Top Games to Play in Autumn 2012

With our glorious tropical summer almost at an end, it's time to think about the games we'll be playing as the nights draw in. Here are the biggest titles of the autumn.

So, on the off-chance there are people out there more likely to be looking forward to Assassin's Creed III than Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Royal Opera house, here are the big titles of this autumn's release schedule.

I'm doing an indie and smartphone round-up too, but that takes longer because those crazy kids don't believe in release schedules. For now, though, get your Amazon wish lists ready, here are the mainstream treats of the autumn.

Borderlands 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

The maniacal 'looter shooter' returns with a new bunch of mercenaries raiding the planet Pandora for all its treasures while an evil corporation seeks to clear our all the undesirables. That's you by the way. Beautiful cell-shaded visuals mix with anarchic humour and a huge range of weapons to produce entertainingly eccentric carnage. Yes. Yes please. 21 September.

F1 2012 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Codemasters has reinvented the concept of the motorsports simulation with its enthusiastic, knowledgeable and exciting F1 titles and this year's instalment should continue the good work. Along with all the cars, drivers and circuits from the 2012 season, F1 2012 boasts a Young Driver Test which teaches newcomers the basics of F1 driving. Luckily, I don't think there's a theory test. 21 September.

Tokyo Jungle (PS3 – digital only)

Created by Sony's Japan studio with indie developer Crispy's this is easily the weirdest game on the list – and hopefully that won't put you off. Set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo the game gets you to choose an animal from a large selection (including dogs, kangaroos, birds and big cats) and then simply survive on the mean streets, finding food, battling other critters and looking for mates. It's an astonishing mix of genuinely grim sci-fi adventure and cutesy pet sim. 26 September.

Fifa 13 (3DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360)

The behemoth of the sports sim calendar returns with some major mechanical tweaks including improved close-control and greater physicality. If you're connected to the web, it will also pull in real-world footie news and use it to colour your virtual experience. And of course, all the players, major teams and key world leagues are in place. 28 September.

Resident Evil 6 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Survival horror returns in this 'something for everyone' adventure, which provides three separate stories based around a worldwide zombie virus outbreak. Favourite characters such as Leon Kennedy and Chris Redfield return, all of them showcasing different playstyles from Resi history. Could be an all-encompassing return to form, or a big pile of zombie droppings. We'll play it anyway. 2 October.

War of the Roses (PC)

A cult hit at several gaming events over the summer, War of the Roses is a squad-based medieval combat sim, in which players join either the House of York or their Lancastrian rivals and indulge in tactical melee combat. The visuals are astonishing and while the multiplayer is clearly going to be bloody awesome, the single-player campaign promises depth and variety too. 2 October.

Dishonored (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

We called this dark steampunk adventure a game-of-the-year contender when we previewed it last month, and we're sticking with that. Created by some of the key people behind Deus Ex and Half-Life, it's an open-world adventure in which a betrayed assassin seeks revenge in a sprawling quasi-Victorian city. And you can posses rats. 12 October.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Back in the early nineties, the XCOM turn-based strategy games gave players the chance to command a secret government agency against alien attacks. Now Firaxis, the developer behind the famed Civilization series, has re-invented this tense and engaging experience for the modern era. It looks and plays beautifully, and will see off plenty of those long sodden November evenings. 12 October.

Fable: The Journey (Xbox 360)

Peter Molyneux has now left Lionhead, but his final project at the studio was this much-debated Kinect-only fantasy road movie. Lead character Gabriel must travel across the dangerous land of Albion to rediscover his lost tribe and save a fair maiden. Along the way, he gets to look after his horse, using motion controls to ride and interact with it. Sort of a pet sim RPG then. What could possibly go wrong? 12 October.

Skylanders Giants (3DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)

Last year, Activision scored a massive hit with its ingenious Skylanders game, which combined collectible toy figures with an approachable family RPG. This time, they're adding a new bunch of – yes – giant figures, as well as a larger world and other extras. If you're the parent of a Skylanders fan, you're already being nagged about this. 19 October.

Forza Horizon (Xbox 360)

A fresh take on the leading Xbox driving game series, swapping circuit-based thrills for a more rangey, open structure. The action takes place in and around a fictitious racing event in Colorado, where AI drivers can be challenged to competitions on the spot. To underline the festival feel, the soundtrack has been curated by Rob da Bank, so expect plenty of dubstep with your exotic vehicles. 26 October.

Lego Lord of the Rings (3DS, DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360)

Yep, another action adventure in the seemingly endless Lego series, but this one has a slightly darker feel and it cleverly uses dialogue from the movies to bring some authenticity to the setpiece-hopping narrative. We played it at E3 and enjoyed the ensemble feel with Frodo, Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli and Boromir all taking part on screen. 26 October.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

This hyper-earnest military shooter has angered some by seeking to portray real-life combat zones and a range of authentic spec ops units. However, developer Danger Close is obsessed with respecting the lives and roles of the combatants it depicts and we're hoping that the game's apparent attempts to show the cost of warfare on the families of the soldiers is revealing and not mawkish. Expect top-end visuals and multiplayer, too. 26 October.

Assassin's Creed III (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

The time-spanning assassination adventure returns, this time bringing its blend of acrobatics and swordplay to the American revolution. The new lead character, Connor, is half British, half Native American, which puts him in an interesting position when the fight to control the continent begins. Expect lavish set-piece battles, beautiful visuals and some interesting multiplayer options. 31 October.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

In 2010, Guildford-based developer Criterion revolutionalised the Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit series, adding gorgeous visuals, a sexy handling engine and the brilliant Autolog system, which let friends leave highscores for each other within the game world. Most Wanted is updating all the social elements, as well as providing a huge open city to explore and race in. And the multiplayer challenges are enormous fun. 2 November.

Halo 4 (Xbox 360)

Bungie has gone and now Halo development duties are with Microsoft's own 343 Industries studio – so can the spirit of Master Chief survive? The jury is out at the moment, but with an epic story featuring the long dormant Forerunners, and an interesting multiplayer structure that ties the action closely to the campaign missions, this is an interesting attempt to kickstart a whole new Halo trilogy. 6 November.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)

Nintendo's cutesy handicraft role-playing series returns, this time in semi-glorious 3D, and with a fresh new gameplay element that challenges you to peel off and collect colourful stickers from the typically adorable environments. The 3DS needs some true must-have titles this Christmas and surely little Paper Mario can be posted in that pigeon hole. 11 November.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Okay, okay, so this series has some serious detractors – and Treyarch's decision to set a Black Ops sequel in a near-future America under attack from its own drone army, has been questioned. But, hey, there do seem to be some genuine attempts to update the multi-million dollar recipe with some strategic gameplay and refreshed multiplayer. And might this be the last major Call of Duty title for this console generation? 13 November.

