This Week's Gaming - Piracy In The Caribbean

This week, I play Pirates of The Black Cove, a new entry from Nitro Games. Hopefully this one's a lot better then their previous game. Interesting game that is almost like an offline single player MMORPG(set in a pirate theme and using ships) with a dash of Sid Meier's Pirates.

Video Games An Easy Scapegoat To Violence

In fact it's not just games, but movies, music, books and the arts. Games get the bad rap these days due to their popularity with the younger generation. You've probably read and watched on TV about the recent events in Oslo, Norway. A crazed gunman went into a camp for kids and killed many. He also set off a bomb. This incident re ignited the debate about violent games leading to violent behaviour. Mainly due to the perpetrator pointing out that Call of Duty Modern Warfare and World of Warcraft helped him plan out his attack(WoW was used as a communication tool to group together with other ultra fascist groups).

Star Wars The Old Republic Esseles Developer Walkthrough Video

With the pre orders up(well the order to book pre order space), Star Wars The Old Republic looks like it might just make this year. Bioware are still mum about the release date, but it shouldn't be too long now... well hopefully. They've released another lengthy developer walkthrough video. A transport is under attack by an imperial Battle Cruiser and the player has to fight his/her way through to save the ship and escape. Watch the walkthrough video below...

Hard Reset Looks Amazing - Gameplay Trailer Up Now

The Blade Runner esque themed arcade first person shooter I posted about recently, Hard Reset has now got it's first gameplay trailer. And it looks really good. Made by former People Can Fly and CD Projekt guys, this one could well be a rather good PC game. The game's due out September 2011. You need to check out this trailer, especially if you like Painkiller. Trailer below...

Pocket Change - Paradox Summer Sale Blowout!

Gamersgate has it's Summer sales which has a whole load of Paradox games at 50% off. Highlight includes Europa Universalis Complete Pack which includes all EU games from 1 to III with all expansions and sprite pack for only USD$13! Which is cheaper than EUIII Chronicles. Deals of the week below...

Heroes Of Newerth Gone Free To Play For The Rest Of The World

DoTA clone Heroes of Newerh by S2 Games is now free to play for the rest of the world. The game has been free for the South East Asia region for quite a while on Garena(exclusive deal with S2) and was definitely losing the popularity battle with League of Legend(which has got quite a lot of positive buzz from the critics). This move would at least give Heroes of Newerth some much needed boost in terms of player base. It has sort of fallen off the radar recently. Unfortunately this is not available for SEA players(don't bother I tried). There is region lock for South East Asia understandably due to the exclusivity deal with Garena, which means that the only way to play HoN for South Easy Asians is through Garena without using any sort of IP masking trick. So for the international audience... you can register and download the game for free here

Dungeons of Dredmor First Play - Lutefisk Tribute For The Lutefisk God

Dungeons of Dredmor is a rogue like by new indie outfit, Gas Lamp Games. It's quite something. Really awesome and addictive. So it's a rogue like, which means hard difficulty, perma death(which you can disable), dungeons, loot, and monsters, traps and all the good stuff. Interesting thing, it's not an rpg, which mean you don't exactly level up the way you do in an RPG. When you level up, you pick an improved skill. Also there aren't any classes. The skills you pick is what defines what type of character you play. Pretty awesome. Watch the first play videos I did below to get an idea of what this is about...

Deus Ex: Human Revolution The Year 2027 Video - Social & Hacking

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is basically done. It was recently announced that it has now gone gold, which means the master is being sent to the pressers to manufacture retails discs. No more delays! The game is due out on 23th October and I'll definitely be jumping in to have a look at it. Eidos has released a new developer commentary video showcasing the social and hacking elements of the game. Just like the it's classic predecessor, you can learn important information and skip parts just from talking to characters in levels. There are also side quests like in RPG's. I'll probably go stealth and good guy all the way(with minimal casualties). Watch the video below...

Rage Behind The Scenes Video Part 5 - The Enemies

Part 5 of the Rage behind the scenes video is here. This time the developers from Id Software talk about the enemies you'll face in the upcoming shooter. Different enemies have different combat style and you'll have to reconsider how you tackle them. I've said this before... the animation system looks amazing. Looks like a huge step up from most first person shooters. Rage is due out on 4th October this year. Watch the video below...

Metro Last Light Gameplay Demo Part 2 - Man Walks In A Crowd, Man Discovered, Man Run

Part 2 of the 3 parter gameplay demo for Metro Last Light is out. Okay the second part is pretty uneventful for the entire 1 minute plus. Walking through some sort of future nazi rally and it ends predictably. So yeah you get spotted. Watch part 2 below(I've included part 1 in case you missed it)...

