Darksiders II – Behind the Mask: Death Rises

THQ have released a new developer diary for Vigil Games’ Darksiders II, focusing on Death..

The story in Darksiders II runs alongside that of Darksiders, with War having been convicted and sent to Earth by the Charred Council.  The remaining three Horsemen are informed of this, but believe War to have been set up.  Death sets out to prove War’s innocence.. with a much larger game world filled with quests, loot, and powerful enemies to defeat.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnjqzZBlttE]

In the developer diary, the Vigil team talk about the differences between War and Death, Death’s fighting abilities and the types of weapons he can use.. with a brief mention of the improved depth to the world players will experience in Darksiders II.

Darksiders II is planned for release in June for the PC, PS3 and 360, with a Wii U version planned for the launch of that system later in 2012.

Magicka: The Other Side of the Coin

Paradox Interactive have also announced an expansion to Magicka, entitled Magicka: The Other Side of the Coin.

In this expansion, players take on the roles of Alucart the Vampire and his Necromancers, fighting against the forces of good, and opposing Vlad’s attempts to improve the poor relations between humans, dwarves and elves.

The expansion will add a new Elven environment to the game, along with a new Challenge map, playing as Necromancers, along with custom objectives and achievements.

A Game of Dwarves

Paradox Interactive have just announced that they are to publish A Game of Dwarves, a strategy game by Zeal Game Studios for PC and PS3.

A dwarven prince is on a quest to reclaim his people’s country, travelling across a continent and unearthing the buried mysteries of the Great War.

The gameplay consists of exploration, building and controlling various dwarven settlements in order to strengthen your clan.  Each level starts with a new, uniquely-generated world which you must explore and build your settlement in, with the building options allowing some freedom to design great-looking as well as practical homes for your dwarves.

The dwarves themselves level up as you progress, gaining new skills and becoming stronger warriors or master craftsmen.

As you dig deeper in search of the resources you’ll need to improve your buildings and equipment, you’ll also need to be prepared to defend your settlement from the enemies lurking in the depths..

Dear Esther – First Trailer

Dear Esther is the reimagining of an interactive ghost-story by the same name, originally created using the Source engine and released as a mod for Half Life 2, by Dan Pinchbeck and The Chinese Room, a development research project at the University of Portsmouth, UK.

With an overhaul of the graphics and level design from Robert Briscoe, a professional game artist, the project became so much more than a simple mod, and then with the support of Valve the team were granted a license to turn Dear Esther into a completely independent release.  The Indie Fund have also helped by providing investment funding for the project.

The first trailer for the game shows off some of the beautiful environments on the island:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7VJ4lP-05A]

Dear Esther is planned for release on Steam on the 14th Feb 2012.

Star Trek Online goes F2P For All

Cryptic Studios‘ MMO RPG Star Trek Online goes free-to-play for all today, following two weeks of free play for previous customers of the game.

Star Trek Online was originally released in February 2010, with updates being added at regular intervals throughout 2010 and 2011.  The game originally launched with two payment options: the usual monthly subscription, and a Lifetime subscription, which waived the monthly fee.  Additional content was also made available through microtransactions using Cryptic Points or the C-Store.

Existing subscribers become Gold Players, with the same access to the game as they have had up until now, while free, or Silver players will be able to explore the Star Trek universe as the captain of their own ship, but with a few restrictions compared to Gold members.  They will also have access to additional content via the C-Store or through Cryptic Points, the in-game and web-based virtual goods store.

Man vs. Machine

Man vs. Machine is a browser-based FPS game intended to be playable for just one day as part of a world-record attempt / demonstration of Unity and load-balancing server technology PikkoServer from Swedish non-profit organisation MuchDifferent.

The World Record attempt will be made on 29th Jan, 2012.  On that day, players pick their team: Gamers (Man) or Developers (Machines), and then play.  Man is equipped with an explosive projectile dealing splash damage, whilst Machine uses piercing, precision lasers to deal damage to single targets.

Man vs. Machine will be limited to 1000 players concurrently, with slots only becoming available if players leave the game.

More information, including technical aspects of the game, is available here.

THQ Denies Problems

THQ have denied there are any plans to cancel the 2014 line-up, and they say no decision has been made as yet in regards to the Warhammer 40,000 MMO, Dark Millennium Online.

A statement was given to VG247 from THQ’s Australian PR arm, denying these rumours and citing the great performance of Saints Row: The Third, which was one of the best-selling games of 2011.

Rumour: THQ in Trouble?

There have been a number of tweets going around today noting that THQ are apparently offering themselves up for sale, have cancelled work on all their 2014 line up (including the Warhammer 40k MMO, Dark Millennium Online) as well as having returned IP to Disney.

THQ’s share price has falled to $0.65, the lowest it’s been all year, with a total market value just under $50 million.

UFC: Undisputed 3, Darksiders II, Metro: Last Light, South Park: The Game and WWE Brawl are scheduled for 2012, with inSANE and Devil’s Third scheduled for 2013.

Gabe, Knives.. and a Half Life 3 Logo

This image of Gabe and his knives appeared on Reddit:

Valve have previously shut down rumours about a Half Life 3 release announcement via a secret message in the Portal 2 video at the VGAs, and said that the community is “trolling itself”, but they haven’t actually denied working on the game or the long-awaited Half Life 2: Episode 3.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City – Multiplayer Gameplay!

Slant Six Games and Capcom have released the first multiplayer gameplay video for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B–_y6PhT0]

Multiplayer modes shown in the video include the usual Team Deathmatch, as well as Biohazard mode, where players must ensure samples of the G-virus are returned to their base, a Survivors mode, where you must survive until the rescue helicopter arrives, and finally a Heroes mode, where you must fight as and defend iconic Resident Evil characters such as Leon S. Kennedy, Hunk or Jill Valentine!