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'Chaos Rising' in Dawn of War II on March 11
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising, a "standalone" expansion to last year's critically acclaimed RTS, will unleash the traitorous Chaos Space Marines on March 11, 2010. In the service of the Emperor, players will cleanse, purge and kill across a new single-player campaign with 15 missions, and will acquire a bunch of multiplayer enhancements for $30. Remember, several retailers are offering a free copy of Saints Row 2 with a pre-purchase of the Chaos Rising expansion. So, while you're meditating on the idea that "an open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded," why not bust some caps in posteriors around Stillwater?
Weekend Steam deal: Company of Heroes 75% off
Valve has announced that this weekend will see Company of Heroes receive a steep discount on Steam. The original game as well as the Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor expansions will be available for 75 percent off the usual price. All three, usually packaged for $49.99, will be available for a paltry $12.99. For those out there looking for a real-time strategy fix, it looks like your weekend is booked.
Dawn of War II's free 'The Last Stand' DLC released
THQ and Relic have released "The Last Stand," a free update for the Warhammer 40k RTS Dawn of War II. As we reported during PAX 2009, the DLC adds a Horde/Firefight style survival mode to the game. In addition, the pack contains two new maps and what THQ describes as "numerous balance updates and bug fixes." The publisher has also mentioned that Dawn of War II is receiving what we can only imagine is a limited time price cut to $20 on Steam, effective immediately. It should last 'til at least dawn. [Via VG247]
The Queue: Questions, comments, complaints...
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Allison Robert is your hostess today.I have absolutely no idea what the hell the above video is about, but have been required to place it there on threat of firing by Alex Ziebart. Questions, comments, complaints? Send them to him!Pyril asks...(On the faction champions fight in Trial of the Crusader): Why would Blizzard force PvE players to basically learn PvP skill sets now, when they've been so good about keeping them seperate to this point? Any chance the encounter will be reworked? GC has said he doesn't want to force raids to bring certain classes, but if you don't to this encounter it's a 3 hour wipe fest.Is the encounter likely to be changed? No, at least not its basic mechanics. Blizzard fielded similar complaints concerning the Priestess Delrissa fight in Magisters' Terrace, which could be an incredibly ugly experience on heroic if you didn't have CC or weren't well-geared. But are aspects of the encounter likely to be nerfed, or at least tweaked? Maybe, maybe not. It'll depend on how much trouble Blizzard sees people having with the fight. What's certain is that the Faction Champs encounter is a very common target for complaints right now. Some of this is the result of players still gearing up, but others are voiced by people who intensely dislike the arenaesque feel of it all, or who run a raid setup that's less-than-ideal for whatever champion comp they get that week. I think you're entirely correct in saying that the fight becomes significantly more difficult (or at least more gear-dependent) if you're running a raid with limited options for purging/dispelling the mobs' buffs or keeping their healers locked down, and it's probably that aspect of it that Blizzard's keeping an eye on.
THQ and WindySoft sending Company of Heroes Online to South Korea
Yesterday, THQ and Shanda announced their intentions to bring upcoming free-to-play Company of Heroes Online to South Korea via publishing partner WindySoft. Like Relic's PC-only classic Company of Heroes, COHO is an RTS game set during the Second World War, but the additions of a persistent world and expanded player customization (read: microtransactions) aim to set the online iteration apart. Currently, no release date is set nor have plans been announced to bring the game to the West. Between Shanda's other free-to-play MMO, King of Fighters World, Namco's Katamari Online, and now this, we're starting to feel like Asia's the rich kid down the block getting all the games we could never afford. Can we come over and play, Asia? Please?