Hitman: Absolution (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Square Enix may have shot itself right in the foot with that controversial 'sexy nun' trailer, but a new instalment in the Hitman series of stealthy assassinate-'em-ups will always pique the interest of fans who remember the glory days of Agent 47. Can the bald killer overcome sexism to reinstate his murderous gaming regime? Don't bet against him. 20 November.

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

While the first title had some interesting ideas, melding a platforming adventure with painting elements and Disney history, it was let down by a roving camera and some repetition. This time, developer Junction Point says it has fixed the broken stuff and added a co-op element that sees Mickey teaming up with his predecessor Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. One for the family to snuggle around this winter. 23 November.

Far Cry 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

On the face of it, this looks like yet another shooter sequel with a superhuman lead character and dozens of faceless, vaguely ethnic enemies. But Ubisoft Montreal is promising that its island-based adventure, mixing open-world exploration with bizarre characters and a strange colonial story, is something much more offbeat and interesting. Heart of Darkness: the video game? 30 November

New Little King's Story (Vita)

Released on the Wii in 2009, the original Little King's Story was a glorious combination of real-time strategy, RPG and life sim, with players controlling a new monarch in a rich fantasy kingdom. Its enduring cult success has led to the promising Vita remake, featuring a more naturalistic art style and a refreshed story. TBA November.

Football Manager 2013 (PC/Mac)

You know what to expect, of course. A huge database of players and teams as well as an intricate simulation of the manager's life, from training and tactics to coping with player meltdowns and media scandals. Expect the core engine and visuals to be overhauled at the very least, but I predict some more dramatic additions this time round. TBA November.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/

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Valve Launches Greenlight For Steam

Valve has announced the launch of Steam Greenlight, a new platform feature that enlists the community’s help in selecting some of the next games to be released on Steam.

Announced earlier this summer, Steam Greenlight allows developers and publishers to post information and media about their game in an effort to convince the Community that the game should be released on Steam. Greenlight piggybacks on Steam Workshop’s flexible system that organizes content and lets customers rate and leave feedback.

“We’ve been working on this feature for the last few months with the input from a group of indie partners, and the response has been extremely positive,” said Valve’s Anna Sweet. “With the additional help of beta testers, we are able to launch with a solid line-up of titles for the community to start viewing and rating. And, as we’ve done with all Steam features, we intend to continually grow and modify Greenlight as more and more developers and community members have a chance to get involved.”

As well as serving as a clearing house for game submissions, Greenlight provides an new level of added exposure for new games and an opportunity to connect directly with potential customers and fans.

Source: http://gamingbolt.com

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Borderlands 2 Introduces Tediore Firearms Commercial

By now you're likely aware that Borderlands 2, just like its predecessor, will feature about a kabillion and one different guns to put holes in, fry, electrocute or explode your enemies. Also like the first game, Borderlands 2 will feature firepower from various manufacturers, like Tediore. Speaking of Tediore, Gearbox has now launched a commercial to familiarize consumers with the benefits of their particular brand of boom-stick.

In the original Borderlands the various gun manufacturers did little more than give the firearms a slightly different look or color scheme. Which company's guns you were using didn't really make much of a difference to the end result of bad guys losing the ability to breathe.

In Borderlands 2, each manufacturer's guns will become known for various advantages and weaknesses, as well as offer the player some loyalty boosts for sticking with a particular company. Here's the animated commercial for Tediore, highlighting the reload speed for this particular line of guns.

Yeah, this is a fantastic idea. What's the point in having different gun makers tied to the countless firearms if it doesn't actually have an impact on the weapons themselves? Now you'll know that sticking with a certain manufacturer will grant you less kick, greater distance or, I don't know, more explosive rounds? Since Tediore is only one of the many gun makers in Borderlands 2, it's probably a safe bet we'll see similar commercials for the other companies leading up to the game's Sept. 18 launch.

Source: cinemablend.com

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Ubisoft UPlay DRM exploit opens PCs to security risk

Paying customers frustrated and angry: 99%. Pirates thwarted: 0%. I'd say that about sums up Ubisoft's score when it comes to the studio's DRM tech and PC gaming, particularly with this latest bit of news: Cyber experts say Ubisoft's mandatory UPlay network features "really bad, easily exploitable" code that creates serious security risks for all who use it.

A step-by-step video now making the rounds on the internet shows how holes in UPlay can be exploited by hackers, allowing them to search your files and take control of your PC. Speaking with CVG, Trend Micro Director of Security Research Rik Ferguson said the UPlay security flaw creates a huge risk that Ubisoft must address immediately.

"Pushing out such easily exploitable code, to such an easily targeted platform as a web browser through such a huge gaming population presents a huge risk and will of course be of interest to online criminals," Ferguson told CVG. "Ubisoft should be patching this code as a matter of urgency and in the meantime, gamers should be disabling the plug-in."

The browser plug-in Ferguson describes is automatically created during the UPlay installation. Disable it immediately by following these steps:

Firefox: Tools – Add-ons – Plugins – Disable the Uplay and Uplay PC Hub plugins

Chrome: Visit About: Plugins and disable

Opera: Settings – Preferences – Advanced – Downloads – Search 'Uplay' and delete

We've reached out to Ubisoft for comment and will update this post with any response.

Any more reasons you want to give PC gamers to illegally download cracked versions of your games, Ubisoft?

Source: gamespy.com

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Debates about the Mass Effect 3 Ending

Joe Frazer emailed in to say reviewers are influencing developers in creating safe sequels.

This week we've got Jez Potter, who says he loved original Mass Effect 3 ending.

I've just finished Mass Effect 3, having got there spoiler-free (don't ask me how). And I was blown away. There's been a great deal of furore about the ending, sometimes with justification, sometimes not. As a dyed-in-the wool ME fan, I was rocked by the ending in a way I've never experienced in this medium before. At 2am, and with that haunting piano refrain still echoing in my headphones, I sat furious, elated, desolate. So many questions, so much to process.

But all the debates about the ending, to me, seem to miss the bigger picture. For the end of a videogame to have the same crushing emotional impact as the end of a beloved TV show or movie franchise vis a new experience for me. It's a testament to the commitment BioWare have to gaming, and the potential that have as an artform, as a medium capable of telling mature, engrossing stories, rather than just new and interesting ways of shooting people in the face.

There were certainly missed opportunities and missteps − I do think they made a bit of a dog's dinner of the ending, and it's ambition as 'high sci-fi' stumbled within the confines of gameplay conventions − we all know that thanks to the shrieking masses on the web there will now be an Extended Cut [It's out now - Ed], but for me the ending and trilogy as a whole exemplifies BioWare's ambition and courage.