Oil Rush Gameplay Walkthrough Video - Now You Know How The Game Plays

The naval centred RTS game that I posted about sometime back, Oil Rush has got a 12 minute gameplay video that explains a lot more about this ludicrously implausible scenario of a game. It's the future, resources are gone, the only resources are deep in the ocean. Hence... OIL RUSH! It has been delayed to Autumn 2011. Watch the gameplay walk through below...

Another EA Game Bites The Dust On Steam - Dragon Age 2 Taken Down By Valve

Another EA game is off of Steam for some odd reason. Dragon Age II is now not available on Steam and EA has released a statement that they are working to come to an agreement with Valve. There's some speculation that it might have something to do with DLC's and how they are sold on Steam(I think Valve wants everyone to use the Steamworks framework to sell their DLC's). EA often sells their DLC in game from EA's own servers. I hope they settle this as it will be a big dent to EA as a major publisher if they can't sell their games on the leading digital distribution platform.

Source: VG247

Need For Speed The Run Trailer - Run For Hills

EA has put up a new tailer for Need For Speed The Run. This new trailer shows a race in the Nevada desert. The Run will be a story centered game as you take on the role of a fugitive on the run. You race across the United States, so you can expect to race in a variety of location plus... quicktime events and on foot sequences. Need For Speed The Run is due to be released late November this year. Watch the latest trailer below...

From Dust Launch Trailer - The Game Hasn't Exactly Been Launched

Ubisoft has released the launch trailer for From Dust, even as the game has been delayed to August 17th. Not quite launch yet. Not sure what's the hold up about considering the press has had review copies for quite sometime(with reviews posted). From what I've read, it's exactly what I expected. Light god game with mostly a puzzle like gameplay as you try to guide the tribe to places and save them from disasters. I might still be wrong though as the reviews haven't exactly focused on the building the village aspect.

Frank West Returning In Dead Rising 2: Off The Record - Zombies Need Dying

People obviously love Frank West( I don't get it though). And Capcom is bringing back the zombie killing photographer back in the standalone expansions(although there is no such thing as expansions for a console game), Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. Th game will be release October 11th. If you like zombie killing and making all sorts of crazy weapons(and crazy killing moves), check this game out. For now, watch the latest trailer below...

Razer Switchblade To Use Intel Atom Z690 Processor

Razer announced their concept for the Razer Switchblade quite a while back. It is supposed to be a light and small mobile PC gaming device. It was demonstrated playing World of Warcraft back at CES(Consumer Electronic Show). The keyboard is designed just for gaming(so forget about typing emails) with customisable keys that light up when playing different games. The key bindings can be customised for different games. Pretty neat but it's a concept device and I'm unsure whehter the market will take to it considering the fact that you could just get a laptop. Razer announced today that the Switchblade will be powered by Intel's Atom Z960 which is a first. This particular Atom processor is supposed to be a lot more powerful than the previous Atom processors. There's no release date or price point yet for this and they haven't released the full specs for it yet.

Battlefield 3 Weapon Customisation Video Surfaces

VG247 spotted this video from youtube user YourGamingTeam on youtube that goes in detail about the weapon customisation in the upcoming Battlefield 3. It's a two parter totalling in under 30 minutes. The game is not even out yet and you already have in depth analysis of the weapons and gameplay. Expect the game to be highly competitive at launch. Videos below...

From Dust Delayed To August

I had my suspicions. From Dust, the strategy game from Ubisoft was supposed to be releasing on Steam on July 27th and yet there isn't a product page for it. And when I checked Gamergate which has the game on sale for pre orders, they stated the release date as August 17th. Ubisoft today confirmed to Joystiq that the game has indeed been delayed to August 17th. That's about three weeks delay. Oh well... I was looking forward to trying it out this week.Will have to wait for it a bit longer.

Source: Joystiq

Making of Trine 2 - Producer Talks About The Knight

If there was one character that I felt a sense of pity for, it was the brutish and erm... lacking in intelligence Knights. The Knight( and the wizard and the thief) are back in Trine 2 and he's got a shield upgrade. Check out what the knight can do with his shield in Trine 2 below...

Gotham City Imposters Gameplay Trailer

Monolith's upcoming title might seem like an odd direction for a dev that's been known to make serious and scarry games like the F.E.A.R series. Gotham City Imposters is a smaller downloadable title that's a bit wacky and set in the Batman Universe(I suppose). They've released a gameplay trailer so you can see with your own eyes what Monolith aims to achieve with this game. Trailer below...

