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PSA: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 'Revelations' DLC now available
It's time to sharpen your fangs and fasten your finest cape, as Konami has released the Revelations DLC for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. Revelations follows Alucard immediately prior to the events of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, as he prepares for the return of his father, Dracula. Along with waifish good looks, Alucard comes equipped with his own unique slate of vampiric powers, including time control, and the ability to transform into a wolf or a swarm of bats. As an undying creature of the night, Alucard is fueled by the blood of his victims, forcing players to periodically drain vital fluids from his foes instead of simply annihilating anything dumb enough to stand against a magical, immortal killing machine. Revelations is now available for download on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, where it bears an $8 price tag. [Image: Konami]
Alucard returns in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 DLC this month [Update]
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will receive a "Revelations" DLC pack on March 25 for Xbox 360 and PS3, Konami announced. The add-on content has players controlling series fan-favorite Alucard, learning more about his relationship with Dracula (aside from the whole name reversal thing). The DLC is set before the events in Lords of Shadow 2. In the add-on, players can use Alucard's "Glaciem" and "Igneas" powers and can morph into a wolf, a bunch of bats and can turn back time. Being the vampire he is, Alucard's thirst for the blood of his enemies also seemingly lends a boost in his powers. No price was given for the DLC and Konami did not list PC among the platforms the DLC will arrive on this month; we've reached out to the publisher to find out when the PC version will arrive. Update: Konami has informed Joystiq that the PC version of the game will receive the Revelations DLC on March 25 as well. [Image: Konami]
The Nexus Telegraph: No WildStar reveals at PAX Prime panel
The title up there is kind of glib, I admit it. We certainly heard more about WildStar during the game's presentation at PAX Prime. But most of what we heard was filling in blanks and elaborating slightly upon what we hard already learned, sort of an extended postscript to the presentation offered at PAX East. I sat down and watched through the whole panel as it streamed, and after it was over I was left with a distinct sense of confusion about how little new information was actually included. Out of the entire panel, the biggest reveal was the fact that the game does have a dye system, plus the roundabout mention of experience earned at the level cap converting into a form of currency. (Along with more use of the term "elder game," which I increasingly dislike.) Both of these are interesting tidbits, but the former isn't all that surprising and the latter is of interest only to those invested in the game as it stands. This was not a panel stuffed with information.
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar's dirty little secret races
I'm of two minds about the last two races in WildStar. And I'll be honest, the first mind is kind of bored because those of us with sharp eyes had already figured most of this out. Most of us might not have been sure of the names, to be fair. But the core concepts are fairly close to what most of us expected, with both races playing against type -- cute and fuzzy for the Dominion, creepy and leering for the Exiles. I even speculated that the last race of the Exiles would be a race that focused upon getting dirty work done when it needed to be done, and sure enough, what did we get? That being said, both of these races are pulled off with a style and panache that I should have expected but didn't. So even if I could have guessed that these were the practical upshots of the race grid, I hadn't counted on them being this nifty.
The Nexus Telegraph: Respecting the NDA on WildStar's beta
Carbine Studios is holding all of the cards for WildStar and those of us not in the beta just have to wait. Which is beyond frustrating. We have to sit back and let things slowly come out of the official PR machine, and no matter how fast we get new revelations, they're never fast enough. The temptation to look for someone willing to peel back the veil is immense because it beats pressing against the glass and waiting to find out more. But the NDA is there for a reason. Speaking as someone who isn't in the beta but is still talking about the game on a weekly basis, I will be the first to point out that waiting for official information is often like waiting for a solar eclipse before doing even the most basic tasks. It's frustrating, slow, and irritating. The problem is that the alternative -- wherein we just jump on every new piece of leaked information -- isn't good, and it comes out worse in the end.
GamersFirst dropping Sword 2, title picked up by T3Fun
GamersFirst is out of the Sword 2 business, it seems. The publisher announced that it will be dropping its contract to publish and host the title at the end of the year. Fans of the game have no reason to fret that they're about to lose their world, however; HanbitSoft's subsidiary T3Fun will take up the slack come January 1st. Due to the transfer between companies, players will need to expressly consent to allow their game data to be transferred over. The announcement post contains instructions how to do just that. Also, Sword 2 players won't be able to transfer their GamersFirst store currency, so spending it now is highly recommended. There are a lot of details to go over, so if this affects you, be sure to read the whole post very carefully. [Thanks to William for the tip!]
EVE Evolved: Has EVE Online boxed itself in?
When I was first introduced to EVE Online in 2004, it was an empty shell of a game. There were only three classes of ship, no alliances or starbases, and neither exploration complexes nor level 4 missions existed yet. EVE consisted of 5,000 systems of almost completely empty space populated by less than 50,000 players. The user interface was an order of magnitude worse than it is today (if you can imagine that), and the tutorial just dropped you in the middle of space with the ship equivalent of a pea shooter and a less-than-enthusiastic "good luck!" Though much of the game was empty, it sat before players like a blank galactic canvas. Not only could players paint their own stories into the game world, but EVE's highly active development team was updating the game at lightning speed. Players instinctively filled the voids in the game with their hopes and dreams, projecting all the things that EVE could be into the gaps. People shared ideas on the forum directly with the developers, and practically anything was possible. Things aren't quite the same today, as new ideas have to be compatible with over nine years' worth of updates, and developer CCP Games really can't afford to rock the boat and potentially lose subscriptions. In this week's EVE Evolved, I consider whether the past nine years of development has boxed EVE in, forcing the gameplay down an ever-narrowing branch of choices.