Which ever way you look at it, ME was a stunning trilogy with unforgettable moments - and can any other game claim to have been discussed and analysed in the way that ME has? Sure, ME3 made some concessions to bigger business requirements − multiplayer, multi-platform tie-ins, etc. They didn't spoil the game for me, because honestly I couldn't care less about any of that. I cared about the story, the story of my Shepard; the guy I spent 150 hours of my life fighting, romancing, sacrificing, and agonising with. And I enjoyed every second of it.

XBW says: Jez, your letter is refreshing like a gallon of Mojitos on a hot summer day. In a rush to criticise the ending many have forgotten about the 150 hours of game before that. We've always said it: Mass Effect is about the journey, not the destination. And god forbid anyone speaks out to say they're happy with the ending.

CVG says: I agree with you Jez, and in fact I still haven't checked out the Extended Cut DLC because of it. Although I'll admit the ending provided more questions than answers those brief few minutes were insignificant compared to the hundreds of hours that preceeded it.

Source: computervideogames.com

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Dead Space 3: Graphic Novel Teaser Reveal

EA has released Dead Space graphic novel short which appears to confirm rumours that the third core entry in the survival-horror series will take place on an icy planet.

It's the first official allusion we've had at the new Dead Space title, which EA plans to release during the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. Although the publisher has yet to specifically refer to it as Dead Space 3, based on the popularity of Dead Space 2 the Visceral Games developed sequel is a dead cert.

"While patrolling the planet Uxor, Earthgov Sergeant John Carver witnesses an attack on the Marker Site he guards which changes his life forever. John must now fight his way through a colony now in complete chaos as he begins to discover how important he is in fighting the Necromorph plague. This is just the start of John Carver's saga in the Dead Space Universe."

The game is also rumoured to introduce a drop-in, drop-out co-operative gameplay mode. The series' main character Isaac Clarke doesn't make an appearance in this video, which means this new guy could be also be a co-op character.

Source: Computervideogames

Tags: EA, Pc games, Dead Space 3

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‘Call Of Duty Modern Warfare’ Creators vs. Activision

A star-studded trial of a different mode kicks off Friday here.

Jason West and Vince Zampella may not be household names, but as the creators of first-person shooter video games such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, they are true celebrities in the $25 billion game industry.

Over the past two years, the duo and their attorneys have been gearing up for modern warfare of a different kind: butting heads in Los Angeles County Superior Court with one of the industry’s leading men, Bobby Kotick, the CEO of the largest game company Activision, which publishes, markets and distributes Call of Duty games.

In a lawsuit filed in March 2010, West and Zampella charge Kotick and Activision unfairly fired them from their jobs as chief technology offer and chief creative officer, respectively, at the Activision-owned Infinity Ward studio in Santa Monica. The action happened just before Activision would have to pay them millions in bonuses for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which set industry sales records of more than $1 billion and became the top-selling game of all time until it was surpassed by 2010′s Call of Duty: Black Ops.

In response, Activision filed its own suit saying it was justified in terminating West and Zampella, even though they spearheaded its biggest money-making franchise, because they had become disloyal and breached their contracts. “They were small-minded executives almost obsessed by jealousy of other developers,” the lawsuit says.

At stake is as much as $1 billion in damages should the jury decide against Activision, which in 2011 posted a record $1 billion annual profit. That included the release of Modern Warfare 3, developed by West and Zampella’s former studio, Infinity Ward, along with Sledgehammer Games. The game set a new first-day sales record of more than $400 million.

Activision almost certainly owes West and Zampella cash from bonuses, says Jack Lerner, director of the University of Southern California Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic. “But the harder question is who will have a stake in future games in the Modern Warfare franchise,” he says. If the court rules that Activision wrongly terminated the two, they “may be able to get a lot more money based on what they could have expected to earn.”

An outcome in favor of Activision could shift more power to the publisher side of the game-development equation. “It may send a message about just how far a large studio can go with respect to its employees,” says Mark Methenitis, a Texas attorney and editor-in-chief of The Law of the Game blog.

‘Project Icebreaker’

In the court filing, West and Zampella’s legal team says there is evidence that Activision’s chief legal officer, George Rose, wanted to break into West’s and Zampella’s computers and e-mail accounts to dig up dirt on them.

Those efforts, called “Project Icebreaker” in court filings, occurred in 2009, a year after West and Zampella extended their contracts and only a few months before the release of Modern Warfare 2 suggesting, according to court filings, that “Activision began preparing to terminate them once the game was delivered.”

For its part, Activision insists, in its court filings, that the designers were “conspiring” with competing game publisher Electronic Arts to leave and siphon off much of the Infinity Ward talent.

The case “has got all the elements of a great Greek drama,” says Roxanne Christ, an attorney who teaches a course in video game law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “There’s a lot of money at issue. A lot of money and a lot of pride.”

Earlier this month in an unusual move, Activision added superstar attorney Beth Wilkinson, a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega. Most recently, she was appointed by the Federal Trade Commission to lead its investigation of Google.

Along with Wilkinson’s appointment, Activision asked Judge Elihu Berle to postpone the trial for a month so that she could have more time to prepare. The judge’s refusal — jury selection is slated to begin Friday — won’t hinder Wilkinson, who can “master a lot of material in a short amount of time and get down to what is most important,” says Christ.

Married to Meet the Press host David Gregory, Wilkinson “is something of a celebrity now, which should play well in Los Angeles” and could help Activision’s case, Christ says. To counter Activision’s move, West and Zampella have added noted entertainment and intellectual property trial lawyer Daniel Petrocelli who won the wrongful death lawsuit against O.J. Simpson in 1997.

Case has entertainment factor

The case is being followed closely by the game industry, as well as Hollywood and the legal profession. Kotick, who had a small role in the baseball movie Moneyball as the Oakland Athletics owner, “is a legend in the industry, and he is known for having a very big personality, like most CEOs do. And the guys from Infinity Ward have good egos to go with them,” Christ says. “It’s like Ultimate Fighting Championship. People just get something out of watching others duke it out.”

Still, the case might not result in changes at all. “At the end of the day, unless the verdict is enormous, it may just be seen as the cost of acquiring rights to a hugely successful series,” Methenitis says. “Jason and Vince are already on to new projects.” Some firms in the agile industry may have already taken steps to shore up the developer-publisher relationship based on the case’s existence, Christ says. “This is no question a learning lesson for everybody.”

At their new studio Respawn Entertainment in Van Nuys, Calif., West and Zampella say the legal haranguing has been worth it. “We get a lot of support from people in the industry that say, ‘We want you to set things right,’ ” Zampella says.

They hope that a jury decides that they were unjustly treated and render a verdict that gives them justice. “If not now, when?” says West. “If not us, who?”

Source:Tucsoncitizen

Tags: Pc games, Call Of Duty, Activision Tech News, News

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Assassin's Creed III Trailer Unveil More Revolutionary Gameplay

Ubisoft has released the Assassin's Creed 3's new trailer, set during the American Revolution. The 2 minutes trailer gives a glimpse of the game's smooth running graphics and action gameplay.

