PC Game News

Electronic Arts, 38 Studios, and Big Huge Games today released the first DLC pack for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning titled The Legend of Dead Kel.

“The extended gameplay features an enthralling tale of intrigue, danger and dark magic on the island of Gallows End with mysterious characters, a host of new side quests, treacherous battles with new enemies and exciting new challenges. The Legend of Dead Kel gives players access to Gallows End, a gigantic new landmass to explore where players can claim ownership of a vast personal estate and experience new weapons, Twists of Fate and other perks against new enemies. The Legend of Dead Kel is available starting today on Xbox LIVE®, PlayStation®Network, Originâ„¢ and Steam.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning brings open-world exploration and unparalleled action and combat together in the ultimate RPG experience. With near infinite combinations of destinies, abilities, weapons, items and special moves, players are able to customize their play experience to suit any play style. By reweaving their fate, they can retool and totally rebuild their hero in the midst of their adventure. Within Reckoning, players will immerse themselves in a world filled with extraordinary landscapes, mysterious cities, colorful characters and fantastic creatures exploring an entirely new universe where every building, tree and creature has a clear and defined history.

Learn more about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning by visiting www. Reckoning.com“

The list of new PC game releases, Blu-Ray releases, and movies opening the week of March 19th, 2012.

PC Games:

• Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning DLC: The Legend of Dead Kel
• Mystery Case Files 8: Escape from Ravenhurst
• Shogun 2: Total War – Fall of the Samurai

Movies opening this week:

• Brake (limited)
• Musical Chairs (limited LA/NY)
• October Baby (limited)
• The Deep Blue Sea (limited LA/NY)
• The Hunger Games
• The Raid: Redemption (limited)
• The Trouble with Bliss (limited LA/NY)

Blu-Ray releases:

• A Lonely Place to Die
• Battle Royale
• Battle Royale: The Complete Collection
• Carnage
• Eating Out: The Open Weekend
• Gainsbourg
• General Orders No. 9
• Hop
• Lady for a Day
• Letter Never Sent (Criterion Collection)
• Lost Keaton: Sixteen Comedy Shorts 1934-1937
• National Lampoon’s The Legend of Awesomest Maximus
• Roadie
• Russell Mulcahy’s Tale of the Mummy
• That ’70s Show: Season One
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• The Hills Have Eyes: Part 2 (Remastered)
• The Muppets
• The Sitter
• The War Room (Criterion Collection)
• This is Not a Movie
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Telltale Games today released the first trailer for The Walking Dead, which is based on the original comic book series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard.

“Created by animator and director Daniel M. Kanemoto, the trailer blends 2D and 3D imagery in stunning fashion as homage to the art of the original comic book world on which Telltale’s game is based. Kanemoto was asked by Telltale to create the trailer because of a “fan made” Walking Dead title sequence he had made, which can be seen at www.exmortisfilms.com.

Telltale has also revealed details of a limited time pre-order offer available via their online store. Pre-order customers will get the chance to join the cast of the game in episode four, where they will be modeled as a human survivor before being killed and then returned to life as a ravenous zombie. Pre-ordering also qualifies customers for a 10% discount (get the 5 episode season for $22.49; normally $24.99).

For more information on the game, visit the official website“

Hi-Rez Studios today announced the released of another major update to the Open Beta of Tribes: Ascend.

Updates include:

• Added Sunstar, a new Capture the Flag map.
• Temple Ruins, a Capture the Flag map, has been revised based on community feedback and returns to the Quick Play rotation.
• Additional European servers added.  Region selection includes Europe – London and Europe – Amsterdam.
• Additional Asian servers added.  Region selection includes Asia – Japan, and Asia – Singapore
• Server performance optimizations.
• More polished reticules and HUD icons.  Also, users may now disable unwanted HUD elements using SETTINGS menu.
• User settings now stored server-side.  Setting may be reset with this patch but settings should be preserved upon future patches.

The full list can be found in the patch notes.

For more information and to sign-up for the beta visit: https://www.tribesascend.com.

Paradox Interactive and Deep Silver today released a demo for Defenders of Ardania, the recently released tower defense game by Most Wanted Entertainment.

“Defenders of Ardania presents a deep, immersive game world to play in, featuring three unique races and the themed environments they inhabit. The strategic tower defense gameplay will challenge players to make use of 24 different upgradeable towers to stop the invading foes, along with 24 varied units to send out for counterattacks. With an interactive environment, an arsenal of magic spells, and multiplayer battles included, Defenders of Ardania has more than enough to intrigue the most seasoned defenders of towers everywhere.”

The PC demo can be downloaded via Steam.

A new “Android” Humble Bundle has been released, which is also available on Windows, Mac, and Linux as usual (with the exception of Avadon). Games in this round include Swords & Soldiers, Canabalt, Zen Bound 2, Cogs, and Avadon: The Black Fortress.

“Pay-what-you-want to get Zen Bound 2, Canabalt, Cogs, and Avadon: The Black Fortress (tablets only). And if you pay more than the average price, you’ll also get the vibrant, side-scrolling strategy game Swords & Soldiers.

Playing at your desktop? No problem. Buying the Humble Bundle for Android 2 also gets you Mac, Windows, and Linux versions of all the games! Customers will also receive digital audio for each game with an official soundtrack.”

More details at Humblebundle.com.

Blizzard Entertainment today announced that Diablo III will launch on May 15th. In addition, pre-ordering on Battle.net has begun.