Dawn of War II's 'The Last Stand' mode detailed
It seems the increasingly popular "Horde" mode first presented in Gears of War 2 (before spreading to other popular FPS titles in some form) isn't just proliferating through the shooter genre -- GameSpy recently revealed details for "The Last Stand," a similar gametype which will soon be introduced into Dawn of War II. The new mode, which will come as a free download for those who own the full game, lets three players select either the Space Marine, Ork or Eldar hero classes, then face off cooperatively against wave after wave of computer-controlled adversaries. Between waves, players will be able to level up their heroes and manage their equipment. The series' strategic roots aren't being thrown out the window -- players will need to work together to stay alive and capture score-multiplying control points. We'll undoubtedly learn more about this intriguing expansion to the well-received strategy title during Relic's panel at PAX 2009. [Via Big Download]
Smoking Gun, Cyberia author Rushkoff partner for games, books
Smoking Gun, an independent studio formed in 2007 by Relic Entertainment vets, has landed a new deal with tech evangelist Douglas Rushkoff, with the award-winning author set to pen the story for an as-yet-unannounced property. Details remain light, though Rushkoff notes his narrative will be used in multiple games as well as related books.If that's not enough to interest you, consider that Rushkoff, whose works include cyber culture novel Cyberia and the DC comic series Testament, is set to lend words to an entire range of titles "across a range of media formats that can feed off one another and exist concurrently." Honestly, we're just as confused as you are, but once the headache stops and the Advil kicks in we'll reach out to Smoking Gun for more.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine cleansing consoles for the emperor
THQ has officially confirmed work on Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, yet another game set against the backdrop of Games Workshop's gritty tabletop universe. Relic has again been handed developer duties on the title, though unlike Dawn of War, the console-focused Space Marine will be an action RPG that lets players control individual units through a "narrative-driven story campaign and in wide-scale online battles." In development for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, it's unclear what ties, if any, the project has to the leaked Space Marine footage that made the rounds late last year. However, judging from this IGN-hosted trailer, the game certainly looks to keep more with 40K's combat-heavy fiction when it eventually decides to chainsword retail shelves.
Dawn of War II getting major update this month
If you've spent the past couple months enjoying THQ's Warhammer-ed RTS, Dawn of War II, you might want to brace yourself for a massive influx of new content coming soon in "Patch 1.3." Chief among these is a new 2v2 multiplayer mode (as well as two new maps which compliment this mode), UI improvements, push-to-talk voice chat, new squad decorations and a few "significant" AI improvements. The update is due out in "early May," which is ... right now! Keep an eye out for a firmer launch date -- we're sure to hear it soon.
Single-player Dawn of War II demo now available
Good news for you friendless, cheap, space-marine-lovin' Scrooge McDucks out there: You can now pick up a single-player demo for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II for free. The sample casts you as a gun-toting band of soldiers "battling the heretic Eldar, the pillaging Orks, and the ravaging Tyranid threats."If you want to know what to expect from the game, you can check out our hands-on here, or, you know, just go play it. It's free. If you like what you see, you can buy the game for 25 percent off until April 20. Download Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Demo (333 MB)
Dawn of War II beta now available to all
Just a quick reminder that the Dawn of War II beta is now available to all people for the low, low price of nothing. With just a click, a little free time and 5.5 gigglebytes of hard drive space you could be well on your way to pitting orcs against space marines in the most stunning visual metaphor for the state of the video game industry ever. Sure, you've read our thoughts on the game, but now we're dying to see what you think. Let us know in the comments below.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 beta on Jan. 21
click for hugeness Relic Entertainment's Mark Noseworthy has confirmed with Joystiq that the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 closed beta will begin January 21st if you purchased the original Dawn of War expansion, Soulstorm. Procrastinators, take note: you'll be introduced into the public beta just a week later on January 28th. Or, break the cycle of lethargy and pick up the expansion in order to grab an early beta spot.We got a closer look at Dawn of War 2 during CES, and fans of real-time strategy games will not be disappointed ... unless you don't own a PC (but c'mon, how could you be an RTS buff without owning a PC?). Dawn of War 2 will be a PC-only release with Games for Windows Live features like voice chat and Achievements.
Joystiq hands-on: Dawn of War 2
We learned a valuable lesson at CES last week: Don't demo an RTS game on a trade show floor. Why? Because it's nigh-impossible to hear a developer's instructions over the deafening noise of geek-outs. It turns into something like this dialogue snippet from our hands-on experience with Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War 2:Relic: "So, you'll quickly want to set a rally point here." *taps screen*Joystiq: *clicks on random units* [units march off-screen]Relic: "Okay, so if you look at this icon, you'll see that your character is earning zeal. You might want to build some heavy firepower units for support."Joystiq: *attacks enemy power generator* [cue: bad move!]It was just too darn loud at CES to get good instructions, and Relic only had one demo station on hand, which obviously did not feature any PVP gameplay. Naturally, we had StarCraft 2 in mind as we fooled around with Dawn of War 2, measuring Relic's RTS against what we've played of Blizzard's next blockbuster. We can say that Dawn of War 2 is currently winning in the looks department. As we watched an Imperial Tank literally roll through walls and crush them into powder while Space Marines jumped over the action with jetpacks, we were remiss to have left our drool bib back home in the hamper.We've embedded a pair of videos from our session after the break, including producer Mark Noseworthy blowing stuff up!
