PC Game News

A demo for The Darkness II was released on Steam today, giving players a chance to try out the upcoming FPS by Digital Extremes.

“Embrace the Darkness and download the demo now! In this specially-constructed demo, experience the gripping and brutal journey of Jackie Estacado, head of a New York crime family and wielder of a ruthless force of chaos and destruction known as The Darkness. Master the power of Quad-Wielding as you slash, grab and throw with your Demon Arms while simultaneously firing two weapons.”

The list of new PC game releases, DVD and Blu-ray releases and movies opening the week of January 23rd, 2012.

PC Games:

• Assassin’s Creed Revalations: Mediterranean Traveler Pack DLC
• Astro Avenger 2
• Cradle of Rome 2
• Dark Tales 3: Edgar Allen Poe’s The Premature Burial
• Emergency 2012
• The Sims 3 Master Suite Stuff Pack
• Warhammer 40k: Space Marine: Dreadnaught Assault DLC

Movies opening this week:

• Albert Nobbs (limited)
• Declaration of War (limited LA/NY)
• In Darkness (limited)
• Man on a Ledge
• One for the Money
• The Grey
• We Need to Talk About Kevin

DVD and Blu-ray releases:

• 50/50 [Blu-ray]
• American Experience: Custer’s Last Stand
• Ancient Aliens: Season Three
• Annie Hall [Blu-ray]
• Another Happy Day
• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Collection Six – Part Two
• Beware the Gonzo
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Season One
• David and Kamal
• DiMeola, Al – Morocco Fantasia [Blu-ray]
• Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries – Episodes 9 & 10
• Elvis Found Alive
• Fascination [Blu-ray]
• Few Options
• Flash Point [Blu-ray]
• Godzille [Criterion Collection Blu-ray]
• Happy, Happy [Blu-ray]
• Hell and Back Again [Blu-ray]
• House on Sorority Row
• Kojak: The Complete Movie Collection
• Limelight
• Manhattan [Blu-ray]
• Mannix: Sixth Season
• Me Again [Blu-ray]
• Meet the Browns: Season 4
• Memphis: The Original Broadway Production [Blu-ray]
• Notorious [Blu-ray]
• Paranormal Activity 3 [Blu-ray]
• Punished
• Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?
• Real Steel [Blu-ray]
• Rebecca [Blu-ray]
• Restless [Blu-ray]
• Revenge of the Electric Car
• See No Evil, Hear No Evil [Blu-ray]
• Shiver of the Vampires [Blu-ray]
• Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
• Sister Mary
• Spellbound [Blu-ray]
• Stir Crazy [Blu-ray]
• Stripes [Blu-ray]
• Tales of an Ancient Empire
• The Adventures of Milo and Otis [Blu-ray]
• The Confession
• The Doors: Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman [Blu-ray]
• The Iron Rose [Blu-ray]
• The Moment of Truth [Criterion Collection Blu-ray]
• The Summer of Massacre [Blu-ray]
• The Toy [Blu-ray]
• The Whistelblower [Blu-ray]
• Today’s Special
• Waits, Tom – Complete Review
• Wings [Blu-ray]
• Woman
• World God Only Knows: Complete Collection [Blu-ray]
• World is Ours: Everywhere Further Than Everyplace [Blu-ray]

Ubisoft today announced the release of the Mediterranean Map Pack for Assassins’ Creed Revelations, which includes six multiplayer maps along with new trophies and achievements.

“The Mediterranean Traveller Map Pack enriches the Assassin’s Creed Revelations multiplayer experience with features that include:

• All-new multiplayer maps to maneuver through: Jerusalem, Constantinople and Dyers
• Fan-favorite Italian Renaissance maps from Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood to revisit: Firenze (Florence), San Donato and Siena
• All-new Trophies and Achievements to earn

The addition of six multiplayer maps introduces new gameplay opportunities through each map’s varied terrain, perches and hideouts. The new collection of Trophies and Achievements will allow players to try their hand at kills and escapes that are as impressive as they are effective.

For more information on Assassin’s Creed Revelations, please visit: assassinscreed.com“

2K Games today announced that BioShock Infinite will feature a new 1999 Mode, which is intended to give players a more demanding experience with increased focus on specializations and consequences.

