PC Gaming Discussion

[McPhee]

I loved Dawn Of War. Sold it a couple of years back though and not bothered to re-buy. I've got enough PC games that need playing as it is! Barely played any of The Witcher (great game, but it crashed too much so i stopped to wait on the patch), UT3, KOTOR2, Company Of Heroes (+ Opposing Fronts) or Spore yet, and not even installed Universe at War! No idea when i'll make the time to churn through that lot!

[Dante]

 

In 2005, Sierra and Monolith put out an acclaimed first-person shooter called F.E.A.R. that blended elements of Japanese-style horror with kinetic gunplay. But prior to that, in 2004, Monolith was acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which meant that things would get complicated for any follow-up. Sierra owned the name F.E.A.R., but Monolith was the company responsible for actually making it. So what happened next was a bit comical. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced Project Origin, a game that would effectively be the spiritual successor to F.E.A.R., while Sierra would make F.E.A.R. 2 with another developer.

 

And then came 2008. Vivendi Universal Games, the parent organization of Sierra, merged with Activision to become the largest third-party publisher in the world. VUG's crown jewel, of course, is Blizzard, the studio responsible for World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and Diablo. Sierra's lineup was examined, and most of its games were recently dropped. Indeed, Sierra's future is in doubt.

 

Senseing an opportunity, Warner Bros. and Monolith struck, and they are announcing today that they have acuired the F.E.A.R. name, meaning that the creator of F.E.A.R. once again has access to the name. To that effect, Project Origin is being renamed to F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.

 

Pc.Ign.com

[Gizmo]

Ah, thats ace. It was ridiculous really; the name FEAR was all that Warner Bros owned. Monolith were making FEAR2 in everything but name, so this deal really makes sense for both parties.

[CoolFunkMan]

 

To that effect, Project Origin is being renamed to F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.

 

Pc.Ign.com

 

Oh. Fuck. Yes! A win for the developers for a change!

 

And also....

 

 

I can't wait! Although I hope it's true to the DX name, and doesn't end up being like Deus Ex: IW. *Shudders*

[Deathjam]

Oh. Fuck. Yes! A win for the developers for a change!

 

And also....

 

 

I can't wait! Although I hope it's true to the DX name, and doesn't end up being like Deus Ex: IW. *Shudders*

 

omg omg omg I loveed the first one. Played through it so many times and..well I guess most have the same feelings about it. Could not even bear to watch my friend show me the sequel. A game that had been raped and left to rot.

[Domstercool]

Woo! Crysis Warhead has been getting some smashing reviews

 

9/10 Eurogamer and 9.4 ign

[Dante]

Pre GlaDOS Aperture Science. Unofficial Portal: Prelude

Release date: 10/10/2008

Platform: PC. Requirements are Steam and a copy of Portal as of now.

Recommended configuration :

# Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3000 MHz

# Display Card: DirectX 9 compatible graphics card

# Memory: 1024MB

# Free Disk Space: ~1GB

# Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista

 

Its story revolves around the pre-GlaDOS epoch, even before she was plugged in. At this time, test subjects were monitored by real Aperture Science employees, whose work was tedious, lengthy and repetitive. This is why they decided to build a great artificial intelligence that could both replace them in these difficult tasks, and also take responsibility for many other tasks within the complex and compete with Black Mesa’s superiority. All employees of the Aperture Science complex are now eagerly awaiting GlaDOS. Maybe even a little too eagerly, as the upcoming events will tell… This game is totally free and set to be released somewhere around the end of the month. It offers a bit more gameplay hours than the original Portal, with 8 chapters, 48 challenges, 6 advanced maps, a brand new storyline and more than 400 lines of speech with english and french subtitles.

 

Official trailer on Vimeo

Mod homepage

Screenshots

[Gizmo]

Gonna make my friend let me borrow his Steam account for this. Always have regretted buying OB on 360 due to the whole thing of Portal mods, but this one sounds epic.