The video gives a detailed look at the new protagonist in the series of Assassin's Creed, Connor Kenway. It shows how Connor tracks down his targets and attacks them with speed, stealth, and bringing down his targets in a very skilled manner.

"Ubisoft's blockbuster running, jumping and stabbing franchise Assassin's Creed has been stuck in Renaissance-era Italy for the last three games, but it's making a big change with its next installment. Assassin's Creed III shifts the stage to the American Revolution, and in doing so has reignited excitement among sneaky gamers," writes Slashgear.

The trailer also revealed how Connor takes down a slew of Red Coat before leaping to axe down a commanding officer in all one fluid motion. Connor also takes on nature as he prepares to slay a bear along with hunting various animals throughout the game.

With Connor being half Caucasian and half Native American puts him into conflicting situation where he needs to decide where his loyalty lies. In the game we see that Connor uses hatchet, small knives, a bow and arrow and a flintlock rifle with a bayonet. In the previous series, the protagonist mainly used a hidden dagger.

"It was important he was outside of the conflict. He's not British or Colonial and has his own reasons for being involved, his own path that happens to intersect with the Revolution. Our story is of both the Assassins and the Templars, that's the focus of our story...The Templars get their dirty little hands in everything, so Connor's trajectory through the Revolution isn't one sided at all, he'll be going where the Templars are and they're everywhere," said Matt Turner lead writer of the game in an interview with Official Playstation Magazine.

The game, Assassin's Creed 3 is set to be released on October 30, 2012 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Check out the trailer below:

Tags: Pc games, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation, Assassin's Creed III

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BioShock Infinite delayed till 2013

No Bioshock Infinite for you in 2012. Play Diablo 3 instead.

We really haven't kept up with Bioshock Infinite since it was originally announced, but Irrational Games sent over an email reporting that the third installment won't hit store shelves until 2013. The news arrives straight from Ken Levine who also states that the game won't be shown at big events this year like E3 2012 and Gamescom either.

For the full brunt of bad news, here's the entire letter:

"When we announced the release date of BioShock Infinite in March, we felt pretty good about the timing.

"Since then, we’ve come to realize that some specific tweaks and improvements will make Infinite into something even more extraordinary. Therefore, to give our talented team the time they need, we’ve decided to move the game’s release to February 26, 2013. We wanted to let our loyal (and very patient!) fans know this as soon as possible.

"I won’t kid you: BioShock Infinite is a very big game, and we’re doing things that no one has ever done in a first-person shooter. We had a similar experience with the original BioShock, which was delayed several months as our original ship date drew near. Why? Because the Big Daddies weren’t the Big Daddies you’ve since come to know and love. Because Andrew Ryan’s golf club didn’t have exactly the right swing. Because Rapture needed one more coat of grimy Art Deco.

"The same principle now applies to BioShock Infinite.

"What does this mean for you? It means a bit more waiting, but more importantly, it means an even better BioShock Infinite. The great can be made greater, and we owe it to both ourselves and to you, our fans, to take this opportunity. Irrational Games is one of those rare developers lucky enough to ask the people who sign the checks: “Hey, can we have a few more of those checks?”

"We are also going to hold off on showing BioShock Infinite at the big events of the summer, like E3 and Gamescom. That way, the next time you see our game, it will be essentially the product we intend to put in the box. Preparing for these events takes time away from development, time we’re going to use instead to get the best version of Infinite into your hands in February."

BioShock Infinite was one of the most anticipated games of the year. That's OK: we'll be busy playing Diablo 3 anyway.

Source: Tomsguide

Tags: Pc games, Diablo 3, BioShock Infinite

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 First Details Leaked about to drop

When Activision announced that the next installment to the Call of Duty franchise was going to be Black Ops 2, I naturally assumed that we’d be going back to the Cold War with the Rolling Stones blaring in the background. Now, the first official details about Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 suggest that I was way off base.

The next Call of Duty is going to take place in a near-future, 21st century Cold War with a terrifying new array of near-futuristic weapons, according to a leak on the game’s UK site.

website also has a trailer with what looks like a drone flying through the city, but the video is private and won’t play. My guess is that the war between the Russians and The Americans didn’t quite as cleanly as it appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and simmering global tensions have evolved into some kind of fancy version of the 60’s. Near-future weapons might be best suited for multiplayer – fans and developers alike might welcome the addition of some new toys to the same CoD formula.

The full, official reveal will take place tonight.

Tags: Pc games, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

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Crytek: Next-gen used games block 'would be absolutely awesome'

Dev also wants to avoid Crysis 'most pirated PC game of the year' repeat

The introduction of an anti-used game measure for next-gen consoles would be "absolutely awesome," says Crysis dev Crytek.

Released in March 2011, Crysis 2 racked up three million sales within four months, according to EA. It was an impressive sales total in the most competitive of genres, and more than enough to ensure the publisher was keen to partner with the German developer again on 2013's Crysis 3, but it could have been much higher, and the two companies would have received a great deal more revenue, were it not for second-hand game sales and piracy.
Last week we asked Rasmus Hojengaard, Crytek's director of creative development, what the studio would like to see when the platform holders launch the next round of consoles.

"The worst thing that can happen is they make something that's very complex for developers, regardless of how awesome it might theoretically be," he said. "So getting hardware that allows you to quickly get prototypes up and running, and any kind of scalability they can offer will be great as well, as long as everyone has that scalability and not just a select few."

Asked if he'd like to see Microsoft and Sony introduce anti-used game measures, as has been rumoured for Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4, Hojengaard added:

"From a business perspective that would be absolutely awesome. It's weird that [second-hand] is still allowed because it doesn't work like that in any other software industries, so it would be great if they could somehow fix that issue as well."

Boosting sales on PC is arguably an even greater priority, given that Crysis 2 was named the most pirated game of 2011, with the PC version alone illegally downloaded somewhere in the region of four million times.

"It's very flattering and upsetting at the same time," Hojengaard said of the situation. "Obviously you miss so much revenue, it's so clear that a lot of people want to play your game but they don't really want to pay for it, which is unfortunately really disappointing.

"It's also a little flattering because people are willing to bother download these 10GB files or whatever the game takes because they think it looks great. We obviously want to avoid that this time, but even if we can convert 25 percent of those gamers into paying customers [you have an extra million sales]."

How do you go about doing that? "You'd have to ask someone who knows something about that, because it's not me," the Crytek man said.

We'll have more from our interview with Hojengaard later this week. In the meantime, check out Crysis 3's newly released gameplay trailer, plus our recently published Crysis 3 preview, in which our man Ben Griffin called the FPS "a contender for best-looking game of all time".