“1999 Mode is a way of playing designed for gamers who long for the days of games that demanded more of the player. It will include tweaks and features that BioShock fans will not experience in a standard play-through of BioShock Infinite, no matter the difficulty level.

“We want to give our oldest and most committed fans an option to go back to our roots,” said Ken Levine, Creative Director of Irrational Games. “In 1999 Mode, gamers face more of the permanent consequences of their gameplay decisions. In BioShock Infinite, gamers will have to sweat out the results of their actions. In addition, 1999 Mode will demand that players pick specializations, and focus on them.

“I’m an old school gamer. We wanted to make sure we were taking into account the play styles of gamers like me. So we went straight to the horse’s mouth by asking them, on our website, a series of questions about how they play our games. 94.6 percent of respondents indicated that upgrade choices enhanced their BioShock gameplay experience; however, 56.8 percent indicated that being required to make permanent decisions about their character would have made the game even better.”

In addition to these permanent decisions, 1999 Mode will feature demanding weapon, power, and health management. The mode also takes a much harder stand on player respawning, sending the gamer directly to a “Game Over” screen if he or she lacks the resources to be brought back to life. It’s not for the faint of heart.”

BioWare announced that a demo for Mass Effect 3 is scheduled to be released on February 14th.

“The extensive demo will allow players to experience the all-out galactic war against an ancient alien race known as the Reapers from multiple fronts, including the mind-blowing opening attack on Earth that kicks off the single-player campaign.  Players will go deeper into the campaign and also get a taste of the franchise’s new co-operative multiplayer mode as they preview the epic story, adrenaline-pumping action and deep customization options that lie ahead when Mass Effect 3 launches on March 6, 2012. The Mass Effect 3 demo will be available for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC.”

Hitbox Team interactive announced the release of Dustforce on Steam, a 2D platformer in which players take on the role of an acrobatic janitor.

“Clean up the world with style!  As an acrobatic janitor, you are an adept force against dust and disorder. Leap and dash off walls and ceilings, and deftly traverse 50 precarious environments varying in difficulty.  Cleanse each level swiftly and thoroughly to achieve mastery in this 2D sweep-‘em-up platformer.

Dustforce will offer an online leader board where you can instantly watch replays of everyone’s best attempts.  Fight it out online and see where you rank on each level by thoroughness and combo or speed and agility.

Team up with four-player local multiplayer and compete on game modes like King Of The Hill and Survival for loads of dust-cleaning fun!  
“We’re so excited to finally be able to share with the world what we’ve been working hard on for over a year,” says Lexie Dostal of Hitbox Team.  “We put so much of ourselves into Dustforce, and so we hope everyone can have as much fun playing the game as we’ve had making it.”

Dustforce is now available on via the platform Steam for $9.99 for PC (Windows), with an update for Mac and Linux shortly after. Early buyers can get 10% off the game during the first week of sales.”

The list of new PC game releases, DVD and Blu-ray releases and movies opening the week of January 16th, 2012.

 PC Games:

• Dustforce
• Cities in Motion: US Cities

Movies opening this week:

• Carol Channing: Larger Than Life (limited NYC)
• Coriolanus
• Crazy Horse (limited NYC)
• Haywire
• Miss Bala (limited)
• Red Tails
• The Flowers of War
• The Front Line (limited)
• Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston (limited NYC)
• Underworld: Awakening

DVD and Blu-ray releases:

• Abduction [Blu-ray]
• Adam 12: Season Six
• Adventures of Bailey: The Lost Puppy
• Age of Heroes
• America in Primetime [Blu-ray]
• Bad Girls [Blu-ray]
• Belle de Jour [Criterion Collection Blu-ray]
• Bilal’s Stand
• Bill Moyers: Amazing Grace
• Bombay Beach
• Boys in Company C [Blu-ray]
• Car’s Life 2
• Caterpillar
• Citizen Kane 70th Anniversary Ed. [Blu-ray]
• Cold Sweat
• Courageous [Blu-ray]
• Dead Poets Society [Blu-ray]
• Delocated: The Complete Seasons One & Two
• Division III: Football’s Finest [Blu-ray]
• Donner Pass
• Drive Me Crazy [Blu-ray]
• Dutch [Blu-ray]
• Eclipse Series 31: Three Popular Films by Jean-Pierre Gorin
• Forgotten Bomb
• Gantz II: Perfect Answer [Blu-ray]
• George Gently: Series 1 [Blu-ray]
• Good Morning, Vietnam [Blu-ray]
• Journey to the Center of the Earth [Blu-ray]
• Joy Road
• Kevin Hart: Laugh At My Pain [Blu-ray]
• KickOff
• Killing Bono
• License to Drive [Blu-ray]
• Mad: Season 1 Part 2
• Merlin: The Complete Third Season [Blu-ray]
• Mysteries of Lisbon [Blu-ray]
• Over the Edge
• Project X [Blu-ray]
• Redline [Blu-ray]
• Ridiculousness: Season 1
• Serving Life
• Sliders: The Fifth and Final Season
• Special Treatment
• Sunrise Earth Alaska [Blu-ray]
• Taylor Swift: Journey to Fearless [Blu-ray]
• Teresa
• The Coast Guard [Blu-ray]
• The Color Purple [Blu-ray]
• The Ides of March [Blu-ray]
• The Josephine Baker Story [Blu-ray]
• The Love Patient
• The Overcoat
• The Perfect Student
• The Tuskegee Airmen [Blu-ray]
• Thurgood [Blu-ray]
• Traffic [Criterion Collection Blu-ray]
• Undocumented
• Unguarded
• United Red Army
• Walking the Dead: Complete Season Six

Rockstar today announced that the PC version of Max Payne 3 is scheduled to be released on May 29th in North America and June 1st in Europe.

“For Max, the tragedies that took his loved ones years ago are wounds that refuse to heal. No longer a cop, close to washed up and addicted to pain killers, he takes a job in São Paulo, Brazil, protecting the family of wealthy real estate mogul Rodrigo Branco, in an effort to finally escape his troubled past. But as events spiral out of his control, Max Payne finds himself alone on the streets of an unfamiliar city, desperately searching for the truth and fighting for a way out.

Featuring cutting edge shooting mechanics for precision gunplay, advanced new Bullet Time® and Shootdodge™ effects, full integration of Natural Motion’s Euphoria Character Behavior system for lifelike movement and a dark and twisted story, Max Payne 3 is a seamless, highly detailed, cinematic experience.

In addition to an expansive single-player campaign, Max Payne 3’s multiplayer offering brings the game’s cinematic feel, fluid gunplay and kinetic sense of movement into the realm of online multiplayer. Building on the fiction and signature gameplay elements of the Max Payne universe, Max Payne 3 features a wide range of new and traditional multiplayer modes that play on the themes of paranoia, betrayal and heroism, all delivered with the same epic visual style of the single-player game.

Look for much much more from Max Payne 3 in the weeks and months ahead, including the next video in the Design & Technology Series and the official site launch.”

Deep Silver today announced Ryder White for Dead Island, a new DLC pack that’s scheduled to be released on February 1st.

“This time the player will get the chance to play as Ryder White, the antagonist of the main game; learn more about his motivations and why, from his point of view, he did what he had to do. This fresh take on the Dead Island story shows Ryder White both as a military man and a loving husband.

The DLC stars Ryder White as a newly playable character and offers a single player campaign with several hours of story content with twists and turns that will shed new light on the game’s happenings. Two blueprints and weapons will further expand the already impressive arsenal of Dead Island.

The DLC will be available on February 01, 2012 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC.”

In a forum post that will certainly disappoint many gamers, BioWare has confirmed that Mass Effect 3 will require EA’s Origin for all PC versions of the game.

1) Will Origin be a requirement to play all versions of Mass Effect 3? (Digital and/or from a retail brick and mortar store)
Yes, Origin is required for all PC editions of Mass Effect 3, physical or digital.

2) Is constant Origin connection required or is it a single one off authentication when the game is first installed. Is there also a limit to the number of installations available?
Mass Effect 3 will require a one time, single authorization for the single player game. There is no limit to the number of installs. Playing Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer will require a constant connection.

3) Is Origin required for the retail versions of the game?
Origin is required for the PC versions of Mass Effect 3, both physical and digital.

Funcom released a new teaser video for The Secret World, offering a glimpse of the Illuminati, one of the three secret societies in the upcoming game.