This Week's Gaming - I Am The Supreme Ruler

This week, I'll look into Battlegoat's Supreme Ruler and play through more of Dungeons of Dredmor. It's quite good and addictive. I'll also try to complete the Frozen Synapse diary of the one match I have had with Leo. My Internet connection problem still persists and I found out that it is more than my download speed that has gone to hell. I have incredibly high latency and the ping is highly erratic. A sign that all is not well with my Streamyx connection.

Mass Effect 3 Comic Con 2011 Gameplay Demo

Gamespot has got a nice chunk of gameplay of Mass Effect 3. They invited the game producer to do a demo of the game on the Gamespot stage. This demo shows Mordin, Liara and Garrus joining Sheppard on an important mission that shares some similarities to the plot to the movie 'Children of Men'(if you haven't watched that movie. WATCH IT!). Gameplay demo below...

2 More Battlefield 3 Alpha Gameplay Footage

FrankieOnPC got hands on the game recently and he's uploaded 2 gameplay footage videos of his playthrough. They are short but shows off some pretty cool stuff from Battlefield 3. Footage recorded from off camera, but it still looks damn fine. Watch out for the melee stealth kill(yes it's not just in single player). Videos below...

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Gameplay Video - Man Walks Down From A Mountain

CVG has posted a short gameplay video of Skyrim. I've never seen this bit before but looks like it's from about the same location from the Bethesda gameplay demo they gave over at E3. I like that the archery reminds me a lot of Looking Glass, Thief series. Watch the gameplay video below...

Sengoku Preview Build First Play - I Checked... There Is No Tom Cruise In The Character Database

I play through and explain some of the basics of Paradox's upcoming character driven strategy game, Sengoku. It's got all the mechanics to make it a really good game but I'll only know how balanced the game will be and how fun the campaign is in the final release(since the game hasn't been balanced in this preview build). Watch the first play videos below...

Pocket Change - Gamersgate SEGA Deals

Gamersgate has some great deals on SEGA games and Steam this week has Eufloria and the recently released Pride of Nations at 50% off. Deals of the week below...

Call of Duty Elite Stat Tracking Service Video Preview By One Of Swords

If you've been wondering just why the heck has Activision been clamouring about what is essentially a stat tracking service(just like I am too), then this video preview might answer some questions. It's a lengthy 30 minute video and the system is explained by the lads at Beach Head who made the thing. You can try to sign up for the beta here. Check out the video preview below...

UPDATED Star Wars The Old Republic Pre Orders Are Up - But Not For Malaysia

UPDATE: Bioware's Sthephen Reid stated on the official forums that Star Wars The Old Republic will have a staggered launch, as in, not all territories will get the game. They are limiting the launch to the main territories to have a smoother launch. No news on when Asia and Australia will gets its launch(heck they haven't even announced a release date). Sorry guys, we probably have to wait a bit for the game. Bioware however has said that the game won't be region locked. I've included the forum post below...

No solid release date for Star Wars The Old Republic yet, but EA is taking pre orders for the much anticipated Bioware MMORPG now. The digital deluxe edition(and the standard edition) preorders are exclusively on Origin, EA owned digital distribution platform(you'll need to install Origin to preorder). Those that preorder now, you can redeem your preorder code to gain early access to the game. They also get a unique colour stone for your weapon that is exclusive to those that preorder. Unfortunately, the preorders are not available for this region. Not sure exactly why it's not available for Asia yet. I'll shoot EA with an email regarding this.

UPDATED Battlefield 3 7 Minute Footage Of Multiplayer In Action

UPDATE: I've added a new official trailer DICE has released just recently below in this post.

If you can't get enough of Battlefield news for the day, here's one. A new footage has come out showing the multiplayer portion of the game. A Russian man talks in the background. The footage is from an alpha build of the game, so it's obviously a work in progress. Check out the video below. It looks really pretty.

Rage Behind The Scenes Video Diary - The Wasteland

Id devs go behind the camera yet again to talk about Id's long awaited Rage. This time, they talk about the wasteland, the citizens in this post apocalyptic world and what you can expect to find in its harsh environment. Oh and characters... it's not a complete barren wasteland. Okay this is looking more and more better. This can't disappoint can it? Rage releases on October 4th. Watch the video below...

