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The latest PC gaming news and reviews of gaming PC hardware, software and accessories.
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Space Engineers touches down on Steam Early Access
Space Engineers, the sandbox engineering simulator dedicated to living out your "what if?" scenarios in space, has made contact with Steam Early Access. Players who dive in now will be able to suggest improvements as developer Keen Software House approaches the game's official liftoff. Exploring Space Engineers is a lot like exploring space, in that you're not really sure how things work until you watch a terrifying movie see for yourself. Players take on daring missions like the maintaining of space stations, constructing ships, and generally trying not to blow everything up. When frustrations peak, the game can also be played as a tactical shooter, but Keen Software expects players "to avoid engaging in direct man-to-man combat and instead use their creativity and engineering skills to build war machines and fortifications." So in other words, if you're going to fight, do it once you figure out how to build an awesome weapon. The forces of gravity and electricity are realistically implemented while building with the game's provided blocks, so it seems like you'll need to think your crafts through instead of just building shoddy abominations. PC owners can currently launch themselves into Space Engineers' universe for $14.99 and will gain access to the full version once it's released.
EVE Evolved: Merging Valkyrie with EVE Online
Ever since its release in 2003, EVE Online has been bombarded with requests for direct flight controls and dogfighter-style gameplay. Most ships in EVE are huge lumbering hulks compared to real-world aircraft, more akin to large sea-faring ships than nimble jetfighters. Even tiny agile Interceptors can't be controlled directly, instead having the player issue commands to fly in a particular direction or move toward or orbit an object. As a result, combat in EVE has become much more heavily about the strategy of directing fleets of dozens or hundreds of ships than any kind of piloting skill or twitch control. This year's EVE Fanfest gave players a glimpse into the world of immersive twitch combat with the announcement of a new dogfighting game set in the EVE Online universe. Originally starting out as an virtual reality experiment by a few developers in their spare time, EVE Valkyrie has now become a full game in its own right and an example of what's possible with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. It was always assumed that Valkyrie was an EVE game in name and theme only, but recently developers have revealed that they'd like it to tie into the actual EVE Online universe itself. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at recently revealed information on EVE Valkyrie and speculate on how it could be integrated into the EVE universe.
Arena combat game Forced now on Steam, 20 percent off until Halloween
Action arcade game Forced is now available on Steam. The multiplayer-focused combat arena game is 20 percent off ($11.99) until October 31. Forced is described as a mix between Diablo and Left 4 Dead, featuring local and online cooperative battles for up to four players. Players control slaves in one of four skill classes in "the toughest fantasy gladiator school of them all, condemned to fight to the death." Forced is available on PC, Mac and Linux and also comes in a four pack bundle, currently discounted to $35.99, for those that know exactly who they'll team up with in the game's campaign. The game's developer BetaDwarf has a unique history, as the group of eight lived in an abandoned classroom at Aalborg University in Denmark for roughly seven months while creating Forced. After the developer's hideout was discovered by one of the school's instructors, the team of ten lived together under one roof while continuing development. Additionally, BetaDwarf raised $65,413 on Kickstarter in December 2012 to fund the project.
World of Tanks named online game of the year at Golden Joysticks
World of Tanks, the ever-popular tank-based MMO from Wargaming.net, is 2013's online game of the year according to the Golden Joysticks. The title beat out heavy hitters like League of Legends and Dota 2 to take the crown. Here's Al King on the victory: You have to play together as a team. We're rolling out increasingly aggressively across the world -- we have 70 million active users. It's truly democratic, we have a tremendously loyal community. They just did everything we asked of them, they're phenomenal, and we love them. Other big winners? Assassin's Creed: Liberation (best handheld game, The Last of Us (best storytelling), and Grand Theft Auto V (game of the year).
Enslaved: Premium Edition takes a Trip to Steam, out now
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West completed its journey to PC, meaning the game is out now on Steam in a new Premium Edition. Priced $20, it includes the Pigsy's Perfect 10 DLC and three character skins including one simply titled "Sexy Trip" [insert debauched holiday destination joke here]. The Premium Edition also came to PSN this week. Ninja Theory's vivacious re-imagining of Monkey charmed us back in 2010, with our review praising the fantastical adventure for being a "a fine reminder that if you have talented people and a little respect for your audience, great storytelling in games can be not only possible but profound."