Relic teases Homeworld 3 development
This time last year, THQ snapped up the trademark for Relic's space-faring RTS, Homeworld. Now Eurogamer reports that, during a visit to Relic's offices, the dev was (quite badly) attempting to tease that Homeworld 3 is in development without actually saying, "It's in development."When asked about the possibility of a new Homeworld, Dawn of War II design lead Jonny Ebbert told the site that, "We're really happy the IP has made its way home, and yeah, we're definitely looking at it." Ebbert continued, saying there's "always a chance" that the game is in development at the studio, adding that he is "very, very, very" excited about the idea of revealing it to the world. And ... it's just being looked into? Nice try, guys.
THQ reveals 'Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor' expansion
In the midst of THQ's pink-slip-a-palooza, the publisher has announced Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor, a standalone expansion to its excellent RTS series (don't let the normally tired WWII setting turn you off). Tales of Valor will stay in-house at Relic Entertainment and the game will feature three campaigns, new multiplayer modes and a feature called "direct-fire."Considering the intensity and length of campaigns Relic squeezed into Company of Heroes and its first expansion, Opposing Fronts, another expansion by that team is more than welcome. The game is expected to invade retail stores in spring of 2009. No price has been announced at this time, but Amazon lists it on pre-order for $30. We've clicked our engineers to make listening posts and hope to gather more intelligence soon.
Why you buggin? Tyranids playable in Dawn of War II
It's time to load your storm bolter and wrap up your last prayer to the Emperor, cuz we're huntin' Tyranids! IGN has confirmed that everyone's favorite galactic bugs will be clawing their way onto Relic's forthcoming Dawn of War sequel, not only as an opponent but as a playable race as well. The blood news was spilled during the Leipzig Games Convention by Dawn of War II senior designer Philippe Boulle, who noted that the space insects behave as "a single organism, not an army of individuals," and that the swarm is composed of disposable "meat shields" and more specialized alien troops serving the Tyranid Hive Mind. For more, check out the pre-rendered pure awesome below while we wait for the bugs to digest their fill of Space Marine, Ork and Eldar in early 2009. [Thanks Damn Lucky]
FFXI's September update will add new relic gear sets
Square-Enix announced that the September update to Final Fantasy XI will add the relic gear sets for the Blue Mage, Corsair, and Puppetmaster jobs. The FFXI team considered adding new content that would lead to the gear. However, the team finally decided to do it the old way. That means Blue Mages, Corsairs, and Puppetmasters will be working Dynamis and Limbus like everyone else.Drop rates and entry item costs for those two areas have been altered to make everything nice and smooth for all the folks who will be working at acquiring this new gear. Yeah, we know that's vague! But Square-Enix didn't say anything specific about the drop rate changes.It did, on the other hand, specify that the Timeless Hourglass entry item will drop in cost from 1,000,000 gil to 500,00, and the Cosmo-Cleanse will drop from 30,000 to 15,000. That's half off! Nice.[Via WarCry]
Dawn of War II E3 teaser introduces the Eldar
While it's difficult to make out the guttural baritone voice of the above trailer's narrator, we're pretty sure that this is an E3 teaser for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. Those already invested in the series will be glad to know that the svelte Eldar will be making an appearance in the the RTS franchise's latest installment, and that they will apparently wield neat glowing swords. At least, we think they're swords. For all we know, the Eldar might just be on their way to a futuristic fantasy-themed rave -- after all, they are well-known among their contemporaries for being the galaxy's official party race.
Glimpse some Dawn of War II gameplay footage
Cleanse the heretics and long live the Emperor! The latest Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II video gives us an amuse bouche of in-game footage to check out until we (cross-fingers) get to see at lot more at E3 next month. With the series back in the hands of Relic studios, hopefully the game will help THQ's bottom line when it releases early next year. For those who missed out on the original Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War series (which is three games -- four, if you count Soulstorm), it still holds up well and can be found in a boxed Platinum Set, and on Steam, for around $30. For the sake of DoW II's sales, we hope Starcraft II isn't released anywhere close to the same time.
The sun rises on a Dawn of War II trailer
THQ has unleashed a teaser trailer for Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II to imbue the masses with the righteous fervor of the Empire. The real-time strategy sequel was officially confirmed just a couple days ago and will apparently feature a fully co-operative multiplayer campaign. Don't go getting too excited just yet -- DoW II won't be out until Spring '09. In the meantime, for those who need a 40K RTS fix stat, there's always Soulstorm, which will grant entry into the sequel's multiplayer beta at some point in the future.