Battlefield 3 To Get Facebook Like Battle Log

DICE has detailed what they call the battle log for Battlefield 3 in the latest post on the battlefield blog. Taking a page off of the Need For Speed games, the Battlelog will track your progress ans share it with your friends ala Facebook. In fact the interface looks pretty similar to Facebook(don't tell DICE I said that though). "We want to make Battlefield 3 a more social gaming experience and it all starts with Battlelog" said Battlelog producer Fredrik Loving. The battlefeed will inform players of what's happening with their friends and special events. As a PC game, I hope the battlelog will be a lot more pc friendly compared to the NFS series auto log(obviously console centric games). It certainly looks like a web page suited to mouse input.

Source: Battlefield Blog

Sengoku Developer Video Diary 3 - Armies

Sengoku designer talks about the armies in the upcoming Japan themed strategy game. Unlike Europa Universalis, Sengoku follows Paradox's Crusader Kings style of raising armies from lands that are loyal to you. You don't buy your armies except for Ronin who are the mercenaries in Sengoku. I'll have a first play video up of a preview build soon. Watch the latest dev diary below...

Hearts Of Iron III For The Motherland First Play - In Soviet Russia, Game Plays You

I waited till I got past all peace time in my game to record my first play video for Paradox's Hearts of Iron III For The Motherland, an expansion the Hearts of Iron III, a WW2 grand strategy game. Lets just say that I royally screwed up not keeping tabs with something. My giant Soviet Union was facing some... trouble trying to get to grips with the sheer size of our country. Anyway, first play videos below...

Frozen Synapse Game Diary Turn 6

Going into turn 6 with no resolution in sight. While most of the games in Frozen Synapse end at turn 4, the roll of the dice with the map layout and troop type and number naturally will force people to play a little conservatively. Anyway this is how it went...

Prey 2 Developer Commentary Video Part 1

 

Bethesda has posted part 1 of a developer commentary video for the upcoming Prey 2 on their blog. Prey 2 is quite a departure from the original Prey. Set in a distant alien planet, it's a bounty hunter themed first person shooter, as you go around collecting bounty for your kills or prisoners. Sounds interesting but the whole portal mechanic from the first game has been completely dropped. Game director Chris Rhinehart takes you through just what the hell has happened between Prey 1 and 2. Prey 2 is due out in 2012. Watch the video below...

Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword Review - Killing Bandits & Running Away With Tax Money

Going back to a time, when the sword was mightier than the bullet and when weaklings couldn't kill anyone since they couldn't carry swords. You won't find that in Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword. The addictive yet frustrating world of swords and spears, now includes the fearsome yet unreliable muskets and pistols of the early renaissance, adding a much needed sense of ‘overpowered’ to the already solid combat mechanics of Mount & Blade Warband. Mount and blade: With Fire and Sword is a stand-alone expansion to the Mount and Blade: Warband title. It comes with a new lighting engine as well as some weapons previously unseen in the series.

Malaysian Gamer Now On Youtube - More Than Words

I’ve been on Youtube for a while, but I’m considering this… Youtube proper. We now have a video series on Youtube as I have announced, the First Play videos where I basically play through the game giving you’re an advanced preview(especially since it takes so long to write review these days). You can check out Malaysian Gamer’s channel here and subscribe if you like it. More videos coming out in the coming days.

Battlefield 3 Not Coming To Steam? Gamestop Says So

Latest news in the gaming world indicates that Battlefield 3 will not be coming to Steam. According to Develop magazine, Gamestop is claiming that Battlefield 3 will not be available on Steam. "Financial research firm Baird recently held a meeting with Gamestop’s management, and in its subsequent report says: “The upcoming EA title Battlefield 3 will be sold as a download through GameStop, but not through Steam.”". Which means they are claiming it will be out on Impulse and EA's own Origin. This hasn't been officially confirmed with EA yet so it's still up in the air. I wouldn't be surprised though considering the recent EA games being dropped from Steam. Will update this post if there's anything new regarding this.


Source: Develop

Supreme Ruler Gameplay Trailer - Are You The Supreme Ruler?

Another global scale strategy game, do I have enough time for all of them?(the obvious answer is no... but I'll try). Battle Goat Studios Supreme Ruler games have never caught on with me, now that another one is out, I'll give it a shot. Will this be the one I will fall in love with? Just installing it right now. The game releases tomorrow and is priced at USD$29.95 Watch the release trailer now...