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 1 takes the plunge next month
Burial at Sea Episode 1 is dated for November 12, and the second piece of BioShock Infinite DLC will be available to download on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC for $14.99 (or as part of the season pass). A friendly reminder, citizen: This is the first episode of the two-part Burial at Sea saga, and the second currently-in-development episode remains without a date or release window. It's tough to go deep (ho ho ho) into Burial at Sea without spoilers, but if you can take a modicum of spoilage, check out our video preview of Booker's underwater undertaking.
Steam weekend: Deep Silver deals, Mass Effect 2 and EVE Online 75% off
Steam is offering up a number of deals this weekend, including discounts on Deep Silver-published games. Among the series in Deep Silver's catalog that are on sale this weekend are the Metro, Risen, Saint's Row, Sacred and Dead Island series, with notable discounts on their respective bundles: The Metro Franchise Pack is 33 percent off ($36.84), the Risen Collection is half off ($19.99), the Saints Row: The Third - The Full Package bundle is 50 percent off ($14.99), the Dead Island Franchise Pack is 66 percent off ($16.99) and the Sacred Collection is just $17.49. What's more, both Mass Effect 2 and EVE Online are 75 percent off this weekend, or just under $5 each. Three-month subscription plans for EVE Online are half off until Monday as well.
EVE Steam sale includes first month and some gear to immediately lose to pirates
If you've always wanted to get in the business of blowing up internet spaceships, now might be the time. Steam is currently offering the EVE Online Amarr starter pack as a weekend sale item, priced at 75% below normal. For $4.98, you'll receive your first month of EVE Online game time in addition to a Sarum Magnate frigate, some exploration equipment, a few skill books, and a skill booster -- all of which will look great after they're pried off your frozen corpse and mounted on a null-sec predator's mantle. Purchasing EVE from CCP's official site runs you about $14, so the Steam sale represents a decent bit of savings. However, it is worth noting that Steam EVE accounts are not eligible for character transfers, and you must access the game through Steam to access your bonus starting items. The deal ends October 28th.
The 7th Guest, 11th Hour bundle up for safety on Steam
Classic PC adventure game The 7th Guest and its sequel, The 11th Hour, are now available on Steam as a bundle for $15 or individually for $10. The 7th Guest comes in PC, Mac and Linux flavors, while The 11th Hour comes in PC and Mac varieties. The 7th Guest made it through Steam Greenlight in August, and in March, developer Trilobyte announced The 7th Guest: 3, a follow-up to The 11th Hour for PC, Mac and mobile devices. At the time, Trilobyte was looking for funding partners and had Kickstarter as a backup plan – but now it's Plan A. The Kickstarter campaign for The 7th Guest: 3 should launch around Halloween, Trilobyte says.
Don't Starve's free horror mod, The Screecher, turns survival into terror
Halloween is a good holiday for Don't Starve, since it generally involves a hefty amount of eating (candy) and more mad scientists than any other festive day. To celebrate, Don't Starve is half off on Steam, $7.50, and a horror mod called The Screecher is free to all owners. The Screecher turns the Don't Starve design on its head, offering players a view of the main character in third-person, from behind, rather than the front-facing angle in the main title. It's less of a "build things to survive" game and more of a "find dead bodies and blood in a dark forest and run away from the terrifying monster to survive" game. Think Slender Man meets Telltale's The Walking Dead with developer Klei's sensibilities. Yeah, it feels like Halloween now.
