PC Game News

7DCD started their podcast off with a bang, roping in Gabe Newell for a lengthy interview.  The interview covers CS: GO, Defense of the Ancients 2, the recent Tim Cook rumors, augmented reality, gaming hardware, MetaCritic scores, Valve’s management structure, and EA’s Origin service. He also mentions a few things on the development of “Ricochet 2“, which seems to be an obvious pretense for Half-Life 3 if you listen to it.

Gabe said the following on “Ricochet 2“:

“In terms of Ricochet 2, we always have this problem that when we talk about things too far in advance we end up changing our minds as we’re going through and developing stuff. So, as we’re thinking through the giant story arc, which is Ricochet 2, you might get to a point were you’re saying something is surprising us in a positive way and something is surprising us in a negative way. We’d like to be super transparent about the future of Ricochet 2. The problem is we think that the twists and turns that we’re going through would probably drive people more crazy than just being silent about it… until we can be very crisp about what’s happening next.”

A follow up question reveals that everyone was working on Ricochet 2 is still working on Ricochet 2.

 You can listen to the full podcast at: https://www.sevendaycooldown.com/site/episode001/

2K Games today released a new trailer for Spec Ops: The Line, highlighting more of the multiplayer portion of the upcoming shooter.

“Spec Ops: The Line unfolds within the destroyed opulence of Dubai. Once the playground for the world’s wealthiest elite, Dubai has fallen victim to a series of cataclysmic sandstorms. The city’s ultramodern architecture lies half-buried under millions of tons of sand. The very sand that blankets the city plays a marquee role in altering combat situations and serves as a powerful but unpredictable force that will both help and hinder players throughout the course of the game.”

Paradox Interactive today announced the release of an extensive patch for Crusader Kings II, which adds new content and improves various components.

“The key new content includes:

CRUSADES

• New Crusade System – The Pope declares the war and other rulers can join the attacking alliance with the ruler contributing the most gaining the targeted kingdom
• Coalition Armies – Armies can now be ‘attached’ to each other after which they will follow the lead army

EVENTS & PLOTS

• Two New Plots – Plot to revoke your vassal’s title, plot to cut a more powerful fellow vassal down to size
• More than 100 new events (Friendship & Rivalries, Regencies and others)

DYNAMIC KINGDOMS

• Six New Kingdoms – Added the kingdoms of Frisia, Lotharingia, Bavaria, Pomerania, Aquitaine and Brittany

GAMEPLAY & FLAVOR

• New diplomatic options – offer to Join War, Matrilineal Betrothal)
• Causes of Death – See what characters have died of to determine whether they were murdered or not
• War Contribution Score – Participants in wars now get a contribution score which determines how much prestige and piety they get when the war ends
• Culture uncoupled from ethnicity

Complete patch notes: https://bit.ly/HR8h3I

In addition to patch 1.05, several DLC:s have also released today. The Crusader Kings II Ruler Designer DLC introduces a range of creative options for players including character creation when starting a new game, portrait customization, Dynasty naming, designing Coats of Arms, assignation of skill points & traits, creating a spouse & children and replacing a historical character with your own.”

NCsoft and ArenaNet today announced that the first public beta weekend for the highly anticipated Guild Wars 2 will run from April 27th – 29th.

“The only way players can guarantee access to Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Events is to pre-purchase the Guild Wars 2 Collector’s, Digital Deluxe, or Standard/Digital Editions. In addition to access to our Beta Weekend Events, players will receive three-day Headstart Access prior to launch and the exclusive Hero’s Band in-game item. Pre-Purchase is available at buy.guildwars2.com or from selected retailers.

Eligible players should look for an email coming from NCsoft with additional information on how to download the client and additional account registration information. For information on the type of content players will experience in the Beta Weekend Event and exact timing, please look for an upcoming article on the ArenaNet blog at www.arena.net/blog. “

Funcom today announced the launch of The Secret War, a browser-based game inspired by the upcoming MMORPG The Secret World. The game includes prizes such as early beta access and in-game items.

“Starting today ‘The Secret War’ will run as a campaign where players get to actively spread the influence of their secret society in a highly interactive experience that tracks each secret society’s level of power in the world.

Players start by taking a unique personality to determine what secret society they belong to. After joining a secret society, players are immediately placed in the middle of the secret war and can start recruiting agents to their cause through their Facebook friends list. Players will have to deploy agents to different countries to increase the influence of their secret society in those regions.