Source: Computerandvideogames

Tags: Pc games, Crysis 3, Xbox, PlayStation

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Diablo 3 Beta Weekend Reached 300,000 Concurrent Players

Blizzard's first public test brought 300,000 concurrent players and lots of problems to the Diablo 3 servers.


Blizzard's community manager "Bashiok" claims on Twitter that the number of concurrent users playing the Diablo 3 beta over the weekend peaked at 300,000 gamers. The total number of users test-driving the highly-anticipated Diablo sequel is currently unknown, but Bashiok said it was "a lot."

The purpose of the beta weekend was to see how the servers could handle the load all at once. Given that fans have waited since 2000's Diablo 2 for another installment, it's only natural to assume that every single fan was waiting for the doors to swing open on Friday, especially those who didn't make it into the closed beta. Just imagine a mad crowd waiting for the doors to open on Black Friday, and you'll understand why Blizzard wants to be fully prepared for May 15.

"Every time we tried to log in this weekend and failed, we were doing our part to help Blizzard,"Forbes reports, describing its difficulties in loggin into the game and staying connected during the flood of anxious gamers. "This would help explain why their response to all inquiries was “keep trying.” They wanted people to copy/paste their passwords every four seconds and try to log in. That’s exactly the sort of 'stress' they need to test."

"Shortly after the beta opened up on Friday, fans were greeted with login errors - particularly server full errors," GameZone states. "Error 37 was the most frequent as servers reached their capacity. According to Blizzard, 'this was likely due to us lowering the concurrency cap to address an issue or error.'"

The public beta reportedly contained the same content seen in the closed beta: access to the five characters, and a portion of Act I which concludes by defeating the Skeleton King. The difference was that it only allowed characters to level up to 13. But like the closed beta testers, all characters will be killed off once the actual retail version goes live on May 15. Bummer, we know.

With the beta weekend now over, does that mean the Diablo 3 Starter Edition was more than a mistaken beta client? Probably not. As reported last week, those who downloaded and played the leaked client was asked to purchase the full game. What's possible is that Blizzard provided the Starter Edition to beta testers for the weekend stress test, but turned off the nag screen and activated other limitations like level caps and more.

That said, it wouldn't be surprising to see the actual Starter Edition launch before the full version goes retail in order to see how the servers handle the load over a longer period. Yet Blizzard didn't take that route with StarCraft 2, so we may have to wait until May 15 before he get a taste of Diablo 3 again. Let's hope not.

Source: Tomshardware

Tags: Pc games, Diablo 3

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Crysis 3: The best-looking game we've ever seen

New York has gone to shit. Beautiful, beautiful shit. In Crysis 3, the speedily developed sequel to 2011's near-future shooter, Mother Nature shows Lady Liberty how to properly dominate a skyline.

It's the best of both worlds: Crysis' organic greenery butting heads with the sequel's towering skyscrapers. Sunlight pierces thick patches of canopy, flooded streets swell into raging rivers, vines scratch and claw at buildings and wildlife flits about your face. This is less urban jungle and more urban rainforest.

And you call it home.

It's 2047, 23 years after US army major Prophet slapped on his Nanosuit 2.0 and took to the quarantined, alien-invaded Big Apple - but this time something's taken a big old bite of it. Namely, C.E.L.L. (Crynet Enforcement and Local Logistics), a private military company under US government mandate. They really, really want your exoskeleton and will do anything to get it - like erect a multi-mile Nanodome over the city to lock you down.

UNDER THE DOME

It's all a bit The Simpsons Movie, but the 'Liberty Dome' is a compelling idea. Under its transparent cover the city splits into districts known as 'The Seven Wonders', another bit of propaganda it seems as there's nothing wonderful about them. The story - the one they've fed news stations and the public anyway - is this citywide structure is there to protect the population and rid the planet of remaining alien forces.

But you know the truth. Biomedical company CryNet (parent of C.E.L.L.) wants your suit and the Earth-invading Ceph want you dead. They're all overlooking one thing: you're not locked in with them... they're locked in with you.

This is more paradise than prison, and Cabela's Dangerous Hunt presumably proved developer Crytek's inspiration in the way you track and stalk through thick vegetation. (We're joking, of course. Or... are we?) It's a sprawl you've slaughtered through before, but this New York is different. In a word, it's stunning. In two, it's absolutely stunning, and looks set to continue Crysis' lineage of hardware-defying graphics.

Rasmus Højengaard, director of creative development at Crytek, had this to say when we tracked him down at the preview event: "Obviously we're limited by things such as memory, but we have brilliant R&D guys and they're able to do things that no-one has done on consoles before." Fair point, but will this be a tale of two cities - the better being the PC version? "What's important", says Rasmus, "is the experience doesn't change."
Regardless of platform, this is surely a contender for best-looking game of all time. CryENGINE 3 is a fierce reminder Crytek are among the best in the business at both squeezing juice out of ageing platforms and putting the frightening power of newer ones to dazzling effect.

But something's got to give.

In this preview version, framerate is the casualty, silky smooth when demoed to us on a presumably NASA-donated PC (never-dipping under 90 frames-per-second) but likely the main concession for now six-year old consoles. Like Crysis 2 it'll churn and struggle during intense moments of debris-scattering mayhem, and the fire and lighting effects alone look too gorgeous not to send consoles to a crawl, but Crytek have ways around that. Bow, meet arrow.

BOW STREET RUNNER
The bow and arrow are key to less CPU-straining stealth, a pointed example of your new survival skills. The go-to weapon of ancient conquerors maybe, but Sun Tzu never customised his with explosive arrowheads, fire modes and scopes. Rasmus coyly alluded to different ammo types too: "There's going to be a variety. They don't all just do damage."

Your Meccano-like bow is ultra-customisable and packs a punch: a cam that tracks your kill-shots to their gruesome conclusion looks like something straight out of Hollywood, and frag arrows make a more accurate alternative to vague grenade lobs. When all else fails? A trusty knife and a close-up execution. However, you're not the only one with expensive new hardware.

The Ceph are licking their wounded tentacles since the hydraulically-powered kicking you gave them in the last game, but they've returned locked and loaded. Flamethrowers, plasma mortars and stealth-disabling cameras swell their space arsenal and sit comfortably alongside massive Ceph tripods (think AT-AT's designed by Hideo Kojima) and hulking Devastator Units. And they're not alone.

You've also got to watch your space-age-fibered back against C.E.L.L. soldiers, who wield near-future tech like the returning SCARAB rifles and Jackal shotguns. Both factions represent different threats, different angles of attack. The Ceph are faster, bigger and stronger, but humans have tanks, jeeps and turrets. If it's anything like the last two games you'll be able to drive them all.

If the two come into contact? They'll fight each other, recalling heart-in-mouth moments from Crysis 2 where the Ceph took aim at tanks by flinging giant arching balls of white plasma during a night siege. The core powers of your suit are once again the focus: armour, stealth and power mode, along with your visor's heat vision and tracking binoculars - open different avenues for combat.

