First details of the upcoming Eve Online Expansion “The Empyrean Age” have emerged.

After providing a graphical upgrade, some new ships and a smoother introduction in the last update, Trinity, developer CCP is now concentrating on fleshing out the narrative side of the EVE universe. Empyrean Age’s centrepiece will be a great war between four rival empires.

Players will be able to sign up for any of the four empires, either individually or as corporations, and complete missions for them, gaining standing as they go. But they will also be able to contribute to the war effort by participating in more free-form battles.

According to Woodward, the goal is to bring player-versus-player combat enthusiasts, and players who generally play missions in safe space, together. CCP is particularly keen to encourage more of EVE’s population to try out PVP.

“Empyrean Age is the first expansion that we’ve really been building the story into things,” said Woodward. “It’s about four big empires who exist in a kind of uneasy peace for some time. It all comes to a head and it all starts. The whole cluster is extreme and everything is kicking off.”

read more

Tags: eve online
Categories: Games, PC
No Comments »

You no longer will have to use the syringe and bonesaw because the two have already been replaced by The Blutsaugher and The Ubersaw. The third gun is the crit-increasing gun known as The Critzcrieg.

The Blutsaugher
For players that earn one third of the 36 new medic achievements, they will be given a new syringe gun. Called “The Blutsaugher,” this new weapon no longer has the ability to score critical hits against an opponent. Instead it will draw health from enemies each time a syringe hits. Especially useful as a weapon to retreat away from the fight while staying alive.

The Critzcrieg
Once a medic has earned two thirds of the achievements, they will be granted “The Critzcrieg.” This new medigun uses its ubercharge not for invulnerability, but to give its recipient 100% chance to fire critical ordinance. Medics and the player they are charging need to be careful though, because as much fun as it is to fire critical rockets as fast as you can, the other team will see what you’re up to and try to put a quick stop to your plan.

The Ubersaw
For the determined medic that has earned all 36 of the new achievements, they will find themselves the proud owner of “The Ubersaw,” which will take damage done in melee attacks and convert it directly to ubercharge. Four hits with this new weapon will fully charge whatever medigun the medic has equpped.

read more

Tags: team fortress 2
Categories: Games, PC
No Comments »

Valve has just announced that Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed title is now available for download.

The game’s PC port will carry four exclusive mission types, including the Rooftop Race Challenge, and the Archer Stealth Assassination Challenge. Also being made available on Steam is a pre-order for the upcoming Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) FPS.

The game itself is expected to launch on April 16 (Wednesday) next week, and will be available for download for a price of US$ 49.95. We note that the RSV2 pre-order is currently limited to the territories of North America and Canada.

read more

Tags: assassins creed,rainbow six vegas 2,steam
Categories: Games, PC
No Comments »

It almost sounds too good to be true. Almost? It is too good to be true. Could Cry Engine 2 on consoles really look any where near as good as Crysis on the PC? Crytek’s Engine Business Manager, Harald Seeley, states that they expect the console versions to “look like they’re running at high settings, or nearly high settings, on a PC.”

Yes, we definitely tailor the engine specifically to each platform. More than just the difference in CPU and video hardware capabilities of PCs and consoles is at play here. So are the much smaller memory budgets we must work with, the lack of a hard disk on some models, and the acceptance requirements of the hardware vendors themselves. All have an effect on how we approach each version of the engine.

The surprising thing has been how well the consoles can perform visually, once this tailoring is in place. We expect the final outcome will result in games that look like they’re running at high settings, or nearly high settings, on a PC. Actually, we found it as much or more challenging to address the memory limitations of the consoles when converting our current AI system, as we did while converting our rendering engine or physics system, which was not something you might have expected at the start.

read more

Tags: cry engine,far cry 2
Categories: Games, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Comments Off

IGN have posted their preview for the much anticipated PC title “The Sims 3″.

The preview isn’t too detailed and mostly contains information we’ve already read. There are a few new screenshots to look at though!

The Sims 3 looks to finally evolve beyond that limited scope by simulating whole neighborhoods and towns. You still control your sims and you still can design, build, and furnish a home, but now your sims can venture across the street or across the neighborhood without hitting a load screen. It’s a seamless, dynamic world that you can explore, one populated by dozens of computer-controlled sims.

read more

Tags: the sims 3
Categories: Games, PC
No Comments »

Todd Howard has appeared in the latest OXM podcast, saying that the game now has more than 200 different endings as of last week. Todd says the game is finished and on track for Fall 2008, but needs a ton of testing and polishing.

read more

Tags: fallout 3
Categories: Games, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
No Comments »

A follow-up to Human Head’s first person shooter Prey has been officially confirmed to be in development via the website for a new middleman company Radar Group. This is the first update on the project in nearly two years.

read more 

Tags: prey 2
Categories: Games, PC
No Comments »

Take-Two Interactive announced today that BioShock 2 was officially in the works, under the development wing of the recently formed 2K Marin studio.

read more 

Tags: bioshock 2
Categories: Games, PC, Xbox 360
1 Comment »

The latest Official Playstation Magazine contains details on the Mirror’s Edge multiplatform game.

The producer of the game, Owen O’Brien, commented that they want to “change the way that players are able to move in first person. No more restrictions, no more being blocked by simple barriers such as walls and fences. We want to enable the player to move like a real person, with the ability to run, jump, vault and slide in a way that has never been seen before in a first person game.”

you’ll play a “runner”, member of an overground resistance movement fighting against an oppressive government (over- because the man controls the streets, see). It’s coming to PS3, 360 and PC. Guns will play only a minor role. You’ll be encouraged to run, not fight. And Edge, having played some early code, feel the simulation of a real, human weight to your character’s movements “feels vividly realised in a way that firstperson games commonly don’t”. All of which sounds pretty great, so let’s you and me keep an eye on this one.

Tags: mirrors edge
Categories: Games, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
1 Comment »

Valve’s acclaimed puzzle-action hybrid Portal will be given a sequel, according to the game’s lead designer Kimberly Swift.

read more 

Tags: portal 2
Categories: Games, PC
No Comments »