The downloadable demo was first available on the Xbox 360, and a week later on the other platforms.
Dungeon Siege III is an action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and soon to be published by Square Enix on Ps3, Xbox 360, PC and OnLive. Part 3 will be released in Europe - 17 June, North America - 21 June and Japan - 28 July. Original creator of Dungeon Siege, Chris Taylor served as an advisor during the development of the game. This will be the first in the series to be published by Square Enix, after it acquired full ownership of the Dungeon Siege franchise .
The demo is available through Steam (Valve Corporation platform) . All you need to do is download Steam, create a free account and browse the demo section of the platform for the game.
Dungeon siege III demo is playable with 2 out of the 4 available characters in the retail version. It has 3 difficulty levels: Casual, Normal and Hardcore, the last difficulty level being "not for the feint heart, or those prone to throwing controllers", which is kinda like saying don`t hate us for driving you mad, we warned you in a funny way about it, tee hee.
On a personal note, i found the voice acting a bit poor, just to be mended by nice graphics once the game started. I really find the "Player Menu" weird but i do like the equipment comparison system, they kept it sweet and simple. I`ve noticed 3 skill Tiers, probably level-based unlockables and also recieving "Proficiency Points" along side the usual talent point, upon leveling up. Enjoy the game!
The gaming market seems to look more and more like a battlefield, as "troops" prepare for the end of the year - the ultimate FPS war.
Medal of Honor and Call of Duty will release two titles on the market this autumn, while Xbox owners also are waiting for a new Halo release. In these conditions, Electronic Arts and Activision set the release dates of their titles relatively close. Activision`s Black Ops will see the light of day on the 9th of November, while Medal of Honor was announced for mid-October. Because of the two being "rival" titles and the prices (at least for the console versions) being a little high, it`s likely that players will buy only one title...who will be the winner?
The new Medal of Honor is staged in Afghanistan, where, in single-player mode, you will write the story of multiple characters. Electronic Arts turned to military experts for assistance in offering gamers as much realism possible.
'Critical path' will take over half a day to complete, says 2K
In an interview for Xbox World 360 Magazine, Alex Cox from 2k said the main story of Mafia 2 will take 15 hours to walk through:
"I'd say the critical path is about 15 hours, maybe a bit longer. It's a nice length, big enough to feel epic without overstaying its welcome."
In it`s previous peek at Mafia 2 the magazine said that the in-game "dynamite shootouts" make Take-Two or GTA IV look "dated".
"We were blown away by both the visual fidelity and intricacy of the level design," the mag said. "As Vito, Steve, Joey and troops poured forward to bout the Brylcreemed baddies, GTA IV seemed very dated indeed."
The whole world lies in ruins. Humanity is almost annihilated. Due to the high-level of radiation cities became unsuitable for living. Outside cities, as rumours say, there are endless burned out deserts and wilds of mutated forests. The survived still remember about the past greatness of human. But the remnants of the civilization gradually become just memories, spin with stories and turn into legends.
Since the last plane took off the land more than twenty year has passed. The corroded railroads lead to nowhere. The air is silent, and the radiomen hear only the cheerless howls while million times tuning in frequencies on which broadcasted New-York, Paris, Tokyo and Buenos Aires before. Only twenty years has passed since IT happened. But human yielded the supremacy on Earth to new species. The mutated by radiation and other consequences of the happened creatures are more adapted to the changed world.
The human epoch elapsed. But they do not want to believe in that. There are only some tens of thousand of them, and they do not know whether somebody else survived, or they are the last people in this world. They live in Moscow metro – the largest anti-nuclear shelter whenever constructed by a human and the last shelter of humanity.
Almost all of them were in metro THIS day, and this fact helped them to survive. The hermetic locks protect them from radiation and monstrous creatures on surface, the worn out filters purify water and air. The assembled by skilled craftsmen dynamos produce electricity, in underground farms champignons are cultivated and pigs are raised, but the poorer people do not bother eating rats.
The central control system collapsed long age, and the stations turned into diminutive states, where people are grouped by ideas, religion and water filter or by the basic necessity to defence from enemies.