“Starting that day, gamers with a thirst for fast-paced action and adventure will be able to purchase Diablo III at retailers throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. In addition, gamers in the regions above as well as in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil will be able to buy Diablo III digitally via Blizzard’s Battle.net® website.

Players in the listed Latin American countries and in Russia will be able to purchase Diablo III at local retail locations starting June 7. Digital availability for the Russian version of the game will also begin June 7. In addition to the English version, Diablo III will be fully localized into Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, European Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Korean, and Traditional Chinese.

Blizzard also kicked off global digital presales for Diablo III today. Would-be wizards, witch doctors, demon hunters, barbarians, and monks throughout the world should head to https://www.blizzard.com/games/d3/ now to reserve their digital copies.

World of Warcraft players interested in getting Diablo III free are encouraged to join the more than 1 million players who have already signed up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass.* Through this promotion, with a 1-year commitment to World of Warcraft, players will receive a free digital copy of Diablo III — which they’ll be able to start playing immediately on May 15 — as well as an exclusive World of Warcraft in-game mount and access to the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandariaâ„¢ beta test. This offer will no longer be available as of 12:01 a.m. PDT on May 1. Learn more at https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/annualpass.”

The Baldur’s Gate website has finally been updated after a long tease with the announcement of an upcoming Enhanced Edition of both the original Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II.

“Since its initial release in 1998, Baldur’s Gate has entertained millions of fans around the globe, and has received countless awards. This classic saga of mystery, intrigue, and adventure has set the standard for Dungeons & Dragons® computer roleplaying games ever since.

RE-FORGED BY OVERHAUL GAMES
Overhaul Games has assembled a talented team of artists, programmers and designers to enhance this timeless classic. To remain true to the spirit of the game, the team includes original Baldur’s Gate developers.

RELIVE THE MOST EPIC STORY EVER TOLD
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition™ and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition™ will feature a re-forged version of the Infinity Engine with a variety of modern improvements.

THE GREATEST ROLEPLAYING GAME OF ALL TIME, ENHANCED
For all information regarding Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Editionâ„¢ visit www.baldursgate.com“

A new heavy hitters video for BioShock Infinite was released today, giving viewers more of a look at the upcoming next installment in the series by Irrational Games.

“In this second episode of our Heavy Hitter series, we go back to the very first enemy most fans saw in the BioShock Infinite announcement trailer: the powerful, gigantic yet agile Handyman. Man? Machine? Hand model? You’ll have to find out for yourself when the game launches October 16, 2012.”

We’re collecting email address today for anyone interested in participating in the Tactical Intervention beta, which is the upcoming new Gooseman game. If you’re interested, please sign up for an account at OGPlanet and then send me the email you used to register for the account at Bjorn@cpugamer.com or send a direct message to @cpu_gamer on Twitter. We have a limited number of openings available and this post will be updated when we’ve reached the limit.

A new gameplay video for MechWarrior Online was released today, giving viewers more of a look at the upcoming 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.
 
MechWarrior Online lets players command at will: go head-to-head online alone or with friends in high-octane Conquest and VS modes. Band together and form your own Mercenary Corp, invite friends and battle other player-made Merc Corps for prestige and power.  Pledge your allegiance to one of the five great houses and fight for control of precious Inner Sphere planets. “

The list of new PC game releases, Blu-ray releases and movies opening the week of March 12th, 2012.

PC games:

• Exorcist II
• Hard Reset: Extended Edition
• Warp

Movies opening this week:

•  21 Jump Street
• Casa de mi Padre
• Detachment (limited NYC)
• Jeff, Who Lives at Home (limited)
• Natural Selection (limited NYC)
• Seeking Justice (limited)
• The FP (limited)
• The Kid with a Bike (limited NYC)

Blu-ray releases:

• American Pie
• American Pie 2
• American Wedding
• Body of Lies / Three Kings (double feature)
• Five Element Ninjas
• Grimm’s Snow White
• Happy Feet Two
• Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle / Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (double feature)
• Killer’s Moon
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Mask / Dumb & Dumber (double feature)
• Melancholia
• My Week with Marilyn
• Nature: Raccoon Nation
• Neverland
• Robin Hood
• Scooby Doo! Music of the Vampire
• The Adventures of Tintin
• The Descendants
• The Incredible Hulk
• The Killing: Season One
• The Last Temptation of Christ
• The Three Musketeers
• Triad Trilogy
• True Romance / Natural Born Killers (double feature)
• Wallace & Grommit: World of Invention
• Wizards (35th Anniversary Ed.)
• Young Adult

2K Today released a new trailer for Spec Ops: The Line, the upcoming revival of the old shooter series.

“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.”

The Mojang website has been updated with the announcement that the lawsuit over the name of Scrolls, between Mojang and Bethesda, has been settled and the name of the game will be Scrolls.

“We have settled the lawsuit over Scrolls and Mojang and Bethesda are friends again.

To answer the big question – yes Scrolls is still going to be called Scrolls.

To answer the second question – we aren’t going to keep the trade mark.

For us this was never about a trade mark but being able to use Scrolls as the name of our game which we can – Yey.”

Paradox Interactive today released a new developer diary video with Björn Johannsen, which discusses crime and punishment in the MMORPG set in colonial Salem, Massachusetts.

“Salem is already known for its Permadeath mechanic where in-game characters that succumb to the harsh wilderness environment, or are mortally wounded by other players will die permanently. The crime and punishment system involves the creation of a scent of evil when players commit crimes against others in game. This enables players seeking retribution or revenge to take matters into their own hands to exact justice.”