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Bringing horror out of stasis in Dead Space 3's 'Awakened' DLC
If there's any worry at Visceral Games over criticisms that Dead Space 3 strays too far from its horror roots, no one is talking about it. On the contrary, producer Shereif Fattouh seemed completely optimistic about the game's reception and its place within the Dead Space universe during a recent preview of the upcoming 'Awakened' add-on content."Whenever you release a title, you're gonna get the positives and negatives. We as a dev team are really proud of the game we made. We feel it was very true to the franchise and we're excited to put it out," Fattouh told Joystiq. "There are people that have criticisms, and that's everybody's right. For us, we put a lot of our heart and soul into the game and we feel it's enjoyable."Fattouh's description of Awakened paints the picture of a campaign add-on that hews closer to the spirit of previous entries in the series. The 'creep factor' was indeed high in our hands-on demo, which sends Isaac back to the CMS Terra Nova's Conning Tower, after it's been overrun by a Necromorph-worshipping cult of scarification practitioners. Strange symbols and unsettling altars that mash together human corpses with Necro parts line the walls."We had a vision for what we wanted to make with our DLC," Fattouh explained. "The nice thing about it is it kind of married into what some of the more hardcore community guys were asking for. They didn't feel that there was as much horror as they would have liked [in Dead Space 3]."%Gallery-180986%
Battlefield 3's 'End Game' DLC begins staggered deployment next week
DICE has revealed its plan of attack, announcing on its Battlefield blog the release schedule for End Game, the final piece of downloadable content for Battlefield 3.PlayStation 3 players with 'Battlefield Premium' accounts will see the content on Tuesday, March 5, as part of the subscription. For premium users on Xbox 360 and PC, End Game will arrive on Tuesday, March 12. PlayStation 3 users without Battlefield Premium accounts can purchase the content on March 19, while Xbox 360 and PC users will have to wait until March 26 to gain access to the DLC.Pricing for non-Premium users has not yet been revealed, though previous Battlefield 3 content releases launched for $14.99 (1200 Microsoft Points).
Assaulting an alien battleship as a Triad defector in XCOM: Enemy Unknown's 'Slingshot' DLC
You probably remember the day that your best friend died on the field of battle in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. One of the coolest features of the Firaxis-developed remake is the ability to customize the names of individual soldiers that make up your army of alien-stompers, fostering a strong connection that adds weight to a soldier's permanent demise. It's unexpected, then, that for its first downloadable content in the rebooted XCOM universe – dubbed 'Slingshot' – Firaxis has decided to create a completely fictional character as its star.Zhang is a member of the Chinese Triad who defects over to XCOM when he comes to recognize the magnitude of the threat that the world faces. He's introduced in Slingshot's first mission via cutscene, a heavily scarred, besuited tough guy who stands as motionless as the Foo Dog statues that surround him.The Triad defector is a civilian in the first mission, a neutered unit that must be escorted by XCOM forces to a nearby evac location situated close to your Chinese cemetery rendezvous point. Alien forces attack from all sides, same as it ever was, and only tactical thinking sees you through. You'll probably think more than once "Why can't I just hand this Triad fellow a gun and tell him to point it at the invaders?"That opportunity comes later, as Zhang's defector status puts him on the outs with his former bosses. Complete the first Slingshot mission and your Triad buddy joins XCOM as a Heavy. He's just like any other soldier save for the fact that his name and appearance are locked. You don't even need to bring him along on the two Slingshot missions that follow, though his high stats might compel you to do so anyway.%Gallery-172363%
Comcast Xfinity TV Player update offers downloads for offline viewing
Early in 2011, Comcast made video on-demand streaming to iOS and Android devices a reality, and has also been a pioneer in beaming live cable TV to mobile devices through the AnyPlay service. Now the company has updated its Xfinity TV Player app to support downloads from a number of premium channels for offline viewing. The app, which is free to subscribers, allows downloads from Showtime, Starz, Encore and MoviePlex. You must have those premium channels in your cable package to be able to download content. Note that this is not the same app as the Xfinity TV app, so be sure you have the correct app installed before looking for downloads. Xfinity TV Player offers downloadable content in several sizes -- for Cars 2, for example, I was given the option of a high-quality file at 679.4 MB or a medium-quality file with a smaller file size. Downloads on a WiFi connected iPhone 5 were leisurely to say the least, so grabbing a movie for consumption is not something you want to do as you're heading out the door to head for the airport. So, how do the files look on an iOS device? Pretty good. It's well worth the time and effort if you're an Xfinity customer and would like some extra content to keep yourself or the kids busy while flying to grandma's house for the Thanksgiving turkey.
