PC Game News

Gala Networks Europe and Gala-Net announced that a major content update for Allods Online will be released this month that will include a new mentoring system, a new sector of Astral space for treasure hunting, in addition to fixes and tweaks. To celebrate the game’s first anniversary on May 11th, there will also be a week of in-game events with rewards.

“The mentoring system in Allods Online allows a new character to benefit from the guidance and knowledge of a more experienced player of the same faction and archetype. Characters over level 30 can form a special bond with any newly created, non-reincarnated character over level 6 and the entire process is managed within the game’s UI, using a special window to manage requests and to automatically match mentors with prospective apprentices. Mentors will receive a range of rewards for their efforts, including gold, anniversary coins and marks of diligence. The type and value of rewards are based on the amount of time a player spends mentoring their apprentice. The mentoring relationship ends when an apprentice reaches the same level as their mentor.
 
Also launching in the coming update is a new sector of Astral space for fearless Astral travelers with a lust for treasure. As a pure free-for-all with no protection for faction alliances, players enter the sector in their Astral vessels to acquire randomly-spawning treasure. As more ships enter, the chance of treasure spawning becomes more likely, but this increase in riches comes at a cost – the chance of a demon appearing also increases, turning the Astral treasure hunt into the most chaotic free-for-all possible in Astral ships, with the victors reaping the rewards. Time for each ship in the treasure hunting sector is limited, so players will have to fly carefully and pick their battles to make the most of it.
 
While the Astral treasure hunt and the mentoring system round off the new content for May, there is even more to come as Allods Online will celebrate the 1st anniversary of its official launching on May 11th 2012. Players can look forward to a celebration week filled with in-game events and amazing rewards, including a unique, never before seen wolf mount which will be granted to every player as a gift to mark this momentous occasion.
 
More detailed information on can be found on the official European and North Amercian Allods Online websites.”

ISOTX today announced that the Scorched Earth expansion for Iron Grip: Warlord has been released.

“In Scorched Earth, the small group of still defiant Atelians is under increasing pressure from the imposing Confederacy. A number of exciting weapons, enemy characters and units have been added, including airstrikes and the Deathhand Missile Launcher. Confederate spies lurk amidst the rebel ranks waiting to stab Atelians in the back, and the race is on to hunt down Confederate officers whilst defending strongholds against massed hordes of infantry and machinery. As players embark upon their objectives, they will discover new Atelian resources, including a powerful rocket launcher and a propaganda radio to incite Confederate units to indiscriminately attack everything around them.”

Square Enix and IO Interactive today released a new trailer for Hitman Absolution, which showcases some of the different approaches and gameplay techniques included in the upcoming sequel.

“INTRODUCING is dedicated to show the richness, depth and possibilities surrounding the living and breathing world of HITMAN: ABSOLUTIONâ„¢ – powered by IO INTERACTIVE’S new proprietary GLACIER 2â„¢ technology.”

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Sega today announced the launch of the Dragon War Battle Pack, which includes six historical battles that were previously only available with the Fall of the Samurai expansion.

“The Dragon War Battle Pack consists of six consecutively-played legendary battles from the Boshin War, depicting the campaign of the Imperial general Saigo Takamori. Previously available only with the Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of The Samuraiâ„¢ expansion, they can now be accessed in the original Total War: Shogun 2 â„¢.

These battles will give Shogun 2 players a taste of the explosive modern combat seen in Fall of The Samurai, and access to some of the formidable armaments and vehicles of the Boshin War, such as the Gatling Gun, the Armstrong Gun, the Ironclad and the Torpedo Boat.

Command the féted warrior Saigo Takamori and his Imperial army. Wield the ferocious weapons of the late 1800s as you fight against the armies of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Win Japan for the Emperor, and relive the War of the Year of the Dragon!

Additionally, owners of the Dragon War Battle Pack will save the amount they spent on the Dragon War Battle Pack when they purchase Fall of the Samurai in the future. Check your digital retailer for details. “

The list of new PC game releases, Blu-ray releases, and movies opening the week of April 30th, 2012.