DayZ standalone shows up on Steam database
DayZ standalone has appeared on the Steam database, with its creator confirming that development is on "the final lap." Escapist noted that an entry for "DayZ Early Access" showed up yesterday on the Steam Database for the USA territory. The title was delayed last August when the team was waiting for the core network architecture to be put into place. Joystiq contacted Lead Designer Dean Hall, who said that the game is nearing its final stretch to an alpha test. "All I can say is that progress has been very good," Hall said. "We're a mix of nervous and excited. And as I'd stated on my twitter when I announced my break from social media/updates, we are on the final lap. Part of the final process involves the actual administration of the release, which is actually surprisingly complex and time-consuming. So, to confirm, there is no release date announcement and we're 100 percent focused on getting the alpha out the door."
Report: New devs at work on Dark Matter following mass dismissal
Though a new ending for the controversial Dark Matter is supposedly in the works, a Gamasutra report claims that the game's development staff has already been laid off. As reported yesterday, players were incensed by the cliffhanger ending seen in Dark Matter. Instead of a satisfactory conclusion, the game simply offers players an abrupt "To be continued ..." despite a notable lack of current plans for a sequel. Complaints about the ending poured in so rapidly that both Steam and Good Old Games opted to give customers refunds for the game. In a message posted to the Dark Matter community on Steam, CEO of publisher Iceberg Interactive Erik Schreuder blames the problematic ending on the failure of the Dark Matter Kickstarter effort. This is crucial, as Gamasutra claims that the fundraiser's collapse not only crippled the game, but also led to the dismissal of the majority of Interwave Studios' staff (including almost all of the developers who worked on Dark Matter). Gamasutra's report claims that a new developer has been handed the task of building a better ending for Dark Matter, but that this unnamed studio includes none of the original development staff. It's currently unknown when (or if) this hypothetically improved finale will appear.
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Serious Sam Double D XXL adds 30 more guns, new things on Steam
Serious Sam Double D has evolved into Serious Sam Double D XXL on Steam, now with new missions, weapons and enemies. The upgrade is free to current owners of the game, and XXL is on sale through October 28 for $2.50, 75 percent off the standard price. Serious Sam Double D XXL includes two-player local co-op, a new campaign and challenge missions, three new enemies and more than 30 new guns primed for your stacking pleasure. Seriously.
Gone Home adds Commentary Mode, now 50% off on Steam
The Fullbright Company's first-person interactive story Gone Home has updated with a new Commentary Mode, giving players an excuse to make a return trip through the Greenbriar family's labyrinthine dwelling. Gone Home's free Commentary Mode adds more than 90 minutes of audio content to the game, and features voiceovers from developers Steve Gaynor, Johnnemann Nordhagen, Karla Zimonja, and Kate Craig. Additional commentary is provided by Sarah Grayson (the voice of Sam), composer Chris Remo, and Sleater-Kinney singer Corin Tucker, whose former band Heavens to Betsy is featured throughout the story. The mode itself works similarly to Portal's commentary, and can be accessed via a series of clickable icons located throughout the Greenbriar's house. Explore thoroughly enough and you may shed some new light on the much-discussed Christmas Duck sidequest, among other juicy secrets. For the next 48 hours, Gone Home is available for 50 percent off of its regular price on Steam and via its website.
Dark Matter temporarily removed from Steam, GOG offering refunds
Dark Matter is not available on Steam for the apparent time being, following complaints over the game's incomplete story and lack of labeling as an episodic adventure. The game was removed this morning, with a notice going up on its Steam page saying "Currently there is a known issue at the end of the game. The developer is aware of the issue and they are working on a patch as a solution." Meanwhile, GOG.com is offering refunds to those who bought the game before its description was updated on the site. Now GOG's listing indicates Dark Matter is the "first half" of a story, an update that "adequately reflects the game" according to the retailer. Dark clouds circled around Dark Matter over the weekend, when players vented their anger over its "to be continued" ending, accusing developer InterWave Studios of seemingly releasing an unfinished product. Erik Schreuder, CEO of publisher Iceberg Interactive, responded by clarifying that the 2.5D horror platformer is the first episode of a larger overall saga, one that was originally planned as standalone game. InterWave Studios brought Dark Matter as that standalone game to Kickstarter earlier this year, with plans to sell it for $30. The game wasn't funded, and a few months later Iceberg Interactive released the now controversial first episode, also called Dark Matter, for $15. Schreuder said Dark Matter is "exactly as described on Steam," but the store page makes no mention of the game being episodic. Schreuder was forced to concede the ending "may cause confusion and is not satisfactory," and noted a "more conclusive and satisfying ending" is in the works - as perhaps indicated by the new notice on Steam. At the time of writing, the game remains on sale at GOG.com
Slender: The Arrival gets spooky on Steam October 28
Survival horror game Slender: The Arrival will launch October 28 on Steam. The spooky adventure will set players back $9.99, and will launch on consoles in 2014. Slender: The Arrival is a re-imagining of Parsec Productions' free indie game Slender: The Eight Pages. The game is written by the Marble Hornets team, a documentary-style webseries centered around the popular Slenderman mythos. Slender: The Arrival places players in the role of Laura, a realtor that is assisting her friend Kate in selling her house. Kate goes missing, leaving Laura to search for her with a camcorder in one hand and a flashlight in the other.