Forza Horizon 'Bondurant Car Pack' DLC coming Nov. 6
Though we suspect you'll be busy doing donuts in Master Chief's Warthog on November 6, the date also marks the release of the "Bondurant Car Pack" for Microsoft's other first-party fall release, Forza Horizon.Priced at 400 Microsoft Points on the Xbox Live Marketplace, the November DLC includes a six-pack of new vehicles to augment the moments our review called "incredibly beautiful." But who needs to stop and smell the roses when you can inhale the sweet fumes of a 1965 Shelby Cobra or that 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon? (Okay, we probably should have used the new Lamborghini Gallardo as our second example.)Full list and details on the new rides can be seen after the break.
Amazing Spider-Man DLC lets you play as Stan Lee, Lizard, Rhino, and more today
The Amazing Spider-Man is getting a whole bunch of DLC today, including a few different packs that will have you playing as people other than the titular wall-crawler. The Lizard Rampage pack will open up a level where you play as the Lizard, along with a new Spidey suit to wear. The Oscorp Search & Destroy Pack brings two minigames, with you controlling either a giant snake or a hunter robot. And the Rhino Challenge Pack will put you behind the wheel of the Rhino, allowing you to destroy everything in a timed competition.And finally, the long-awaited Stan Lee Adventure Pack will let you play the legend himself, flying around the virtual streets of New York and spouting one-liners as everyone's favorite former chairman of Marvel Comics. Each of these packs will run you $3-$4, but you can get all four for a discounted price of $10. As Stan himself would say (and we're paraphrasing here), that's enough words spoken.%Gallery-166472%
Rocksmith's Bass Expansion comes to PC on October 16
Ubisoft has announced that the Bass Expansion for its educational guitar game, Rocksmith, is arriving on the PC on October 16. The DLC pack, which includes bass tracks and teaching functions for either a standard 6-string guitar or a 4-string bass guitar, hit Xbox 360 and PS3 earlier this August.In addition to content for the game's current songs, the Bass Expansion allows you to access bass information for any DLC songs in the future, so it's quite an investment. The Bass Expansion will be available for $29.99, the same initial price as the console versions. One important bass-playing thing it won't teach you is how to look cooler than the lead guitarist while you play. Better get started working on that right now.
Modern Warfare 3's last content collection arriving on PS3 and PC October 10
The last content bundle for Modern Warfare 3 is finally headed out to PlayStation and the PC on October 10, according to Infinity Ward's Twitter account. The content collection (which arrived on Xbox 360 back in the beginning of September) includes five different maps, called Decommission, Off Shore, Gulch, Boardwalk, and Parish. Call of Duty Elite subscribers will be able to grab the last three levels a day early, on October 9.This is, of course, the last scheduled content pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, seeing as Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is due out just about a month later. At that point, presumably, those Elite subscriptions will renew, and the cycle of of constant DLC for the biggest shooter series in the world will start up all over again.
'Borderlands 2 Season Pass' announced, all four DLC packs for $30
Borderlands 2 will have at least four downloadable content expansions by next summer. 2K Games announced a $30 season pass this morning, available at launch, which will make the four pieces of $10 DLC accessible for the price of three. The season pass is available for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.Pass holders will be able to download the new content as it goes live, with all four "scheduled to be available by June 2013." Borderlands 2 – and the Season Pass – will cooperatively roll into retail September 18.%Gallery-160312%
Skyrim's 'Hearthfire' expansion tends the home September 4
Skyrim's "Hearthfire" expansion became official this morning – an add-on allowing adventurers who took one too many arrows to the knee to become domestics (Dovamestic?). Hearthfire enables players to build their own home, create additions to said home, and help raise children. Those rooms can be profession-specific – for instance, a room dedicated to herbalism. The joys of domestic life!"From a simple one-room cottage to a sprawling compound complete with armory, alchemy laboratory, and more," Bethesda said of the DLC. "Choose your land, customize your house, guard it from unwanted visitors, and turn your house into a home by adopting children." Apparently, in the fantasy world of Skyrim, houses aren't homes without children.Hearthfire will be available September 4 on Xbox 360 for 400 Microsoft Points ($5), no other platforms are mentioned at this time. Skyrim's previous DLC, Dawnguard, took around a month to make its way to PC, but the PS3 version experienced some hiccups.
