a new scourge terrorizing the ravaged Eastern European city. With an assortment of extraordinary characters, an engrossing storyline, and a beautifully dark and gothic art style, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing looks to bring RPG enthusiasts an anachronistic adventure like no other.

“Being located in Eastern Europe and having experience developing RPGs, Van Helsing is a natural fit for us; it’s a project where we can demonstrate our expertise in both domains and create something novel that RPG fans can appreciate,” said Viktor Juhász, lead writer at NeocoreGames. “We’ve always enjoyed crafting games from legendary tales, but with our own twist, and Van Helsing provides us the perfect game world to experiment with.”

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is slated for a late Q4 2012 release.”

Paradox Interactive announced the release of Warlock: Master of the Arcane, the turn-based strategy game by Ino-Co. A demo is also available on Steam.

“Warlock: Master of the Arcane is a new fantasy strategy game from Paradox Interactive and Ino-Co Plus. Set in the universe from the “Majesty” series, you are challenged to build an empire of steel and magic and unite Ardania at the point of a wand.

Warlock: Master of the Arcane is released today, May 8th via retail and all major digital distribution platforms for a recommended retail price of $19.99.”

Valve today announced the release of the Perpetual Testing Initiative DLC for Portal 2, giving players a chance to create and share their own puzzles.

“Available now for PC and Mac, The “Perpetual Testing Initiative” allows players to easily create, share, and play Portal 2 puzzles. The Initiative comes with a simplified Puzzle Maker that allows that creation of mind-bending puzzles without ever leaving the game.
 
The Puzzle Maker can directly publish maps to the Steam Workshop where users can browse, vote on, and select to play them. Selected puzzles will automatically be downloaded and installed inside Portal 2.
 
Portal 2 holds a Metacritic score of 95% and has been awarded numerous Game of Year awards. It features expansive single and cooperative multiplayer game modes.
 
For more information on Portal 2 and its downloadable content, please visit https://www.thinkwithportals.com.”

The list of new PC game releases, Blu-ray releases, and movies opening the week of May 7th, 2012.

PC games:

• House of 1,000 Doors: Palm of Zoroaster
• Nancy Drew: Tomb of the Lost Queen
• Nexuiz
• Warlock: Master of the Arcane

Movies opening this week:

• A Bag of Hammers
• Dark Shadows
• God Bless America (limited)
• Girl in Progress (limited)
• Hick (limited)
• I Wish (limited)
• The Road
• Tonight You’re Mine
• Where Do We Go Now? (limited)

Blu-ray releases:

• 42nd Street Forever
• Beautiful Wave
• Chuck: Season One
• Chuck: The Complete Fifth Season
• Dirty Dancing: 2 Film Collection
• Front Line
• Ganja & Hess: Kino Classics Remastered Ed.
• Gremlins 2: The New Batch
• Humans vs. Zombies
• La Haine (Criterion Collection)
• Mask Maker
• Mother’s Day
• Murder Obsession
• Playback
• Shock Labyrinth
• The Vow
• Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie
• Underworld: Awakening
• Underworld: The Legacy Collection

Paradox Interactive and Ino-Co today announced the launch of the official site for Warlock: Master of the Arcane. In addition, a new trailer and a beginner’s guide were released.

“A continent divided among humans, monsters and undead cannot stay at peace for long. Great wizards are quick to anger and slow to forgive.

In the new trailer for Warlock: Master of the Arcane, war is inevitable with armies of giant turtles, beastmasters, elementals and vampires – each force backed up with the power of magic. Scaly sea serpents roam the coasts and ogres threaten civilization itself. But a wizard has other priorities, like becoming the one archmage to rule them all – the Warlock.”

THQ today officially announced Company of Heroes 2, which was previously revealed by GameInformer.

“As a true sequel, this game moves the battle away from the common Western Front focus of World War II and refocuses on some of history’s most brutal and devastating conflicts on the Eastern Front, challenging players to take command of the iconic Red Army and repel the Nazi invaders from the very gates of Moscow.

Company of Heroes 2 utilizes Relic® Entertainment’s state of the art proprietary Essence 3.0 EngineTM to bring new technological advancements to the strategy genre in the form of innovative Dynamic Battle Tactics, increased graphical fidelity and new environmental destruction, ultimately putting the player in control with new Commander Abilities.

Greg Wilson, Producer at Relic Entertainment commented, “Company of Heroes 2 is a true successor, introducing a new front, new protagonists and new technology while retaining the unique mix of strategic gameplay and competitive multiplayer that made the original Company of Heroes such a success.”

Danny Bilson, Executive Vice President of Core Games commented, “We are excited to announce a sequel to one of THQ’s best loved properties. Company of Heroes 2 will deliver an amazing strategy experience along with a strong post-launch digital content plan that enhances and expands the product’s lifecycle.”

Company of Heroes 2 is scheduled to be available for PC in early 2013. For more information check www.companyofheroes.com. “

Paradox Interactive and Ino-Co today released a new tutorial video for Warlock: Master of the Arcane.

“This new six minute video tutorial will walk you through the basics of city development, unit movement, magic, diplomacy and exploration. With this training under your robes, you will be ready to jump into warlock and make the rogues, and minotaurs and vampires effective soldiers in your army of light. Or dark. Or whatever spell path you choose to follow.”

Oofta, this is just too much for one night. After learning of the new Company of Heroes 2 earlier it turns out that Game Informer magazine has the reveal for The Elder Scrolls Online. Here’s more from the Bethesda Blog:

“Since opening its doors in August of 2007, we haven’t been able to say much about happenings at ZeniMax Online Studios – until today. Announced just minutes ago, Game Informer’s June 2012 cover story is… The Elder Scrolls Online!

The magazine will be available to subscribers early next week and should arrive at GameStop stores shortly after that. You’ll also want to keep your eyes on GameInformer.com/ElderScrollsOnline. Today they put up the magazine cover, and you can expect more updates throughout the month.

The Elder Scrolls Online is planned for a 2013 release on both PC and Mac.”

Scans from the June issue of PC Gamer UK have the reveal of Company of Heroes 2, a new sequel to the immensely popular RTS game by Relic that will focus on the Eastern Front of WWII.

Here are a couple of snippets:

“You can’t make a game about the Eastern Front and not have snow, but this isn’t just a flat, white texture. This snow has depth, will spread procedurally, and will compact when rolled over by tanks. It changes the way you think about the battlefield: tanks can get bogged down in the deep snowdrifts, infantry can use it to flank. It provides a blanket of cover for the land’s actual terrain. It does everything short of lemon-flavoured snowcones.”

“When the cutscene is over, Matthew is given control of two new squads of Soviets. This time, he makes his own cover by dropping a smoke grenade. As he does so, a fog of war effect greys out the area on the other side. Relic calls this ‘True Sight’, and it’s another of CoH2’s new additions. You can only see what your soldiers can see.”