As you assist your secret society in their bid for world domination, you will climb their ranks and unlock a wealth of exclusive rewards that can be used in ‘The Secret World’ MMO at launch, such as clothes, weapons, elixirs and more. Players can also unlock guaranteed access to the upcoming Beta Weekends, and can win a trip to Montreal to meet the developers of ‘The Secret World’. One of the more exclusive prizes is the opportunity to have your name embedded into the game at launch.”

Sign up on The Secret War site.

Two new Prototype 2 videos were released today, one featuring a new ability that allows James to control a pack of brawlers and the other a nice live action trailer. Prototype 2 releases next week.

“The sequel to Radical Entertainment’s best-selling open-world action game of 2009, PROTOTYPE 2 takes the unsurpassed carnage of the original PROTOTYPE and continues the experience of becoming the ultimate shape-shifting weapon.  As the game’s all-new infected protagonist, Sgt. James Heller, players will cut a bloody swathe through the wastelands of post-viral New York Zero with unparalleled locomotion, building up a vast genetic arsenal of deadly, biological weapons and abilities as they hunt, kill and consume their way toward the ultimate goal — to kill…Alex…Mercer!”

Pack leader video:

Live action trailer:

Sony Online Entertainment today announced the release of the Skyshrine update for EverQuest II.

“In the latest game update, players are introduced to the huge citadel of Skyshrine and the vast Withered Lands. Skyshrine arrives with a ton of new content and many other additions for fans of its most recent expansions – Destiny of Velious and Age of Discovery.

For players that have the Destiny of Velious expansion, Skyshrine is packed with content updates including a level cap raised to 92, an outdoor zone in Withered Lands that includes more than 100 quests, solo, small groups, and raid content, and epic storyline events with Heroic Group and Raid endgame instances. Players can now experience an all new Drake mount, new tradeskill quests and new items that have been woven into the story arc.

Players with the Age of Discovery expansion will be treated to new additions including a Poet’s Palace Dungeon Maker theme and items, new Dungeon Maker adventurers, Tradeskill apprentices with new recipes including an Elite recipe, new creatures to tame for Beastlords, and for the first time, three new quested mercenaries, including an Elite mercenary.

For more information on Skyshrine for EverQuest II, visit: https://everquest2.com/.”

The list of new PC game releases, Blu-Ray releases, and movies opening the week of April 16th, 2012.

PC games:

• Crusader Kings II: Ruler Designer DLC
• Crusader Kings II: Songs of Albion DLC
• Crusader Kings II: Songs of Faith DLC
• Crusader Kings II: Songs of the Holy Land DLC
• Dark Strokes: Sins of the Fathers – Collector’s Ed.
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – The Teeth of Naros DLC
• The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition

Movies opening this week:

• Chimpanzee
• Darling Companions (limited)
• Fightville (limited)
• Goodbye First Love (limited)
• Marley (limited)
•  The Lucky One
• Think Like a Man
• The Moth Diaries (limited)
• To the Arctic 3D

Blu-Ray releases:

• 6 Film Masters of Terror 2
• 6-Film Fast Action
• 7 Below
• Alambrista! (Criterion Collection)
• America Revealed
• Baseball’s Greatest Games 2011 World Series Game 6
• Buck Privates Collector’s Series
• Cuba Today
• Frozen Planet: The Complete Series
• Halloween: Resurrection
• High Road to China
• IMAX: Born to be Wild
• In Too Deep
• Jerusalem Countdown
• Late Spring (Criterion Collection)
• Mayday!: Season 3 and 4
• Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
• Murdoch Mysteries: Season 1
• Operation Condor 2: Armour of God
• Roadracers
• Route 66: Marathon Tour: Chicago to L.A.
• Secret Life of Birds
• Shame
• Sharpe’s Battle & Sword
• Sharpe’s Honor & Gold
• Sharpe’s Justice & Waterloo
• Sharpe’s Mission & Revenge
• Sharpe’s Rifles & Eagle
• The Asphyx: Remastered Ed.
• The Bravest
• The Civil War: Beyond the Battlefields
• The Divide
• The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby
• The World’s Greatest Railroads
• Treme: The Complete Second Season
• Up From Slavery
• WWII: The Atlantic Campaign
• WWII: The Pacific Campaign

The Bethesda blog has been updated with the debut trailer for Dishonored, the upcoming action adventure game by Arkane Studios.