“The Illuminati are invisible puppet-masters and corporate manipulators, and they crave power and wealth by any means necessary. They may have ancient roots, but they remain forever young and hungry. The Illuminati’s golden agents enjoy power, money and glamour – but the real power they offer you goes beyond that: Information worked from every civilian, government and clandestine organization in the world.”

Paradox released a new developer diary video for Naval War: Arctic Circle, in which Turbo Tape developers share their vision of modern naval battles over natural resources.

“In the near future, civilization is still reliant on petroleum, but the easily accessible land-based oil reserves are dwindling rapidly. The nations of the far north struggle to harness the rich untapped wells of the Arctic Circle and will go to war to guarantee control of the black gold.

Naval War: Arctic Circle gives you over 36,000,000 square kilometers (14,000,000 square miles) of seascape to navigate, from the Northwest Passage above Canada to the frozen islands of Russian Novaya Zemlya in the east. Listen to the development team explain how this wide geographic expanse guarantees infinite replayability as you take sides in war that is all too easy to imagine.

Naval War: Arctic Circle is set to release in Q2 2012 for a suggested retail price of $29.99/€29.99.”

Paradox Interactive today released developer diary and developer interview videos focusing on Victoria II: A House Divided, the upcoming expansion that's scheduled to be released on January 24th.

"Narrated by the game’s Executive Producer Johan Andersson, the developer diary gives an insight in how revolutions and political movements now work in Victoria II: A House Divided.

In the video interview, Johan also discusses how Victoria II: A House Divided will add depth to the economics system along with a wealth of other new features, all aspects that players have requested, now making it a much better and more interactive game to play.

Victoria II: A House Divided is scheduled for release on January 24th 2012 and will be published worldwide by Paradox Interactive with a suggested retail price of $19.99/€19.99/£14.99."

Interview:

Developer Diary:

Electronic Arts, BioWare and LucasArts today announced that the first update for the popular new MMO will launch next Tuesday, January 17th.

"Rise of the Rakghouls will introduce new, higher level group content, game feature additions and continued balancing and bug fixes. As part of the commitment to the community, BioWare will continue to release game updates to subscribers throughout the year on a regular cadence. The next update is planned for March 2012 and will include new Flashpoints, Operations, WarZones and new game systems.

“A month ago when we launched the Early Game Access program for Star Wars: The Old Republic, we promised our fans that this would just be the beginning of our journey together,” said Dr. Greg Zeschuk, General Manager of the BioWare Label’s MMO Business Unit and Co-Founder of BioWare. “Rise of the Rakghouls adds a lot of the things our community has been asking for – additional higher level group content, features like anti-aliasing, PvP bracketing and more. In the future, game updates will be even more substantial, as we promise to continue to not only add to The Old Republic, but to also improve and refine the experience with the full Legacy System and new Guild features.”

Rise of the Rakghouls features a new Flashpoint and a new Operation as well as a number of changes made throughout the entire game, including level 50 bracketing for PvP WarZones, the addition of anti-aliasing and changes to Open World PvP on Ilum.

• Flashpoint: Kaon Under Siege is a completely new and unique group combat experience located on Kaon, a planet in the Tion Hegemony, a strategically important sector of the galaxy that has remained neutral, groups of up to four Republic or Imperial players must race to Kaon to eliminate the Rakghouls outbreak, securing the allegiance of the Tion Hegemony for their respective sides. This Flashpoint will be available for level 50 characters only and will feature Normal and Heroic modes.
• Operation: Karagga’s Palace, is a continuation of the game’s second launch Operation. In the Operation, teams of 8 or 16 players will face off against Karagga and the Hutt Cartel after the Hutts abandon their famous neutrality and breach agreements with both the Republic and Empire. Concerned by the threat of another combatant in the war for galactic control, both factions send teams of their most powerful heroes to confront Karagga and determine his intentions. This Operation will feature Normal, Heroic and Nightmare difficulty modes.

For more information on Game Update 1.1: Rise of the Rakghouls, please visit www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com"

New screenshots from Max Payne 3 were released today, giving viewers more of a look at the upcoming shooter sequel.

"The award-winning Max Payne franchise put players in the role of Max Payne, a hard-boiled New York City detective with a penchant for violence, out to avenge the death of his family. The latest installment delivers more of the classic elements and hyper-intense action that fans have come to love, while moving the story of Max in a new direction."