The VDNH is the extreme northern populated metro station in its line. It is the northern outpost of humanity and civilization. Here live some hundred of strong, friendly people, who treat the station as their sweet home. It was one of the best in metro while it was safe. But now the station is attacked by hordes of mysterious animals, descending from the top and named “Darkness” by the citizens of VDNH. The citizens, for the moment, succeed in countering the offence, but it becomes more and more difficult If the station is seized, the avalanche may overflow the whole metro.
Artem, a young guy, who lives in VDNH, is given a task – to reach the heart of the metro, the legendary Polis, in order to warn all people about the terrible danger and to ask for help. In hands of one man appears the destiny of VDNH, the destiny of the whole metro, and may be, the destiny of the whole humanity…
In this world an extremely dynamic gameplay awaits players. They will have to face different political regimes (democracy with market economy, totalitarian sects, military communism, primitive society with proper culture and beliefs); to fight with dangerous enemies and new intelligent life forms, born by catastrophe and mutations; to explore the enigmatic and at the same time quite known world and its laws (groupings and their interrelations, fractions animosity and trade, anomalies and enemies with extraordinary abilities); to handle various types of weapons, as common, as assembled from variety of well-know to modern people types, which posses some properties of their prototypes; to drive unique peoples’ machines in the new world: hand cars assembled in armoured personnel carrier manner etc..
Location – post-apocalyptic Moscow, the life of humanity gleams in metro (subway) tunnels, and the stations turned into small states with different political regimes.
Variety of gameplay styles – possibility to play as a heavy strike fighter, as an inconspicuous killer.
A player, who attentively follows the events in the game world, will find out ways to influence the advance of the plot and may reach the non-standard end. Besides the basic plot, there is a variety of non-obligatory tasks.
In station-cities it is possible to meet as fighters, as peaceful citizens and the station lives its own life independent from player. Children run and play among dwellings, adults are busy with different businesses – women cook meals, sew; men have discussions, clean weapons, drink tea or home-brew, read books; old people seat near tents.
The high-level AI empowered to model the NPC behaviour in close combat similar to real people actions. The enemies may conduct simple and aimed fire, avoid line of fire, hide in covers, ambush and attack suddenly, call for help, and mention a character hidden in shadow.
A number of various anomalies: gravitation distortion, energy clot (looking at some of which the character may perish), intelligent immaterial images, which punish with death for any aggression at their presence and many other, the role of which will be discovered only before the game release.
Ammo-money. Fire off money or be economic, use tactics.
The map pack will first arrive for Xbox on March 31. The PlayStation Network and PC versions of the pack will arrive later,date yet to be announced.
The Stimulus Package will be available for purchase at the price of 1200 Microsoft Points or $15, that`s $5 more than the map packs released last year for Call of Duty: World at War.
A description of the package was available on Xbox Live Marketplace, but was later on removed:
The Stimulus Package delivers 5 additional action-packed multiplayer maps featuring a variety of locations: "Bailout," a multi-level apartment complex; "Storm," an open industrial park littered with heavy machinery; "Salvage," a snowy junkyard fortified by stacked debris and crushed cars. Two legendary fan favorites from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare return, including "Crash," a war-torn urban environment; and "Overgrown," which features a massive dry creek bed.
From the Makers of the Best RPG of 2009, Dragon Age: Origins, comes the first official expansion pack - Awakening:
Release date: March 16th 2010.
For centuries, the Grey Wardens—the ancient order of guardians, sworn to unite and defend the lands—have been battling the darkspawn forces. Legend spoke that slaying the Archdemon would have put an end to the darkspawn threat for centuries to come, but somehow they remain.
You are the Grey Warden Commander and have been entrusted with the duty of rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and uncovering the secrets of the darkspawn and how they managed to remain.
How you choose to rebuild your order, how you resolve the conflict with "The Architect", and how you determine the fate of the darkspawn will be but some of the many complex choices that await and shape your journey as you venture to the new land of Amaranthine.