Crytek wasn't willing to be drawn on how the suit will differ from its predecessor, other than it will be "enhanced", but we know already that, through the suit, you'll be able to hack into alien turrets and control extra-terrestrial weaponry. The bigger fun for some, however, is shooting real people in competitive multiplayer.

CITY ON FIRE
It was an underrated hoot in the last game, combining a CoD control scheme and Brink-like parkour with high-powered armour abilities seemingly straight out of Halo Reach. "You don't even know yet if there's going to be a multiplayer, and you're not going to be able to rhetorically lure me into saying that there is one!" joked Rasmus. Oh come on, what's going on the back of the box then? "We're not talking about that now, but that will be revealed later on." We'll take that as a yes, then.

Nature's reclaimed New York, and Crytek's reclaimed Crysis. There will undoubtedly be framerate issues on hardware less than a few minutes old, and those turned off by Crysis 2's invasion plotline and at times staggeringly dumb AI might find old issues remain - but it's hard to argue with high-tech weaponery, wide swathes of self-enclosed and stunning sandboxes, and do-it-your-way combat that packs a punch.
Welcome to the urban jungle.

Source: Computerandvideogames

Tags: Pc games, Crysis 3, Xbox, PlayStation, PlayStation 4, Xbox 720

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One weekend only, Blizzard opens Diablo III to public for open beta stress test

If you've been waiting for a sneak peak at the new Diablo III, you're in luck. Blizzard is announced a weekend-only open beta test to begin today, April 20.

The majority of us without Diablo 3 in our lives are in for a treat this weekend. Blizzard opened up Diablo III to just about everyone (with the exception of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau) for this weekend only, beginning Friday and ending Monday morning. With the May 15 release approaching, it’s the final step effort to refine the game that we’ve all been waiting for.

To test out the extent to which its servers can handle an influx of traffic, Blizzard is inviting anyone with a valid Battle.net account to download the client and play any of the five hero classes. The open beta testing begins April 20 at 12:01 PM PST / 3:01 PM EST, and will end on Monday, April 23, at 10:00 AM PST / 1:00 PM EST.

Unfortunately, players can only level their characters up to level 13. For the frequent Blizzard gamers out there, particularly the new World of Warcraft gamers, such restrictions shouldn’t come as a surprise. Blizzard recently implemented free-to-play features in its ailing WoW franchise, which restricts the player’s character level to a maximum of 20. Based on this strategy, we’re expecting Blizzard to implement similar restrictions once sales of Diablo III begin leveling off. The restrictions for the open beta testers don’t end there. Blizzard explained in its blog post, “In addition, stress test participants will not have access to post in the beta forums and will not be provided Beta Bucks for use in testing the currency-based auction house.”

While your excitement may be boiling over, don’t set your expectations too high. Because the motivation for opening up the beta is to stress its servers, the playing experience, particularly on Friday, might be compromised as tens of thousands of Diablo III hopefuls sign-up and sign-in all at once. Disconnections, lagging and queues are likely, and in fact, it’s for the better. Sacrificing three days of an inconsistent game play experience for a lifetime of minimal down times is one that we’re willing to accept. In fact, Blizzard does make a note of this in its statement. “It’s very possible that players connecting to the stress test could experience issues with the service. While not ideal, this is exactly why we’re having a stress test. We want to catch and analyze as many bugs as possible during this stress test period, so that we can try to ensure a smooth launch on May 15.”

For the fortunate closed beta testers, they’ll be in for a 15 day dry-spell as May 1 marks the closing of its closed beta test, only eight days after the open beta test comes to an end.

Now, who’s ready to be the first to level up all five characters to level 13 this weekend?

Tags: Pc games

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Retailer taking Dead Space 3 pre-orders South African store has a history of outing games ahead of official reveals

South African retailer BT Games has begun accepting pre-orders for the as-yet-unannounced Dead Space 3.

IGN has the photo evidence of the retailer's original online listing, although it has now been altered. It no longer says Dead Space 3, instead calling the product the "latest release in the Dead Space franchise", while the publisher is now listed as 2K Games rather than EA and the release date as 2011.
BT Games previously outed Jak and Daxter HD Collection a month ahead of its official announcement, as well as Mass Effect 3's multiplayer component. It has also carried a listing for God of War 4, a game we're hoping will be the subject of a Sony reveal planned for tomorrow.

Dead Space 3 was seemingly first revealed last September by an Israeli news show featuring what appeared to be leaked artwork.

Shortly after, Siliconera posted multiple reports claiming to reveal details of the plot. It said Dead Space 3 will ditch the series' typical spaceship setting in favour of an icy planet called Tau Volantis, where Isaac is on a rescue mission he's reluctantly accepted because there's a warrant out for his arrest.

He'll also reportedly have a split personality, with "Shadow Isaac" taunting our hero every chance he gets. These mind games will apparently play a major role in proceedings, with Isaac's shadow self viewable as a separate on-screen character.

Source :Computervideogames

Tags: PC Games, Dead Space 3'

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Halo 4 release date confirmed for November by Microsoft

The next instalment in the popular Halo video game series has been given a global release date of 6 November.

Microsoft said it marked a "new beginning" for the series, which it confirmed would now continue for the next decade.

The new game will be set four years after Halo 3 and see the game's hero, Master Chief, "confront his destiny and face an ancient evil".

Halo games have sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.

The first-person shooter first appeared on the original Xbox console in 2001, before moving to the Xbox 360 with games like Halo 3 and Halo Reach.

Developer 343 Industries, part of Microsoft's in-house games department, will be in charge of producing the new Halo for the first time.

It's taking over from Bungie who made the previous games in the series.

Halo's November release means the game is likely to face tough competition from other highly-anticipated titles.

Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto 5 is rumoured for an October 2012 release, while Assassin's Creed 3 and Resident Evil 6 are out in the same month.

For the last three years, the Call of Duty series has dominated the November games release schedule.

Much-publicised titles like Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops have sold millions of copies in the lucrative run-up to Christmas.

Microsoft will be looking to rival that success but will also be competing with another high-profile event - the US presidential elections, which take place on the same day.

For the last three years, the Call of Duty series has dominated the November games release schedule.

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Witcher 2 Xbox 360 review: Darker than Skyrim, sexier than Mass Effect - better than both?

The black sheep of RPGs fights onto console

There's a zinger piece of dialogue during the original Witcher where Geralt of Rivia muses: "Power, sex. Sex, Power. They both come down to one thing - fucking others." It's a brilliant line in a series filled with great lines: where musings of causality and morality sit naturally alongside mucky quips about 'lesbomancy', 'ploughing' and 'whoresons'.