PC games:

• Call of Cthulu: The Wasted Land
• Gas Guzzlers: Combat Carnage
• MiroTale
• Nexuiz
• Port Royale 3: Pirates and Merchants
• Reflexio
• Tera Online

Movies opening this week:

• A Little Bit of Heaven (limited)
• First Position (limited LA/NY)
• Last Call at the Oasis (limited)
• LOL (limited)
• Meeting Evil (limited)
• Mother’s Day (limited)
•  The Avengers
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• The Perfect Family (limited)

Blu-ray releases:

• About a Boy
• Believe in Me
• Bird of Paradise: Kino Classics Ed.
• Casablanca: 70th Anniversary Ed.
• Cilea: Adreiana Lecouvreur
• Clueless
• Definitely, Maybe
• Discoveries… America, National Parks: Arches Canyonlands & Natural Bridges
• Discoveries… America, National Parks: Dry Tortugas and the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center
• Discoveries… America, National Parks: Yellowstone Dual Personalities in Spring & Winter
• George Harrison: Living In The Material World
• Haywire
• Ip Man
• Ip Man 2
• Jeremiah Johnson
• Joyful Noise
• Man From Nowhere
• Meet Joe Black
• Men in Black II
• Mimic 3 Film Set
• New Year’s Eve
• New Year’s Eve
• NOVA: Secrets of the Sun
• Pillow Talk Collector’s Series
• The Tim Burton Collection
• The Wizard of Gore / The Gore Girls
• W.E.

Bethesda updated its blog today revealing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dawnguard, the first DLC for the popular RPG. The thing that PC and PS3 gamers will love about this announcement is the small text at the bottom that states: “Coming this summer to Xbox 360. More details at E3.” A tweet from the company confirms that this DLC will release on the Xbox 360 before the other platforms. Thanks…

TopWare Interactive released a gameplay trailer for Raven’s Cry, the upcoming action adventure game by Octane Games.

“The video shows the first early gameplay footage of the pirate revenge tale. “Raven’s Cry” is the story of Christopher Raven, a lost soul haunted by his own inner demons as he hunts for the men who murdered his family in the 17th century Caribbean.”

Valve today announced Portal 2: Perpetual Testing Initiative, free DLC that will be released on May 8th. This new DLC pack includes a simplified in-game puzzle creator, which can publish directly to the Steam Workshop. This allows players to easily create, share, and play new puzzles.

Portal 2 was released in April of last year and quickly become one of the top rated games of 2011. Our own Chris Park gave it a review score of 9.5/10 and it landed on our top games of 2011 list. For more information visit: https://www.thinkwithportals.com

A new gameplay video for MechWarrior Tactics was released today, giving viewers a look at the upcoming turn-based strategy game by ACRONYM Games and Roadhouse Interactive.

“It’s the year 3025. Hostile enemy lances are closing in all around you. As Commander of an elite mercenary company, it’s up to you to ensure swift victory and make your enemies pay dearly. Your Mech Bay hosts a vast array of custom Mechs, each configured for a specific combat role. Choose wisely which Mechs to take into battle: your future as the leader of your lances depends on it.

MechWarrior Tactics is a brand-new MechWarrior game set in the BattleTech® universe and includes everything you love about MechWarrior. MechWarrior Tactics is the latest evolution of turn-based strategy and blends tactical gameplay, deep collectability, and unique online features, and is set against visually stunning environments for the supreme MechWarrior battle experience. Players earn, collect, and purchase combat and aesthetic resources to outfit each Mech and prepare for the next online battle.”

Focus Home Interactive today released a new trailer for Game of Thrones, which focuses on the main plot of the game.

“Intense and tactical battles in Game of Thrones pit players against merciless opponents. They will need to be aware of the battle situation at every moment or they will soon encounter their bitter fate!

Anticipating the actions of the enemy and countering their moves will be necessary to emerge victorious from combat. With a large variety of character classes, elaborate skill trees and a broad range of weaponry and armors, all players will find something that suits their needs. By planning the best tactics, they will be able to win even the most difficult battles! Discover more battles of the RPG, Game of Thrones, through the 5 screenshots released today!

We also want to announce the launch of the pre-orders for the PC version of Game of Thrones on Steam! Starting now, all Steam pre-orders of the game include FREE access to the Prima Official eGuide for Game of Thrones! This amazing digital guide, accessible through the Steam overlay, includes all the secrets of the game, over 40 interactive maps, a comprehensive walkthrough to unlock all endings, expert tips, more than 130 exclusive codex entries, and much more! “

Arcen Games today announced the release of A Valley Without Wind, an open-world sidescroller, which is discounted 10% in price until May 1st.

“The PC/Mac title brings over 100 achievements along with 2-8+ player co-op multiplayer with cross-platform play. Also on offer is a “buy three get one free” pack to help groups of friends jump into multiplayer at a discount.