Bethesda trademarks 'Hearthfire,' which is totally a thing from Skryim
Update: Please excuse us, but we've written about this before. Like, back in May. Sorry about that, y'all! Nothing to see here! Move right along!When Skyrim's "Dawnguard" DLC was first outed by a trademark filing back in March, we knew little aside from the name – references to the Dawnguard could be found in Skyrim, but only vague ones. It wasn't even clear that the filing was for DLC at the time – nor is it clear today that a recently unearthed trademark filing by Bethesda parent company Zenimax Media for "Hearthfire" is Skyrim's next DLC.But it sure smells like it. The term "Hearthfire" (or "Heartfire") correlates to the ninth month in The Elder Scrolls' world of Tamriel, as well as a set of books in the 2920 series. Bethesda is staying mum for now, telling VentureBeat that the studio, "does not comment on trademark filings." The filing was made back in May, so it's always possible that the idea has since passed.The filing is definitely game software, per the description: "Computer game software for use with computers and video game consoles; downloadable computer game software offered via the internet and wireless devices." There's also a wholly unremarkable image alongside the trademark filing, seen above.
Scott Pilgrim online DLC delayed until 'fall'
The new Scott Pilgrim vs. the World DLC, which adds online multiplayer and a new playable Wallace Wells, won't make its original release date – something you might have noticed already, given the XBLA release date was yesterday.Ubisoft did not offer Joystiq a reason for the sudden delay, but did clarify a new release window. "The DLC for Scott Pilgrim will be releasing this fall," an Ubisoft rep told us. "The PSN version will release during that same timeframe. We'll have more information as we get closer to launch."You've been waiting two years for this; you can probably wait a bit longer.
Gamestop adding auto-downloads to in-store DLC purchases
GameStop is set to launch a new platform that gives consumers the ability to purchase and download content for the Xbox 360 in their stores. This new system abandons the current method of in-store DLC purchases, which would provide users with a code used to redeem content on their home consoles.Speaking with Wired, GameStop president Tony Bartel said his company's new platform would bypass that step. "There was a lot of friction about putting in a [25-digit] code... with a controller," he said.The way GameStop's new system works is ingenious in its simplicity: customers will receieve an email after purchasing the content in stores, which includes a link that be used to begin downloading the content on their connected machines.The content delivery system is exclusive to GameStop and is only slated to launch for the Xbox 360; however, Bartel sees other platforms adopting the system in the future, saying the concept can be used with any partner on any platform.
Five RPG extras that would probably be DLC in 2012
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. When the enhanced edition of Final Fantasy VII for the PC was announced, I spent some time imagining achievements. In the comments, a lot of people pointed out that Yuffie's sidequest (and indeed, Yuffie herself) would probably be downloadable content in the modern era of video games. This, I thought to myself, is probably true.I brought up that point with Polygon's Phil Kollar the other day, and we ended up chatting at some length about DLC. What other classic RPG bonuses, I wondered, would probably be downloadable content today? The two of us had a few ideas (full credit to Phil for reminding me of this idea). Let's explore, shall we?
