PC Game News

Hazardous Software today announced the release of Achron, a real-time strategy game featuring time travel. Customers who purchase the game this week will received the soundtrack at no extra cost. The game is available to purchase on the game's website and Steam.

"Merging classic RTS gameplay with unparalleled strategic freedom, Achron enables multiple players the chance to outwit and engage their opponents in open warfare utilizing real time travel elements. Time travel strategy allows for creative and subversive tactics which can be chained together to protect, undermine, escape, and set traps in nearly infinite combinations.  Achron features uniquely competitive multiplayer, and an engaging 35 mission single player campaign.

Building on the unique story opportunities presented by time travel, Achron's single-player experience includes 35 missions with multiple solutions for victory. The campaigns establish the dangerous frontier of the Achron universe and introduce players to navigating the offensive and defensive possibilities of time travel.

Customers who purchase Achron this week will and receive a free digital download of Achron's orchestral/electronic soundtrack, featuring over an hour of original music.

For more information on Achron, visit https://www.achrongame.com"

Valve today announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will indeed use the Steamworks suite and will be available to purchase on Steam worldwidej on November 8th.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is slated for worldwide release on November 8 at retailers across the globe and via Steam. Those who pre-purchase the game will be able to start playing immediately upon its release on Steam. Published by Activision Publishing, Inc., Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is being developed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games.

The PC version of the product will be powered with Steamworks for both the digital and tangible versions of the game and, as with all Steamworks titles, offline play will also be supported along with Auto-Updating, Achievements, and more.  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will also support dedicated servers on day 1.
         
Steamworks is a complete suite of publishing and development tools — ranging from product key authentication to social networking services — offered free of charge to publishers and developers. For more information, please visit www.steampowered.com."

Paradox Interactive today announced "Warlock: Master of the Arcane", an upcoming turn-based strategy game by Ino-Co. The game is currently set to be released in Q2 of 2012.

"Warlock – Master of the Arcane invites players to take on the role of the Great Mage and build a powerful magical empire, giving mighty mages the ability to control armies and wield magic to wage war against one another, as they compete with other wizards for the title of Warlock.

“The great thing about Warlock is that it inherits the best elements from classic turn-based games and renovates them with a modern look and feel,” said Mattias Lilja, Producer at Paradox Interactive. “Partnering with Ino-Co Plus to bring this breath of fresh air to the genre is just icing on the cake, they’ve done well to bring the Majesty world to life in the past and we are confident they’ll deliver again.”

Warlock – Master of the Arcane offers a wide range of military units –three different races, along with summons and wild creatures – as well as providing dozens of spells, from which players can discover powerful spell combinations to help attain victory over their adversaries. With epic battles to fight, gods to side with, and an innovative city management system, players must strike a balance between military might and magical prowess to remain the last mage standing."

Kim Swift, one of the Narbacular Drop creators from Digipen hired by Valve to work on Portal, left Valve for Airtight Games in 2009 to work on a new project. That project, Quantum Conundrum, was officially announced today by Square Enix. The game is scheduled to be released in early 2012 for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

"In Quantum Conundrum, players take on the role of a young kid dropped off on his uncle’s doorstep for the weekend; his uncle just so happens to be the brilliant, eccentric inventor, Professor Fitz Quadwrangle. Upon entering the Professor’s vast manor home retrofitted with crazy technology to test his latest hypotheses, players quickly realize their uncle has gone missing. Fortunately, players soon gain access to Professor Quadwrangle’s latest invention, the Inter-Dimensional Shift Device, which, at the press of a button, will shift the world around them to an entirely new dimension. In order to find him, players must use the newly found IDS Device to dynamically change the world to and from a variety of different dimensions to progress through the complicated Quadwrangle Manor. While on the journey, becoming adept at utilizing the various dimensions will help them trek from one bizarre and challenging room to the next. It might sound easy enough, but it is a tall order for a kid in a giant puzzle of a manor!