GamersFirst launches Sword 2: Revelations
GamersFirst announced today that it has launched Sword 2: Revelations (formerly known as Granado Espada: Sword of the New World). But this isn't just a simple re-name and re-release; The team is introducing "three brand new expanded skill systems, a new area for questing and exploration, [and] a new unique playing character and pet to both drive the continually evolving story of Sword 2." The new skill systems are all crafting-related, introducing new Alchemy, Cooking, and Wing Crafting systems. Viron Island is the aforementioned new area, complete with new quests and three distinct forests, each with its own distinct challenges. And lastly, the game introduces Raven, a former spy that offers "complex gameplay options and the new pet Capybara which provides players with increased experience gains and item drop rates. For more information, head on over to Sword 2's official site.
Behind the Mask: A complete guide to angel-slaying, volume two
Last week on Behind the Mask, we covered the puzzles and trash mob fights of Therakiel's Temple. TT is the toughest lair in Champions Online, and it's not over yet. You've still got to handle the boss fights! This week, we'll be covering the deadly boss battles of the temple, from the alluring Valerian Scarlet to the big bad Therakiel himself. Caliburn will provide commentary for your fights, but don't expect him to help out; your team is going to need to bring out the big guns. Just as it did last week, this guide contains some spoilers!
Spiritual Guidance: Priest changes in build 12984 and Life Grip video
Every Sunday at WoW Insider, you'll find Spiritual Guidance, a guide to healing as a discipline or holy priest. Priestess Dawn Moore will bring you the latest in news, discussion and advice for priests in the World of Warcraft while simultaneously battling her shadow priest rival, Fox Van Allen. This week, Dawn has been training an infantry of super-perceptive aerial assault sheep to counter the Dark Shrine she spotted Fox warping into WoW Insider HQ earlier. The latest build for the Cataclysm beta was the big news yesterday, thanks to ol' B at MMO-Champion. The news hit sometime in the night while most priests were nestled all snug in their beds, but High Priest Matticus and I were up late drinking chocolate malts and playing wall ball, so we got a head start on the information ... which we promptly used to write about pets and shaman. Last week, I said I'd be finishing my Cataclysm roundup this weekend, but since there were quite a few changes in this latest beta build (which I'm guessing will affect the release of patch 4.0.1), I think it's better if we discuss the details of the changes before we try to summarize them. There was also a super-exciting (though entirely superficial) change with this patch as well ... Leap of Faith, also known as "Life Grip," got a brand new animation! Check out the video after the jump.
Hello Kitty Online launches, opens fourth seal of the Apocalypse
And lo, from the throne of four and twenty seats, with four and twenty elders sitting and clothed in white rainments and crowns of gold, lightnings and thunderings and voices proceeded. Seven lamps of fire burned, and four beings full of eyes appeared in front and behind. And the first being was like a frog, and the second being like a nymph, and the third being had the face of a man, and the fourth being was like a yawning penguin. And from the mouth of the third being, like a cat, came these words: "Hello Kitty Online has officially launched in North America and Europe. Fans both young and old can share their love of Hello Kitty, either through the free downloadable client or the Premium Edition retail version, which is available at retailers for $19.99 and contains $15 in Sanrio Cash Points, a game DVD and manual, and one of four exclusive and cute virtual pets." And I looked, and beheld the pale cat, and the name that sat on her was Hello Kitty. And Hell followed with them.
EVE Evolved: The making of EVE Online, part 2
With all tech 2 modules now released into the game and their blueprints handed out to players, the tech 2 blueprint lottery officially shut down during this expansion period and was replaced by the Invention mechanic. Invention allows players to create their own inefficient limited-run tech 2 blueprint copies, putting the supply of tech 2 ships and modules into the hands of the general EVE populace rather than those lucky enough to have won the original tech 2 blueprints. This patch also brought in the entirely new contracts system, which replaced the escrow system that was starting to show its age and was becoming a lot less useful for finding what you wanted.
Trinity to be released first week of December
We got an official release date for EVE Online's next expansion, Trinity, at the FanFest over the weekend. If you're an EVE player, make sure to leave the first week of December open, because that's when you'll be playing with all the cool new ships and updates in Trinity. Of course, the fun starts tomorrow, when Revelations.2.3 arrives, but in just a month from now, we'll have access to Trinity (the new name of what used to be Revelations 3).GamesIndustry also has an interview up with CCP CEO Hilmar Petursson, who tells them that the old graphic engine isn't actually going anywhere-- players will be able to switch from old to new via the configuration screen ingame. There's also a new ingame concurrency record-- it's a whopping 37,200 players all in one game (I think all of them were in Jita yesterday afternoon, because it was horrible there). Petursson also gives feedback on CCP's decision to hire a real-life economist to help them with the player-driven economy-- apparently "he's validated some of our assumptions, but he's also shattered a lot too." Man, I'd love to sit in on a few of those meetings.Mark your calendars: Trinity is coming the first week of December. And unless you change that setting, EVE will never look the same.