Sleeping Dogs staying awake with six months of planned DLC
Square Enix says that Sleeping Dogs won't lie down for long, revealing six months of downloadable content are planned for the game following its launch tomorrow.First on the docket will be a range of downloads available for the game's awakening at retail tomorrow, including the 80s-inspired Retro Triad Pack, featuring "a killer old school outfit with its own player buffs and funky kung-fu van."New packs will appear in September, beginning with "a high-speed Racing Pack and an explosive SWAT Pack." Details on those two bundles are sparse, but their names give us some idea what shenanigans are to come.For more on Sleeping Dogs, check out our recent live stream and stay tuned for the review tomorrow.%Gallery-156085%
Remember Dragon Age: Origins or 'How to keep a good RPG going'
This is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity. With The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's first expansion being released on multiple platforms as well as Mass Effect 3's first single-player add-on announced, it's been a busy week for the biggest role-playing games in recent months. Yet, my reaction to each piece of news was quite different, despite my similar feelings about both games. Hearing that I could finally play "Dawnguard" on my PC got me excited that there'd be more Skyrim when I got to it, because that was a game about exploring and finding new things. Mass Effect 3's "Leviathan," on the other hand, held no appeal for me. The entire third game was an emotional ending (although not always inspiring good emotions). Maybe I'd get excited doing another quest built into the middle of the game if I ran a new Shepard through all three games, but there's no appeal for me now.I spent last weekend playing the Dragon Age: Origins expansions, which I'd left on my hard drive for far too long following the completion of the initial game. As I worked on my "Awakening" and pressed through more of Dragon Age's add-ons, the difference in form crystallized in my head. Role-playing games have specific issues to deal with involving add-on content, and by trying a wide variety of different strategies, Dragon Age: Origins demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of those plans.%Gallery-81512%
Modern Warfare 3's final two DLC packs fully reconnoitered
The year of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 post-launch content is coming to a close, but it's going out with a bang (gun pun fully intended). The Chaos Pack – previously half-detailed – brings three Face Off maps and four Spec-Ops missions, as well as a new mode, dubbed "Special Ops Chaos Mode." It's a wave-based survival mode, albeit with a Spec-Ops twist. The whole shebang launches for Xbox 360 on August 9, with PS3 and PC versions launching later on.In September, MW3 players on 360 get the "Final Assault" pack, which adds five multiplayer maps ("Gulch," "Offshore," "Boardwalk," "Decommission," and "Parish"), two of which are already available on 360. Again, this content arrives on PS3 and PC at a later (unknown) date. As Activision community blog One of Swords points out, Call of Duty's Elite season ends with more content than it originally promised, which seems pretty boss if you ask us. But don't go getting your precedents miscalibrated, as this may not be the case in future years.
Dance Central 2's August tracks are down with O.P.P.
Yes, you know them – Jeremih, Kevin Rudolf, and hip-hop greats Naughty By Nature are all headlining this month's Dance Central 2 club bangers. Each artist is bringing a single track for each week of the month, with Jeremih featuring 50 Cent's "Down On Me" getting things started tomorrow. As per usual, each track costs 240 MS Points ($3).
Payday's bank robbers take over Left 4 Dead's Mercy Hospital
Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time! The bank robbing bad guys from Payday are getting crossed with Left 4 Dead's zombie-filled Mercy Hospital – apparently prior to the events of L4D – in an upcoming mission pack. See for yourself above.
Rumor: Assassin's Creed 3 getting a 'Season Pass'
Those crafty Templars at Ubisoft are at it again, seemingly planning to subjugate the masses with a "season pass" for Assassin's Creed 3. A letter purportedly sent to GameStop employees both thanks them for their "hard work" in snapping up pre-orders of AC3 from customers, and, more importantly, warns them of an upcoming "season pass concept" for this October's game."We are currently in the process of creating a complementary development team that will begin working on post-launch episodic content to continue the Game of the Year experience that Assassin's Creed 3 will undoubtedly deliver," reads the letter. It's not exactly uncommon for Ubisoft to support its games post-launch, and the AC franchise is no exception – each of the last three AC games, starting with AC2, were bolstered by post-launch content.Precedents set by previous "season pass" offerings dictates that a variety of DLC (multiplayer, single-player, or both) would be packaged and sold ahead of its launch, giving the buyer an aggregate discount across all of it. Ubisoft enacted such a scheme with the last AC title, Revelations, albeit only via PC. Still, neither Ubisoft nor Gamestop can confirm this letter or a "Season Pass" for AC3. And no, DLC for Assassin's Creed 3 has not yet been announced, outside of the ambiguous "special DLC" heading exclusively to PlayStation 3 players.