“We wanted to create a fun, quirky puzzle game that anyone would want to play, regardless of age or gaming experience,” said Kim Swift, Creative Director at Airtight Games. "I've been working with an amazing and collaborative team on this project and look forward to coming into the office every day to hear new ideas, see what everyone has created, and dive in on my own pieces of the game. We've created something that we're all extremely proud of and hope that people will enjoy playing it as much as we are making it."

Penny Arcade Expo (PAX Prime) attendees will be the first to see Square Enix and Airtight Games globally reveal Quantum Conundrum through their exclusive panel. Meet the developers, including Creative Director Kim Swift (PORTAL, Left 4 Dead®, Left 4 Dead 2) and discipline representatives from the Quantum Conundrum team, and hear their explanation of how they are bringing an incredibly fascinating and unconventional game to life. The panel will be held on Saturday, August 27 at 7:00 p.m. in the Pegasus Room.

For more information about Quantum Conundrum, please visit the official website: www.quantumconundrum.com."

Valve today released new screenshots and a trailer for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the recently revealed follow-up in the hugely popular multiplayer series.

"CS: GO features new maps, characters, and weapons and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (de_dust, etc.). In addition, CS: GO will introduce new gameplay modes, matchmaking, leader boards, and more."

The Bethesda blog has been updated with word that the Lonesome Road DLC pack for Fallout: New Vegas will be released on September 20th. In addition, the Courier's Stash and Gun Runners' packs will be released one week later.

"In Lonesome Road you are contacted by the original Courier Six, a man by the name of Ulysses who refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the start of Fallout: New Vegas. Ulysses promises the answer as to why he didn’t take the job, but only if you make one last journey into the hurricane-swept canyons of the Divide, a landscape torn apart by earthquakes and violent storms. It’s up to you whether you take the job or not.

But wait! There’s more!!

Today we’re also announcing two additional DLC packs, Courier’s Stash and Gun Runners’ Arsenal, which will be available for download one week later on September 27th.

Courier’s Stash (Xbox LIVE for 160 Microsoft points, PlayStation Network and Steam for $1.99) gives players immediate access to four content bundles previously available only through pre-ordering Fallout: New Vegas. The Caravan Pack, Classic Pack, Mercenary Pack and Tribal Pack each offer unique weapons, apparel and aid advantages that will help you throughout your journey.

Gun Runners’ Arsenal (Xbox LIVE for 320 Microsoft points, PlayStation Network and Steam for $3.99) increases the range of unique weapons, weapon mods, ammo types and recipes waiting to be uncovered in the vast Mojave Wasteland."

Hi-Rez Studios today announced that the Recursive Colony expansion for Global Agenda will be released in early Fall and will be free to owners of the game.

"Global Agenda, the award-winning squad-based shooter MMO, was the first free-to-play game on Steam and has received numerous content updates since release.  But the upcoming Recursive Colony expansion is significant in that it introduces a brand new Open Zone, the first such addition since the Sandstorm expansion last summer.

Version 1.5 is themed around the Recursive Colony – an electronic, hive-mind faction of robots constructing robots and intruding upon the player social hub of Dome City. 

Notable expansion additions include: 

• New Open Zone with several instanced missions, quest chains, mid-high level content, vendors, social spaces
• New enemy bots – encountered within Open Zone as well as instanced missions
• Daily Repeatable Quests – for solo agents and teams. Some quests take place in zones, while others send teams into Recursive Colony hive nodes and ruins. These quests include new 4-man defense Raid missions – now available to smaller groups (1-4) at lower levels (20+)
• New Dyes, Flair, and Trails – rewards for winning missions, completing daily quests,  rare bot drops, others given via achievements
• New Pets – new pets available as rewards and crafted items.
• New Blueprints – for consumables and mods
• Easier crafting – components now within the zone, to help with leveling crafting skills
• New High/Max/UltraMax missions entering the Spec Ops queues
• New PvP Map – Push Dust will be entering the Merc queue from Beta
• New PvP Acquisition/CTR Map – Colony Caverns will be entering the Beta Queue
• Revamped Intro Missions – Tutorials now include class-specific elements to help train new players
• Some quests now affect the state of the world (example – Brownouts in Dome City…)
• Ability to transfer between different Open Zone instances (and VR Arena)
• Open Zone cross-instance chat channels
• Disconnect to Character Select Screen without re-login
• Improved Vendor Item Previewing"

Gala Networks Europe today announced Sevencore, an upcoming MMORPG in development at Noria.