First things first: this isn't Skyrim. Duh. There's no epic sandbox to meander through; narratively it's way more linear. You don't get to roleplay Geralt as a tattooed female elf with a pornstar bosom, nor as some Halfling with an afro. Accept that CD Projekt's take on the RPG is more of a framed experience than the one offered by Bethesda and you're halfway to appreciating this game's manifold majesty.

To arms then, with a speedy plot recap. After an epic opening where Geralt helps gallant King Foltest to subdue a noble uprising, said sovereign is brutally butchered. Suspicious eyes fall on our mutated hero, and he's tossed into gaol to rot. We know the White Wolf (Geralt) is innocent; indeed he's already deduced the true killer is actually another Witcher. So, after a suitably epic act of escapology, Geralt begins his quest for answers... and the true machinations behind Assassins of Kings begin in earnest.

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Rest assured, Geralt's not the divisive character you might be expecting. He's a big, ugly man sure - but there's an incredible depth behind those scary yellow eyes. Similarly, just because you're stuck with the White Wolf as your avatar, it doesn't mean there's not a considerable capacity for independent decision making. Play him as a slimy old git or bastion of heroism - there's room for both.

Geralt's romance with foxy magic user Triss Merigold is particularly well-realised; there's a steamy scene in a rose-smattered Elven bathhouse that captures both the physical and mental sides of their relationship better than any other title this writer can remember. Dialogue is rich and expertly penned, and while the sheer amount of lore being spouted is occasionally disconcerting, it's a boon rather than a hindrance.

Career opportunities

That depth continues through to the gameplay itself, with three significantly disparate paths to plough XP into. Is your Geralt a herbalist, wielder of the magic-alike Signs, or swordsman supreme? Signs like Aard (Force Throw) and Axii (Jedi mind trick) lend the combat a quasi-Force Unleashed feel, while the kinetic swordplay recalls a simplified Arkham Asylum. Both elements are satisfying and sound, if not quite class-leading. There's also a stack of weaponry and armour to purchase/pinch/forge, meaning Geralt's garb feels constantly fresh and - more importantly - badass.

And badass you'll need to be at times; despite a tweaked tutorial and massaged difficulty spikes this can be frustratingly tough. A button-spamming hack 'n slash it is not, and your initial encounters with the likes of Letho and the Kayran will end bloodily and abruptly unless you quickly learn to block and roll- dodge with the best of them. The key lies in preparedness, so ensure you guzzle potions, craft incendiaries, apply any vicious, viscous blade coatings, and don't swear too much when you're occasionally hamstrung by fiddly multi-enemy encounters.




Depending on your choices then, Act 2 plays out in two drastically different ways. We're talking near-totally disparate locations and characters, here - before everything comes together with a (rather abrupt) resolution at Loc Muinne. That said, it's also a rather brave ending in one way - and speaks volumes for the devs' approach to storytelling. The Witcher may look epic, but much of its lore concentrates on suggesting that these 'heroes' and 'villains' are little more than motes of dust in the grand galactic scheme of things. That's really rather progressive when you stop to consider every other title out there is continually trying to out-epic one another...

Unlike the heavily-modded version of BioWare's Aurora engine that did for the original title, the RED engine is a bespoke colossus that oozes potential for franchising out. Some naysayers have expressed dismay that the 360 conversion only drives visuals equivalent to a PC's medium spec, yet that still results in one of the most stunning titles on the machine. Flotsam's town square genuinely feels alive, the kind of virtual world we could only fantasise about when tinkering with RPGs like Bard's Tale and Ultima way back when.

It's a combination of art design and sheer engine potency - but whether you're exploring riverside ports, looming forests or army encampments you're continually aware that gaming universes have rarely felt this real. Ally this to haunting Celtic melodies and some bang-on regional British acting chops and you realise CD Projekt's craftsmanship effortlessly compensates for their relatively meagre resources.

Even better, this is far from a straight port. Dubbed the 'Enhanced Edition', 360 owners get a subtle drip of fresh content in the shape of side quests, fresh faces and beefed up cutscenes. The only real surprise is that it's taken this long to come to 360. Ultimately, The Witcher 2 is an outstanding title that offers a uniquely tough take on role playing - standing proudly alongside its more revered peers, and quite possibly gobbing a greenish wad of phlegm in their faces for good measure.

Source:.computerandvideogames.com

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Crysis 3 accidentally revealed by EA's Origin service

While the nanosuited protagonists of the Crysis series owe much of their success to the suit's ability to render them invisible until the precise moment they're ready to strike, publisher Electronic Arts doesn't share that same ability. The unannounced Crysis 3 was accidentally revealed on its own Origin website this morning.

As spotted by NeoGAF, and verified by a quick Google search for "crysis 3 limited edition download origin," EA's Origin download service featured the game on both Xbox 360 and PC; it's unclear if there will be a PS3 version. Accessing the once-live Origin page for Crysis 3 returns a predictable "PRODUCT NO LONGER AVAILABLE" warning.

A NeoGAF poster also discovered a higher-resolution banner image featuring the same compound bow-packing, nanosuit-wearing protagonist as the temporary Origin boxart, further validating the veracity of this leak. The April issue of Swedish gaming mag Game Reactor also appears to confirm the leak, teasing a game with the series' familiar hexagonal pattern.

We've reached out to EA for comment on the game and when we can expect to learn more. In the interim, keep checking Origin?

Update: EA got back to us and didn't play coy! "The best kept secret in shooters just can't be contained. Stay tuned for more information on April 16," the statement reads. Mark your calendars for next Monday, folks.

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Devil May Cry: Hands-on proves it's better than you think

Why you'll love New Dante, whether you want to or not

Devil May Cry's number-less revival was supposed to be terrible - a western studio handling a resolutely Japanese genre with a detestably youthful pretty-boy protagonist and a combo system which looked suspect at best. But bad news, internet: DMC is good, the combo system is solid, and you'll like New Dante, whether you want to or not.

First, Emo Dante isn't emo in the least. Like Dante Classic, New Dante is raw rockstar sex appeal in tight trousers, who swaggers around, cracks jokes - funny ones, this time, thanks to Ninja Theory's talented writers - and carries himself like he's invincible because he almost is. He's young - nineteen-ish, maybe, but who cares? - and well on his way to becoming the Dante you know and love, right down to the way he begins DMC shirtless and, er, pants-less.

In DMC he flits between Earth and a layer beneath our own reality where you'll let Dante's new combo system loose. In fact, it's not so new. Ninja Theory's DMC reboot takes the best of Dante's classic moves and even borrows a trick or two from DMC4's Nero for a combo system that feels like an authentic Devil May Cry sequel, albeit a sequel to Devil May Cry 1 not Devil May Cry 3.