A Stunning World Expanded: BioWare's deepest universe to date just got bigger with an all new area of the world to explore, Amaranthine
Unlock the secrets of the Darkspawn and their true motivations
Rebuild the Grey Warden order and establish their base of operations at Vigil's Keep
All-new Complex Moral Choices: Embark on an epic story that is completely defined and reactive to your play style
Shape your entire experience based on the choices you make and how your handle complex situations
New Ways to Customize your Hero: Experience additional spells, abilities, specializations, and items to further personalize and customize your hero and party
Import your character from Dragon Age: Origins or start anew as a Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais
Encounter five all-new party members and an old favorite from Dragon Age: Origins
Even more Bone-Crushing, Visceral Combat: Battle against a new range of horrific and terrifying creatures
Put your skills to the test against an evolved, intelligent breed of Darkspawn and other menacing creatures including the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon!
Codemasters` F1 2010 will come out September, available on PC, Xbox and PS3.
Fans of the F1 will be happy to hear that besides the "natural" database update on teams,drivers and circuits, the 2010 release will include the introduction of several teams, the new International Korean Circuit and the return of legend Michael Schumacher.All in HD!
Game modes and features to come in this year`s September release are Grand Prix, Championship, Time Trial and an extended Career Mode.F1 2010 will also feature car damage, a dynamic weather system and multiplayer.
The game was developed at Codemasters Studios Birmingham, using the EGO Game Technology Platform.
2K announced that it's teamed up with Playboy to include more than 50 "vintage covers and centrefolds" in Mafia II.
2K`s open-world effort will allow players to collect virtual 50s copies of the iconic jazz mag.
"While most mob-inspired games' emphasis is solely on action, Mafia II features a deep and compelling narrative that is embellished with a sophisticated, era-evoking atmosphere," 2K president Christoph Hartmann said of the deal.
"In partnering with Playboy, we are able to add a unique element of authenticity to the game by using vintage images from the magazine that illustrate the power of Playboy's influence on the attitudes and culture of that generation."
So,at the end of this year,when the game is expected for release,we will feast our eyes on the 50s centerfold beauties.As if it wasn`t already hard enough for some girlfriends to get their men off the video games = )
Developer putting more capital and more risks into follow-up.
Valve's VP of marketing Doug Lombardi says the success of the first game has allowed it to go further in number two :
"Portal was so short because it was a trial," Lombardi told the mag. "We paired it with [Half-Life 2] Episode 2 and Team Fortress 2, which were successful and safe. Then we had this Portal thing, and we had no idea if people would dig it, even though we thought it was a cool idea.
"So it was put out their safely in The Orange Box, and the result came back wilder than we could have ever imagined," he added, referencing the huge cult following that followed Portal's 2007 release.
"We knew we had to double down and give them more. Portal was a test bed. Portal 2 is a game."
Valve's investing more time, more capital,team enlarged to 28 people (from 8) and more risk into the stand alone, full price retail release.
About 2 weeks ago in a post about Assassin`s Creed 2 i was telling you about Ubisoft`s new anti-piracy system of which they were very proud . Unfortunately for them, their system was "defeated" in a few hours.
Silent Hunter 5 was the victim. The game released 3 days ago requires an internet connection,the system constantly checking with the Ubisoft servers. Within a few hours the system was cracked, so problem solved and the game appeared on all the trackers within a blink of an eye.
Ubisoft issued a press release denying the system was beat down, saying that the cracked game version is incomplete but despite that, those who downloaded Silent Hunter 5 said that it`s "rolling" fine and has no "disadvantages" .
Multiplayer-focused add-on to 2K Games' underwater anti-utopia shooter coming next week on 360, PS3, PC for $5.
Take Two`s fiscal report delivered earlier this week for the first quarter, sustained an already known fact: BioShock 2 being a success - shipping 3 million units across the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Sales like that certainly ensure the publisher that the first expansion of BioShock 2 will be well received . Yesterday, 2K Games said the first add-on, Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack will arrive on all three platforms on the 11th of March for $5 or 400 Microsoft points.
The Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack focuses on multiplayer mode, which was developed by Dark Sector studio Digital Extremes. Players will be able to gain ranks,as far as rank 50 and have the option of doing it as Louie McGraff or Oscar Calraca. The DLC will also add 20 new trials, 5 new masks and a 3rd upgrade for each weapon.
As predicted based on BioShock 2`s success, 2K Games has several more add-on packs planned for the next months, which will expand both single-player and multiplayer mode. They will contain additional narrative,new tools and challenges,designed to increase the dramatic effect of Rapture`s fall.
Rockstar "building suspension for a pre-E3 GTA V announcement," says analyst.
Rockstar will most likely announce GTA V before this year's E3 show in June, according to Janco Partner analyst Mike Hickey:
"Assuming GTA V is in their fiscal '11 period as we have currently modeled, [Take-Two Interactive] should be highly profitable, and likely in excess of current street consensus,"
"With the RAGE engine built, the next GTA release should drop faster and require less development expense. Importantly, the Rockstar team is newly incentivized through profitability versus a unit sales approach.
"We believe there is building suspension for a pre-E3 GTA V announcement," he said, adding: "We expect nothing from Rockstar at this year's official E3 event."
He added: "We think the next iteration of GTA for console can significantly outsell its predecessor, reflecting on the sales acceleration of the prior cycle GTA console iterations, [and] an accelerating core gamer installed base (with an emphasis on PS3 installed expansion where GTA has historically dominated relatively)."
So it`s clearly the next GTA trailer will stir the blood in gamers like all the previous, but will it get back on track and release something to match Vice City`s popularity or will it be another fiasco (just my opinion)? Care to voice yours?
Square Enix London Studios has announced a Game of the Year Edition for Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Available on Xbox 360 and PS3 from March 26 the re-release will come complete, with six extra challenge maps which were previously released as DLC. Maybe the most exciting feature, an innovative technology which enables the option of 3D play on all standard and HD TV sets.
Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 having support for TriOviz 3D and coming with included glasses. By leveraging the depth-of-field while maintaining the original gameplay and color integrity, TriOviz 3D is said to create a far more immersive gaming experience.
Crystal Dynamics, a part of Square Enix Europe, today announced Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light, a new game developed by Crystal Dynamics, which will be released via digital download in 2010.
"This is a really exciting project for Crystal Dynamics, we have created something completely new and very different to what people might be expecting," said Darrell Gallagher, General Manager of Crystal Dynamics.
"Lara Croft is such an iconic character in videogames, with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light we have created what we believe is a truly original digital experience."
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will be shown strictly "behind closed doors" at this year's Game Developers Conference beginning on March 9th.
Crystal Dynamics is an award-winning studio located in San Francisco. Founded in 1992, the studio has created and developed key game franchises such as: Legacy of Kain, Pandemonium, Gex and most recently the Tomb Raider series.
New video shows Bungie Studios` shooter will offer plenty of killing; Spartans vs. Elites, Headhunter, Arena, and intense-looking Invasion mode .Take a look.
Halo: Reach will follow some of the events in the Halo: The Fall of Reach novel by Eric Nylund. The book portrays the siege of the titular fortress planet by the Covenant, which preceded the events of the 2001 game Halo: Combat Evolved.
The game tells the story of a squad of six Master Chief-like Spartan soldiers as they try to protect human inhabitants of Reach from the Covenant`s cruelty. A source who has seen Halo: Reach firsthand described it to GameSpot as "Gears of War with Spartans" and "very bleak and violent."
Though the Halo:Reach multiplayer beta is a couple of months away, we can take a peek, new trailer being brought to us by Bungie Studios. Tied with critically acclaimed last year`s Halo 3: ODST, from what the trailer shows, a variety of weapons and modes will be available.
Viewable below, the trailer showcases Halo: Reach's vastly improved graphics, new items like jetpacks, as well as new options such as customizable weapon loadouts and assassination moves. Some of the new mods are Spartans vs. Elites, Headhunter, and the action filled Invasion mode, trailer showing teams of Spartans with ground and air support storming the enemy.