"Developed by new studio Noria, helmed by industry veterans, SEVENCORE brings together narrative, extensive customisation and fusion-fantasy elements for a standout, story driven MMORPG. Gala Networks Europe has released two videos; the first one to explain SEVENCORE and the company’s unique creative partnership with Noria, which will see operator and developer working in close harmony, and a short gameplay video to give a taste of SEVENCORE’S vibrant world and distinctive gameplay design.

SEVENCORE will immerse gamers in a deep and engaging storyline that will evolve via expansions. The narrative will be distilled through quests and NPCs, and each race and faction will experience the story differently based on their own unique in-game history and culture. As they progress, players will be able to piece together the events and motives behind the game’s world history that shapes their daily gameplay, until they understand the bigger picture and ultimately become a force to change the future of SEVENCORE’s universe."

In the ongoing war of videogame retail, it seems that Gamestop has struck a blow at digital distribution, once again tossing you the gamer under the bus as collateral damage. SquareEnix and OnLive had established a promotion to accompany the launch of the hotly anticipated Deus Ex: Human Revolution, whereby purchasers of a new PC copy of the game would also receive a free OnLive version of the game – a $50 value, and pretty sweet deal for us gamers. Apparently … →

If any of you were on the fence about what to think of Origin, this will most likely influence your thoughts in some way. Origin’s end user license agreement contains a clause titled “Consent to Collection and Use of Data.”  Not only is that as bad as it sounds, its worse.  I won’t bore you with the legalese, but key points include that by consenting to this, EA “may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer…“  … →

The list of new PC game releases, DVD and Blu-Ray releases, and movies opening the week of August 22nd, 2011.

PC Games:

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• World of Tanks

Movies Opening This Week:

• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
• Colombiana
• Circumstance
• Higher Ground (limited LA/NYC)
• Our Idiot Brother

DVD and Blu-Ray Releases:

• Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend [Blu-Ray]
• Bambi II [Blu-Ray]
• Barry Lyndon [Blu-Ray]
• Blitz [Blu-Ray]
• Boys of Fall
• Brothers & Sisters: The Complete Fifth Season
• Closed for the Season
• Cold Fish
• Dear Uncle Adolf: The Germans and Their Fuhrer
• Deray Davis: Power Play
• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
• Dual Survival
• Eclipse Series 28: The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara [Criterion Collection]
• Emerson Lake & Palmer [Blu-Ray]
• Ernest Goes to Camp [Blu-Ray]
• Ernest Goes to Jail [Blu-Ray]
• Ernest Scared Stupid [Blu-Ray]
• Follow Me Quietly
• Gossip Girl: The Complete Fourth Season
• Henry's Crime [Blu-Ray]
• Holy Matrimony [Blu-Ray]
• Hostage [Blu-Ray]
• I Will Follow
• Last Dance [Blu-Ray]
• Little Big Soldier [Blu-Ray]
• Lolita [Blu-Ray]
• Medical Center: The Complete First Season
• Miami Rhapsody [Blu-Ray]
• NCIS – The Complete Eighth Season
• NCIS: Los Angeles – The Second Season
• Off the Map: Complete Series
• Play it to the Bone [Blu-Ray]
• Poetry [Blu-Ray]
• Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
• Road to Nowhere
• Road to Nowhere [Blu-Ray]
• Rounders [Blu-Ray]
• Scenes from a Mall [Blu-Ray]
• Secret Sunshine [Criterion Collection Blu-Ray]
• Super Hybrid
• Super Hybrid [Blu-Ray]
• Swingers [Blu-Ray]
• Sympathy for Delicious [Blu-Ray]
• The Beaver [Blu-Ray]
• The Event: The Complete Series
• The Greatest Movie Ever Sold [Blu-Ray]
• The Tie That Binds [Blu-Ray]
• The War at Home [Blu-Ray]
• The Women in Cages Collection [Blu-Ray]
• Tom and Jerry & The Wizard of Oz [Blu-Ray]
• Tracker
• Trollhunter [Blu-Ray]
• Where the Boys Are
• Win Win [Blu-Ray]

Square Enix today announced that "Deus Ex: Human Revolution" has been shipped and is now available in retailers.

"DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION offers players multiple and vastly different ways to play. Challenging the foundations of gaming, this video game provides an immersive experience where every choice has a lasting consequence. DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION weaves a deeply emotive and captivating story, taking place in the year 2027 – a time of great innovation in neuroprosthetics, but also a time of chaos, conspiracy and a new social divide. Gamers play as Adam Jensen, a man cybernetically augmented against his own choice, who finds himself in the middle of a mysterious, global plot to which he holds the key.

Purchasers of the PC retail packaged version of DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION will be entitled to a free OnLive digital copy of the game giving them unprecedented freedom at an exceptional value. Owners of the game will be able to play not only on their home gaming PC, but also on nearly any PC or Mac® computer—as well as TVs with the OnLive Game System and, in the future, on iPad® and Android tablets—by simply signing in to the OnLive Game Service.

For more information about DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION visit www.deusex.com"

Responding to all the bad press from last week Ubisoft today announced on its forum that a patch for From Dust will be released in approximately two weeks that will remove online authentication.

"We recognize that one of our posts in the From Dust forum regarding the need for authentication in the game was not clear. We sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding. Our tech teams are working on a patch that should release in approximately two weeks that will eliminate the need for any online authentication. This development time is required as we are working to ensure that those who have already started the game, and who’s progress is currently saved on our servers, will receive and save their game information locally. Once the patch is ready, players who already have the game will automatically receive the update on their next login and subsequent game sessions will be 100% offline."

Valve today announced that Ukrainian team "Na'Vi" took first place in "The International", the DOTA 2 championship held at Gamescom in Germany, taking home the $1 million grand prize.

"The event was viewed by millions via the live broadcasts, and the live audiences via the tournament at Gamescom swelled to fill the enormous International pavilion and surrounding area of Hall 7 on the final days.
 
Valve has confirmed that it will be holding another International next year (exact location and date still to be announced), and is in discussions with organizers of upcoming Dota events to offer Dota 2 during its beta phase.
 
The International featured the 16 best Dota teams in the world competing in the Dota 2 Championships through a group stage, double elimination playoff format over the course of Cologne's five-day trade show.

In addition to the cash prizes awarded by Valve, Nvidia provided all the hardware  for the event plus hardware prizes for the winning team.

Dota 2 will be available for the PC and Mac later this year. For more information on The International and Dota 2, please visit https://www.dota2.com/"

From Dust was released for PC today and is now available. That being said, there are some big controversies surrounding the PC version of the game. Will From Dust be the last straw for Ubisoft games on the PC?

• The PC version was initially supposed to be released with the console version but was delayed at the last minute.
• Ubisoft made a forum post (screenshot from Rock, Paper, Shotgun) that the DRM would only require one-time online activation but that post has since been removed. It turns out, the game's DRM makes a validation connection each time you start the game. This form of DRM might not be quite as bad as the always online "Online Services Platform" that so many gamers despise. However, the fact that this DRM statement was changed at the last minute has a lot of people very irritated.
• Last, initial reports from people who have already purchased the game state that it's capped at 30 frames per second,  the mouse controls are hard to work, and, in general, it's just a terrible console port.

Ubi didn't release a press release for the PC release of From Dust, but here's the game description if you really want it:

"From Dust is the latest original game concept by Eric Chahi, creator of the cult classic, “Another World / Out of this World”. Immerse yourself in a world as exotically beautiful as it is dangerous! You control the destiny of a primitive tribe against the backdrop of a world in constant evolution—a universe where mighty Nature reclaims what is hers; and your mastery of the elements is your people’s only chance of survival…"