DMC wants to make some new friends and that means doing a few things the best of the best will hate. Forget Devil May Cry 4; the real Devil May Cry 3 sequel was Bayonetta, and nobody bought the bloody thing. Hideki Kamiya's Devil May Cry follow-up proved a point - limitless depth is worthless if only one percent of players can explore it - so Ninja Theory has turned the volume down on Devil May Cry's cruellest tricks and making a game new players can enjoy and older players can still explore, even on its more limited terms.

DMC was never going to compete with Bayonetta. Hideki Kamiya is a genius and Bayonetta is Kamiya in his craziest cut-off-an-ear-and-howl-at-the-moon-like-a-dog moment. Bayonetta's combo system was so expansive Kamiya's own QA team didn't have the manpower to test the thousands of possibilities; it was so big, they didn't even know what they had made. Platinum gave Bayonetta's players a toolbox with no idea what the community would make of it, even to the point of letting the odd glitched combo or two shatter the game's balance, but DMC's systems are deliberately clearer, and more in keeping with the template established in the very first Devil May Cry.

It's simpler than Bayonetta, but DMC is never as dim-witted as God of War or Heavenly Sword or even Ninja Gaiden 3. Every combo has a reason to exist and every weapon is useful for a very specific purpose. Dante carries his Ebony and Ivory pistols, his Rebellion sword, a demon weapon, and an angel weapon. Your Left Trigger activates angel mode and Right Trigger activates demon mode and the three modes can be switched at any point, mid-combo or otherwise.

As your combo's rank increases from D to A to SSS the music intensifies - the guitar kicks in, then the drums, then the vocals. Combo-chasing isn't just about big scores; it's about screaming music giving you feedback every time you get that little bit better. Only the the best players care about that letter in the corner of the screen, but by tying that letter to the music Ninja Theory has made it worth chasing that SSS for even the least capable players. Fight well and you'll look /and sound/ like a badass.

We didn't have time or skill enough to test the seriously high-end DMC3 techniques, but Ninja Theory went into its new DMC with the intention of making it easier to look good. Stepping off of enemies appears to be out in favour of a super-simplified infinite launcher, activated by hitting X (on a 360 controller) with an Angel weapon equipped. You can chase an enemy high into the sky with repeated stabs at LT+X, and the hangtime on every launcher is greatly extended, so any lofted enemy is an easy ticket into the sky.

In the air with Osiris, Y is a regular strike and B is a rake that'll lift grounded enemies up to your height. On the ground, Osiris can be charged or used like Nero's claw to draw yourself towards enemies, and like all the weapons in the demo it'll combo with a basic Y, Y, Y, Y on the ground or Y, Y > Y for a harder finish. B is a whirling vertical windmill attack, purpose-built for juggling.

Those first three hits of the Y, Y, Y, Y combo and first two hits of the Y, Y > Y combo can be performed with any weapon before you switch to a Demon or Angel weapon for the final blow. Dante's first Demon weapon, Arbiter, is a heavyweight axe with a long lag time on startup, but by landing your first three hits with Rebellion then switching to Arbiter you'll end the combo off with an instant axe finisher.

Arbiter's Y attack combos up to three hits with Y, Y, Y, or Y, Y > Y and it's B attack is a massive one-hit earth-shaker that sends a ranged shockwave forwards. In the air Arbiter can be thrown with Y, while B is another earth-shaker, only without the shockwave. Like Osiris it can be used like Nero's claw, this time drawing enemies closer to you rather than reeling you towards them.

The ranged claw grabs of the Demon and Angel weapons work regardless of the weapon you've equipped in the slots, and are used in combat and for navigating levels. Dante can leap towards higher platforms with an Angel grab or pull platforms towards him with an Demon grab. Ninja Theory's levels are a mixed bag of punch-ups, platforming sections, and chases where you'll use those grabs to tear through the rapidly changing spaces, but DMC isn't a big, dumb Heavenly Sword or a desperate-for-attention Ninja Gaiden 3. DMC might be good enough to do in 2012 what its namesake did back in 2001.

Think of DMC the same way you think of Street Fighter IV. The complexity of Third Strike killed Street Fighter for the best part of a decade but SFIV brought fighting games back to basics and revived the genre in the process. DMC is that - an open door to new players without being quite the slap in the face the hardcore players expected.

At worst DMC is a thoroughly modern callback to the original Devil May Cry, and at best it's gateway drug that might just revive the entire genre. Either way it's probably time to stop with the death threats and give the Brits a chance; they might actually know what they're doing.

Source:computerandvideogames

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Mass Effect 3 to get extended ending at no cost to gamers

The makers of Mass Effect 3 are to provide a free extension to the video game following complaints about its original conclusion.

Players had described the three original endings as "underwhelming" and not significantly different, and had demanded a change.

Developer Bioware had previously described the feedback as "incredibly painful".

It has now said the new content will be available in the summer.

"We have reprioritised our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalised for each player," said Casey Hudson, the series' executive producer.

Dr Ray Muzyka, co-founder of Bioware, added: "With the Mass Effect 3 extended cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team's artistic vision for the end of this story arc."

Backlash

The title - which involves the player taking part in a galactic war to save the Earth - topped the video games charts when it was released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC earlier this year.

Publisher EA said it shipped 3.5 million copies worldwide in its first week of availability. At the time it boasted of the title's high review scores and described it as "the first pop culture event and the biggest entertainment launch of 2012".

However, a backlash soon gathered pace among the first players to complete the role-playing title.

They believed Bioware had not lived up to its promise that their choices would deliver "radically different ending scenarios".

A campaign called Retake Mass Effect 3 demanded an overhaul of the conclusion - and publicised its efforts by collecting $80,000 (£50,000) over nine days for the Child's Play charity.

One of the group's members gave the latest announcement a guarded welcome.

"It is nice that Bioware responded to the pressure we put on them and that they listened to us," Sebastian Sobczyk told the BBC.

"But we are still cautious about this. We don't just want a few minor changes. We want conclusions that properly reflect the choices we made over the many hours we spent playing the game - including at least one happy ending."

Limited changes

Mr Sobczyk and other gamers may remain frustrated. A FAQ posted to Bioware's site later clarified that it would expand on the ending "by creating additional cinematics and epilogue scenes to the existing ending sequences".

However, it added that "the extended cut DLC will expand on the existing endings, but no further ending DLC is planned."

The news prompted angry posts by some users on the company's social network, although others defended its decision.

While it is not unprecedented for video game developers to extend or change the conclusion to their titles, Bioware's relatively rapid response has drawn attention.

"There were similar complaints about the ending to Fallout 3 in 2008 and the studio Bethesda issued the Broken Steel update [7 months later] - although it did charge for it," said James Batchelor, staff writer at the video games trade magazine MCV.

"The extension to Mass Effect 3 is a high profile example of a publisher responding to fan demands, even if they were a vocal minority."

Source:BBC

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