After 15 months of active development, which included a six month open beta with showings at MineCon and PAX East, the game has evolved in ways we couldn’t have imagined at the start. We don’t plan on stopping here either. Those who know of our post-release support standards for AI War will be happy to hear that we have the exact same plan in mind for A Valley Without Wind.”

The list of new PC game releases, Blu-Ray releases, and movies opening the week of April 23rd, 2012.

PC games:

• A Valley Without Wind
• Binary Domain
• Revelations 2012
• Risen 2: Dark Waters
• The Walking Dead

 Movies opening this week:

• 96 Minutes (limited)
• Bernie
• Citizen Gangster (limited)
• Elles (limited)
• Headhunters (limited)
• Safe
• Sound of My Voice (limited)
• The Broken Tower (limited)
• The Five Year Engagement
• The Giant Mechanical Man (limited)
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits
• The Raven

Blu-ray releases:

• A Hollis Frampton Odyssey (Criterion Collection)
• Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Series 4
• Badge 373
• Camelot
• Cave of the Yellow Dog
• Cinema Verite
• Contraband
• Dark Tide
• Delibes: Lakme
• Elektra
• Eugene Onegin
• Fallen Star
• Faure Requiem
• Girl On a Motorcycle: Remastered Ed.
• Hit!
• Killer Nun
• Marquis De Sade’s Justine: Remastered Ed.
• Marvel Animated Feature: 3-Movie Collection
• Nazis at the Center of the Earth
• Nutcracker
• Pariah
• Piano Recital
• Raymonda
• Shogun Assassin – 5 Film Collectors Ed.
• Some Days Are Better Than Others
• The Fields
• The innkeepers
• The Jayhawkers
• The Organizer (Criterion Collection)
• The Red House
• The Scarlet Worm
• The Wicker Tree
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• Titanic
• Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show
• Ultimate Avengers Movie Collection

We missed a tiny blurb in the Prototype 2 launch press release way down at the end that says the PC version will be available on July 24th of this year.  There doesn’t seem to be any explanation on why this happened at the moment. This particular press release is so full of promotional language and hype that it wasn’t clear PC gamers are being shafted… again.

Ubisoft today announced Anno 2070: Deep Ocean, an upcoming expansion in the RTS series that is scheduled to be released this Autumn.

“Key features of ANNO 2070 Deep Ocean:

New civilization level
For the first time in the history of the Anno series an add-on brings a new civilization level:  the Tech faction is expanded by the Genius population class.  

A deeper game experience
The new population class grants access to the new Tech Monument, new corresponding production chains and consumption goods. Furthermore this new class features new vehicles and new items allowing players to develop industries, strengthen economies and exploit new resources.

Additional content and challenges
Players will also be able to:

• Acquire enemy territories without using military force through the “Hostile Takeover” feature
• Resolve energy problems by building the new underwater geothermal power plant
• Optimize energy supply through “Energy transfer” between islands
• Face a new dangerous disaster: The Tsunami
• Unlock new rewards for each faction’s career ladder
• Take advantage of new underwater trading routes
• Experience over 150 new challenging quests
• Unlock over 30 new achievements
• Access to player comparison via new leaderboards

For more information on Anno 2070, please visit https://anno.ubi.com“

Rockstar Games today released the system requirements for Max Payne 3, the upcoming next installment in  the dark shooter series. The surprising spec is the 35GB of space, which is hopefully a good thing (high-res cut-scenes, textures, etc.). Also, there isn’t an explanation for the high range of the specifications – they seem to go from min to max instead of min and recommended.

“Developed in parallel with the game’s console versions, Max Payne 3 for PC supports DirectX11 including tessellation, as well as a number of additional advanced graphics options and is optimized to run across a wide range of PC setups.”

Max Payne 3 PC System Specifications

• Operating System: Windows 7 32/64 Service Pack 1, Windows Vista 32/64 Service Pack 2, Windows XP 32/64 Service Pack 3
• Processor: Intel Dual Core 2.4 GHZ -  i7 3930K 6 Core  x 3.06 GHZ / AMD Dual Core 2.6 GHZ – FX8150 8 Core x 3.6 GHZ
• RAM:  2GB – 16GB
• Video Card: NVIDIA® 8600 GT 512MB VRAM – NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680 2GB VRAM / Radeon HD 3400 512MB VRAM – Radeon HD 7970 3GB VRAM
• Sound Card: 100% Direct X 9.0 compatible – Direct X 9.0 compatible supporting Dolby Digital Live
• HDD Space: 35 GB