[CoolFunkMan]

omg omg omg I loveed the first one. Played through it so many times and..well I guess most have the same feelings about it. Could not even bear to watch my friend show me the sequel. A game that had been raped and left to rot.

 

Indeed. The original Deus Ex was incredible, and it's a shame that Invisible War was rubbish. If IW was a stand-alone game, and not a DX sequel, then it would have been alright tbh. Fortunately, Harvey Smith, the director of DX: IW has admitted in a recent interview that it was somewhat lacking. The reasons behind it pretty much explain everything. Here's a video of it...

 

 

Also I got the latest subscriber issue of PC Gamer today, here's a rundown of the review scores...

 

Far Cry 2, 94%

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, 88%

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, 85%

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, 81%

Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, 80%

Civilization 4: Colonization, 79%

Emergencey 4, 79%

Silverfall: Earth Awakening, 76%

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, 72%

Crysis Warhead, 60% (which is odd, as other critics seem to like it a lot...)

Beijing 2008, 48%

Simon the Sorcerer 4: Chaos Happens, 20%

 

 

There's also previews of...

 

Empire Total War

Rage

ArmA 2

Borderlands

Star Trek Online

Dragon Age Origins

GTA IV

 

So yeah, it's a pretty good issue.

[McPhee]

Just been reading up on this "Enhanced Edition" for The Witcher. Sounds pretty good It's solved a lot of the problems with the game (high load times, crashing, etc.) and added a host of new features. The best part? It's a free download if you already have the game!

 

Getting the extra content now. I can FINALLY play this game (it crashed after the first hour when i first got it, and i never bothered to follow the patches for the game)/

[The fish]

Damn it, why do FarCry 2 and Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway have to be released just after I go to Uni!

 

Those scores that Coolfunkman posted just sold 'em to me!

[Deathjam]

Heh. Seems like I built my computer at the right time. Bioshock is glorious. Can't decide whether to get COD4 on PS3 or PC. And then the same goes for Far Cry 2. AH and I have to get red alert 3. And the witcher....my head hurts. Serious game overload.

[Apple_NdiB]

Nice suprise when I logged into Steam this morning, some of the Source mods have been made free to everyone who purchased a Source product, has anyone tried any of them out yet?

[Cube]

Nice suprise when I logged into Steam this morning, some of the Source mods have been made free to everyone who purchased a Source product, has anyone tried any of them out yet?

 

Haven't they always been free? It's just that they're now available directly from Steam.

[Apple_NdiB]

Haven't they always been free? It's just that they're now available directly from Steam.

 

You're probably right, though I can remember trying to download Insurgency before and I think they were asking for some money for it (it may have just been an optional contribution). Plus, Zombie Panic looks like a good way to tap into the hype surrounding L4D, I know I'm going to download it.

[CoolFunkMan]

Two new Duke Nukem Forever screenshots. 100% real and 100% ingame...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*implodes*

[Mundi]

This is the greatest moment of my life.

[Shino]

Raw awesomeness and bad assery. Only Duke can achieve both with perfection.

[CoolFunkMan]

Okay, so here's the new Deus Ex 3 info and scans...

 

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=198546&site=cvg

 

The first details on Eidos Montreal's Deus Ex 3 have been revealed, in the pages of PC Zone's landmark 200th issue.

 

It's out in the shops on Thursday, but PC Zone subscribers are reporting that copies of PCZ number 200 have hit doormats this morning. The cover game? Deus Ex 3 - the long-awaited return of the world's favourite nano-augmented RPG-shooter.

 

In essence, it looks and sounds fantastic. The art direction is a beautiful meld of the renaissance and cyberpunk (tying into the game's Leonardo Da Vinci motif) and is going for a lot more stylised look than the sort of game that comes from the Unreal Engine cookie-cutter.

 

It sounds like Eidos Montreal isn't leaving anything to chance; a "powerful, layered" plot is promised for the third game - which has been confirmed as a prequel set in 2027- and the dev has even drafted in the consultative talents of original writer Sheldon Pacotti, while also gaining the blessing of both Harvey Smith and Warren Spector on the project.