“Dishonored casts you as a supernatural assassin driven by revenge. You are the once-trusted bodyguard of the beloved Empress. Framed for her murder, you become an infamous assassin, known only by the disturbing mask that has become your calling card. In a time of uncertainty, when the city is being besieged by plague and ruled by an oppressive government armed with strange technologies, dark forces conspire to bestow upon you abilities beyond those of any common man.

In Dishonored, creatively eliminate your targets with the flexible combat system as you combine the numerous supernatural abilities, weapons and unusual gadgets at your disposal. Pursue your enemies under the cover of darkness or ruthlessly attack them head on with weapons drawn. The outcome of each mission plays out based on the choices you make.”

Paradox today released a new developer diary video with Turbo Tape Games in which the music in Naval War: Arctic Circle is featured.

“In the final video developer diary from Turbo Tape Games, the Naval War: Arctic Circle development team talks about how the music of the game will capture the spirit of whatever is going on on-screen. The Bergen, Norway based developers turned to a band from their own city and worked together with the black metal artist Demonaz, most famous for his work in Immortal.”

The official Witcher 2 site has been updated with the announcement of the release of the Enhanced Edition of the game. Current owners can download the update via the game launcher and new customers can purchase from the major digital distribution portals.

“The day has come. The Enhanced Edition patch is now available for download. Get ready to jump in into the most polished and plentiful version of The Witcher 2!

The Enhanced Edition of The Witcher 2 gives you 4 more hours of quests, new cut-scenes and cinematics and over 100 improvements, when compared with the initial version of the game. The game is available now for Xbox 360 and PC, but all of you who already have the game can download a free update and enjoy all of RPG greatness right now.

Game should update automatically via game launcher.”

BioWare today announced the launch of Update 1.2: Legacy for Star Wars: The Old Republic, a large content update with new gameplay content, an evolution of the Legacy System that ties all of your characters together and includes popular requests from the community.

“Game Update 1.2:  Legacy is a huge milestone for The Old Republic and clearly demonstrates what we mean when we talk about this game being a full-fledged, ongoing service,” said Dr. Greg Zeschuk, General Manager of the BioWare Label’s MMO Business Unit and Co-Founder of BioWare. “Not only is Game Update 1.2 the largest update for The Old Republic, but it also addresses a lot of the game features and enhancements our players have been asking for since we launched a little over three months ago, We are incredibly proud of the team for being able to deliver an update of this size and quality, in a relatively short amount of time.”

Game Update 1.2 is highlighted by the next evolution of the Legacy System, giving players the ability to give all of their characters a strong familial bond in the form of bonus abilities and character customization. Players will link their different characters together into a single family tree, giving them the power to unlock and share special Legacy-only abilities, and new convenience items for player ships including the Galactic Trade Network terminal. The Legacy System will also give players the ability to unlock new races for new characters and will be advantageous in strengthening companion characters affection and moral alignment through bonuses.

In addition to the Legacy System, the Game Update 1.2 will introduces other game features, including improved UI customization, Guild Banks and valuable new in-game items.  This game update will also introduce challenging new high-level content for both experienced and new players to enjoy”

The launch trailer for The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition, which releases next week, has been released.

“What’s New in the Enhanced Edition:

Additional hours of gameplay: New major adventures set in previously unseen locations, expanding the story and introducing new characters, mysteries and monsters.

New Game Introduction and Cinematics: All new animations and cut scenes, including a new, three and a half minute pre-rendered cinematic depicting the assassination of King Demavend of Aedirn. BAFTA Award winner and Academy Award nominee Tomasz Baginski brings this key historical event to life, setting the stage for the story told in The Witcher 2.

The Witcher 2, in its most definitive Enhanced Edition, will be available through automatic update for free, for all existing and new users (all new installations will update to Enhanced Edition automatically during game installation process). “

Rockstar today released a new video in the design and technology series, this time focusing on bullet time.

“Bullet Time, Max’s key to evening up the odds and surviving, is at the heart of Max Payne 3’s gameplay. Check out the latest video in the Design and Technology Series above that shows how enhancements to this signature mechanic add a new level of drama and detail to the third person shooter.”

Hi-Rez Studios today announced the launch of Tribes: Ascend, the free-to-play multiplayer shooter.

“Tribes: Ascend is the world’s fastest shooter.  The game features jetpacks, skiing, vehicles, team-based gameplay, and cutting-edge graphics using Unreal 3 technology.  With this official release, the game is available for download directly from the developer at www.tribesascend.com    

The Tribes: Ascend release build includes 9 playable classes, 5 game-modes, and 16 unique maps. “