Monaco celebrates successful Linux infiltration with Steam sale
Monaco: What's Yours is Mine has picked the Linux lock today. The free update implements a smattering of new content, including a Zombie mode and new mini-campaign. To celebrate this new update and platform, Andy Schatz's co-op stealth game is down to $6 on Steam. A four-pack, which includes one copy for you and three copies you can gift to Steam friends (not only generous, but also useful given the game's multiplayer nature), is $18. The Steam sale ends on Wednesday, October 23 at 10am PT. Monaco, which is presented in a highly-stylized top-down view, stars eight crooks with varying abilities who team up to infiltrate secure locations and rob them of precious goods. Security cameras, guards and locked doors are just a few of the obstacles impeding player progress.
The Stanley Parable sales exceed expectations by a lot
Since launching on Thursday, The Stanley Parable has sold more than 100,000 copies, much to the happy surprise of its developer, Galactic Cafe. Though the quality of the game undoubtedly had at least something to do with its success, so did a clever combination of free Stanley stuff. In a postmortem, Galactic Cafe ruminated on the triumphs and failures of launching The Stanley Parable, including the demo, which dropped on Steam a week prior to the full game's launch and enjoyed an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 downloads. "Essentially we got the press equivalent of two video game launches," the post reads. Then there was the cadre of Let's Play videos on YouTube and social media posts that bolstered coverage. "Give people a reason to talk, that's all we aimed for, and the rest sorted itself out. Release a whole bunch of things for free in fairly quick succession, then at the end of it put a price tag on the last one," Galactic Cafe suggested. "It was a lot of extra work, but the results feel very much worth it." The Stanley Parable is a first-person exploration game in which players assume the role of Stanley, a worker drone who one day finds all his coworkers have upped and vanished. In our review, we called The Stanley Parable an "attempt to help you discover who you are" – a personal experiment conducted on players that is "something we should all celebrate."
WWII's Pacific Theater sets the stage for Sid Meier's Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies
Firaxis Games is preparing to launch a follow-up to Sid Meier's turn-based mobile darling, Sid Meier's Ace Patrol. Set within the Pacific Theater during World War II, Sid Meier's Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies recreates historical battles at Pearl Harbor, Midway and Guadalcanal as players create a pilot and nurture their rise in ranks. Pacific Skies will support iPad 2 and up, iPad mini, iPod touch 4 and up, and iPhone 4S and up on iOS devices. The PC version will be available for download through Steam. Sid Meier's Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies launches this fall. 2K Games has not announced price, but the press release pass the break calls it a "premium" game so adjust your expectations accordingly.
iConsole.tv gaming PC to support SteamOS through its Android shell
Mobile Media Ventures' iConsole.tv gaming system is quickly turning into a jack of all trades, as the company now plans to support SteamOS through its PC's Android interface. Valve's TV-friendly platform will only be a shortcut away, MMV claims. Players won't have to partition drives, tweak firmware or otherwise mess with low-level settings, either. We won't know how well this Linux-on-Linux approach works until the company provides more details in the months ahead, but it's promising -- it could greatly expand iConsole.tv's game library without compromising on simplicity of use.