Fate of The World First Play - It's Your Duty To Save The World

Fate of The World is a turn based, card based strategy game about managing global crisis. Geez... that's a mouthful. It's not that difficult to understand and plays quite well. I'm pretty pleased with my pruchase(steam sales purchase). Saving the world is quite the feat, but Fate of The World makes it easy. No need for super man. Check out my first play video I did for Fate of the World below...

This Week’s Gaming - Going Rogue

This week, I dive in a new rogue like indie game released on Steam. Titled Dungeons of Dredmor, it’s got a cool pixel art style to it, and it’s hard! Also treats for Paradox fans…

Hard Reset Announced - Futuristic Shooter

Developed by flamboyantly named Flying Wild Hog, Hard Reset is a Blade Runner esque futuristic shooter from a new studio made up of ex CD Projekt and People Can Fly staffers. Which means you can expect a Painkiller style shooter set in the future. Robots have taken over the Earth and you are defending the last human city. The game's got a stunning 3D engine(you can see short glimpses of it in the teaser trailer) and will releasing September 2011. Teaser trailer below...

StarCraft Universe Get A Gameplay Trailer - StarCraft Modder Attempts To Make A StarCraft MMO

Remember that World of StarCraft mod that Blizzard decided sounded to close to World of WarCraft? The guys working on the mod has changed its name to StarCraft Universe(and has gotten the blessings of Blizzard) and has released a gameplay trailer of the mod. This is pretty ambitious stuff for a mod. I'm still quite sceptical about the whole thing, but you decide. Check out the gameplay trailer below...

Steam Will Be Upgraded With New Content Delivery System

If there was one thing that I hated with all the Steam sales, it's the drop in connection performance when a lot of user are downloading stuff on Steam. Valve recently announced that they will be upgrading the content delivery system to better serve customers. Apparently the new system will solve these issues and make publishing games a lot easier for developers. This would simple mean more games, better download speeds. They haven't completely migrated to this new system yet and you can try it out by downloading any of the HD videos on Steam. Finally, they'll also now allow for game updates to be downloading while games are played. About time. Press release below(yes they dropped DOTA 2 as a game that will use this new delivery system. Mark my words... it'll be a free to play game).

Team Meat Working On The Binding Of Isaac - Coming To Steam In August

The fellow that gave your the super hardcore and frustratingly difficult Super Meat Boy is hard at work on his next project. Edmund Mcmillen detailed on his personal blog that The Binding of Isaac will be out on Steam this coming August. Thank god! We won't have to wait for years for their next title. It'll be a rogue like shooter. That means it'll be insanely difficult like SMB but the emphasis will be on defeating dungeons, earning cash, and cashing in shops that will be located at the end of a level. At it's core, it will be a shooter, but much better with the item/inventory system. Cool stuff. Danny B, the dude that did the music for SMB will be doing the music for this as well. Considering how much time I spent on Derek Yu's Spelunky, this could be a huge time sink for me.

Pocket Change - Ubisoft Deals

The Steam summer sales are done and Steam is back to it's usual self. So discounts are pretty scarce this weekend on it. Gamersgate however has some pretty awesome deals. It has RUSE and the Ubisoft catalogue on sale.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Behind 2027 Part 4 - Combat, Or The Lack Of It

Eidos has released yet another behind the scenes video, this time talking a little about the combat in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Straight up aggressive shooting is probably the more boring option in my opinion. Deus Ex, while well known for allowing different style of plays, it was always the more stealthier tactical play style that was very rewarding about it. The game comes out on August 23rd. Video below...

Prototype 2 Developer Video Diary - The Power Of Tendrils

The developers for Prototype 2, Radical Entertainment, talk about the uses of the tendril in a developer video diary. It's not pretty... as in... there's a tonne of brutal destruction and killing. If an open world combat/anti hero theme is your kinda thing, you might want to wait for Prototype 2 which releases next year. Video below...

Rage Behind The Scenes Developer Video - The Arsenal

A big thing in id software games are the weapons. Well, I suppose you could say that for any first person shooter these days. But id games always have a tonne of fun to use weapons in your arsenal. The devs go through what you'll get to use in Rage. Does the game feel weird with iron sights introduced in an id shooter? Well personally from what I've seen, I don't think so. But final judgement when the game releases on October 4th. Developer video below...

Metro Last Light Gameplay Demo Part 1 - It Looks Glorious

First proper gameplay footage for Metro Last Light instead of the flashing teaser we saw from E3. It looks awesome. Without a doubt one of the best looking games on the PC(some would argue it is the best). This is only part 1 so you can expect more of these videos down the line. Metro Last Light is due out March 2012. Watch the first part of the gameplay demo below...