Eden Games in charge for the second free-roam installment in road racing series for 360, PS3, and PC.
After four years of waiting, Test Drive is ready to get you back on the road. Atari announced that Eden Games will be in charge of making Test Drive Unlimited 2 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.
Like TDU, Unlimited 2 will feature "massively open online racing," which lets players free-roam, running into other players, having the possibility to challenge or cruise along with them . The first Unlimited took place on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Test Drive Unlimited 2 will have an entire new island ready for speed, new vehicles and race types,as well as a new redone single-player mode,available for both off and online play. New features like weather effects and vehicle damage will also be included.
Unlimited 2 means a return for developer Eden Games, well known for developing racing games like Atari's V-Rally series and Need for Speed Porsche. Test Drive Unlimited was the studio's last racing game, the developer meanwhile working on Atari's Alone in the Dark revamp in between the two projects.
Gameplay in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 resembles the of the original and takes you through various environments such as South America`s jungles, mountainous regions along the borders of Russia, snow-capped mountains in Alaska and even the desert.Bad Company 2`s level of destruction is extended - players can now completely collapse a building as opposed to only blowing out walls. New vehicles such as the UH-60, a quad bike, a two-man patrol boat, a personal watercraft, an AA-gun mounted on a light tank, a UAV Helicopter controlled via computer and an ATV.
Single-player
The single player campaign has 13 missions, featuring the same characters from the first game. The game's prologue takes place on a Japanese island in the Pacific during World War II. It introduces you to “Aurora”, a secret weapon with incredible power, which drives the campaign, and has Bad Company move along the west coast of North and South America, confronting both the Russian army and an unnamed South American militia, which is on the Russians` payroll.
You are Preston Marlow who is part of B-Company squad, a group of misfits and Army rejects. The campaign is more linear than the first, so your experience will be „more scripted” but still keeping the missions very exciting and also keeping your freedom of choice on how to manage situations intact.
„All of these features combine to deliver spectacular and unpredictable action moments found nowhere else in a modern warfare experience.” - couldn`t agree more.
Signed, sealed, delivered .
Love the variety of weapons, high tech army equipment and the environment. Chances to get bored are very slim since after a snow-full experience you get to boat ride the rivers of South America or step on it with an ATV through the desert sands.
The dialogue and cinematic could very well make a nice entertainment movie, filled with clever punch lines and authenticity, meaning you hear a lot of „fuck” and „shit”, which is totally understandable in sticky extreme situations, I mean, would you have time to mind your language in the battlefield?
Now here come the dislikes: too much cinematic in the beginning and at first I was afraid the whole campaign will be like that, lucky they were entertaining. Enemies don`t take cover when reloading…but guess what…? Sometimes, your conpany aims so well they couldn`t hit a mammoth from 10 yards.
Enjoy this awesome game and remember what mommy said when you were little and about to leave the house: “watch out for RPGs, snipers, heavy armored vehicles and collapsing buildings”.
The Sims studio veterans assembling up a development team at Utah shop to work on "groundbreaking new project."
EA Salt Lake City shop going forward and aiming high, while the industry lately suffers „decimation” from layoffs and studio closures. EA has announced that it is assembling up a new development team which will join Salt Lake City studio. Development will be led by "key leaders" coming over from the studio at Redwood Shores.
The new team is assigned with a "groundbreaking new project". They will join EA's existing Salt Lake City studio, home of Hasbro-branded titles like Littlest Pet Shop and Nerf games. The entire studio will be moved to larger facilities in downtown Salt Lake City, for the extra space.
Rumor has it that after filling key roles, the development team will open it`s gates for new additions. Currently, EA`s official job site is listing seven open positions at its Salt Lake City location, including creative director, art director, technical director, and senior online engineer.
The open positions indicate that the game will be a new intellectual property, experience with single-player and multiplayer online games being a requirement if you aspire of becoming their new creative director . Concerning several other positions, the art director should have experience with "a mature, contemporary art style," and the online engineer experienced with Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 online functions.