 

You're cast as average joe Adam Jensen, who works as a private security officer at a technology lab specialising in biomechanical augmentations, a forerunner to the sort of nanotechnology shown in the original Deus Ex. One day the path of his life is unexpectedly altered as a team of black ops commandos break into his company's HQ, and using a security plan from Jensen's own hand, a mass slaughter ensues and the conspiracy begins.

 

"Deus Ex 3's vision of the future sees holographic screens flicker atop ferries moving back and forth in front of the Shanghai skyline, now split into two layers with the rich on the top and the poor in perpetual twilight below," says PCZ.

 

Eidos Montreal says it's more than aware of fan reaction to controversial second game, Invisible War, and promises mistakes, such as limiting ammo types to just one, won't be repeated.

 

This said, they are doing their utmost to please newcomers as well as existing fans. Perhaps controversially this time around combat won't be influenced by stats, but will rely purely on your personal marksmanship skills. Instead stats will influence "a vast array of fully upgradeable and customisable weapons", and you'll be able to tailor your arsenal to your play style with mag upgrades, scopes and other add-ons.

 

What's more, stealth will now rely on a cover system rather than shadows, and damage will be dealt with by a very Call of Duty-style auto-heal. There's probably going to be some debate over those two.

 

Augmentations have been bumped up and sound fantastic. 20 have been promised for the final game, ranging from 'bungee jump' tentacles that shoot from your back and anchor to a wall when you jump off a building, and the ability to punch through walls to grab enemies in neighbouring rooms.

 

Deus Ex 3 certainly sounds very, very promising - if a little controversial for die-hard PC fans. And just wait until you see the shots...

 

For more info and the first screenshots see the full ten-page preview in the 200th issue of PC Zone, out October 9 (and in subscribers' hands now). Happy 200th issue, by the way.

 

 

Eidos Montréal's community manager for Deus Ex 3 fired off a few clarifications about the C&VG story:

 

Deus Ex 3 is indeed an RPG. It's a hybrid action/RPG just like the first game. There is a skill system where you upgrade your character (Adam) based off experience points you earn and you can do the same thing with weapons. It's a game with a very detailed plot with numerous characters you interact with. The gameplay takes the form of a consequence-driven multi-path, multi-solution approach in a non-linear space.

 

For stealth, that is another major pillar of gameplay and we do have it. The difference is that it's now cover-based rather than "shadow/light-based" as in the past games.

 

AWESOME!!

[Gizmo]

Is it a good idea to preorder Left4Dead on Steam? I've never bought something from Steam before, always got a disc version for any Valve games I've bought (just purely by coincidence), but I thought I may aswell just get L4D from the service.

[gmac]

well before the Dollar started recovering I think it worked out cheaper buying from Steam

 

I bought HL2 and the Orange box direct and had no problems

[CoolFunkMan]

Well, I've bought games off Steam ever since HL2: Episode 1 came out, and had no problems. However, gmac is right, Steam isn't cheap atm. Left 4 Dead cost me £30 when I pre-ordered off it. So if you want the cheaper option, then Steam isn't the best choice atm.

 

Although the advantage with getting the Steam version is that it's released slightly earlier than the European retail release, plus there's an early access to the demo exclusive to anyone who's pre-ordered it off Steam.

 

So it's a choice of having the cheaper option, or getting it slightly earlier instead...

[McPhee]

I got the Orange Box for £20 on release day. I'm always suprised at how expensive Steam is tbh, i thought DD was supposed to make games cheaper due to lower costs?

[Cube]

After messing around with the graphical options in Dead Space, I discovered that games can actually look good on my PC when I lower the resolution a lot (i.e. about the same as an SDTV). Dead Space wowed me a lot and ran very smoothly once I lowered the resolution and turned a load of effects on (my PC is just below the minimum specs).

 

(It looked even better in motion)

 

 

Anyway, I completed it tonight and it's an extremely awesome game.

[Shino]

What's your screen native resolution? Having a 1680x1050 screen really doesn't help my pc's performance...