Completely optional and voluntary network testing program runs today through March 27; open to US residents only; zero-point achievements, Avatar items gifted for participating.
In the past year, Microsoft’s online platform–Xbox Live–has hiked its price and accrued more than 30 million users. Now, the tech giant is rolling out a testing program aimed at bettering its online experience.
Microsoft’s director of Xbox Live Programming Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, has announced via his blog that US Xbox Live subscribers can participate in a service testing program called Xbox Live Labs beginning today.
The program–which runs through March 27–is aimed at improving Xbox Live through a range of “network tests” from the Xbox 360 to Xbox Live. According to Hryb, “These results are recorded solely for the purpose of testing and improving the service and will not be used to identify you.”
To sign up for Xbox Live Labs, gamers will need to sign into Xbox Live, navigate to the community channel, and select the Xbox Live Labs icon. According to Microsoft, when the program is running, gamers will not be able to play games, download music, or watch movies, and Internet connectivity will be slower than usual.
Those who do choose to participate will score free goodies for their willingness. Microsoft will gift each participating gamer a zero-point achievement and one of three Avatar items: a lab coat, brain helmet, or crazy mad scientist hair.
We lay siege to a haunted house during our hands-on cooperative session with Dungeon Siege III.
When we last visited the world of Dungeon Siege III, we helped young Lucas Mont Barron escape the burning Mont Barron estate, adventured through the countryside, and rescued a supposed Archon, Anjali, from some cultists. Now, we’re back in developer Obsidian Entertainment’s action role-playing world.
However, this time Lucas and Anjali are teaming up for some cooperative gameplay as we go hands-on to investigate the spooky Gunderic Manor.
Once again, we stepped into the young adventurer’s shoes. Adept with a sword and shield, Lucas is a strong melee fighter who excels at powerful blows against single targets.
Our co-op companion was Anjali, a fiery mage with some crowd-control abilities. Our mission was to help Leona, a witch looking to set up shop in the dilapidated Gunderic Manor. We agreed to investigate the manor for her and clear out any malcontents (or homeless people) we found within it.
The quest started out easily enough. The manor seemed to be deserted until we encountered Alise Gunderic, one of the manor’s former inhabitants. Specifically, we encountered the ghost of Alise Gunderic, who pleaded with us to destroy the Heart of Nagog.
According to her, this item was the one thing binding her soul to the mortal realm. Having only just met her, we decided to trust her completely and agreed to help without another word.
All of the gargoyles and skeletons outside must have overheard our conversation because after we exited the room, they all sprang to life and attacked. What a mistake on their part.
It didn’t take us long to fall back into the easy rhythm of Dungeon Siege III’s combat. Our role was simple: Get in front of the enemies and dish out as much hurt as possible.
What happens when you mix mech combat, strategy defense, and an off-kilter sense of humor? Double Fine’s latest game, that’s what.
If there’s been one immediate benefit to Double Fine’s recent shift toward downloadable games, it’s been the developer’s newfound freedom to toy around with lots of different genres. Costume Quest showed what the studio could do with a turn-based role-playing game, while Stacking followed that up with something that offered more traditional adventure-game leanings. And now we have Double Fine’s latest downloadable offering: Trenched. Revealed last week, Trenched is a hybrid between tower-defense strategy and third-person mech warfare. Having had the chance to check out Trenched last night, we came away impressed with just how well this game hit the sweet spot between blowing stuff up and cerebral tactics.
It’s apparent from the outset that Trenched revels in the same offbeat humor for which Double Fine is now known. The game is set in a fever dream vision of the years following World War I, a time when dough boy-piloted mech suits do battle with robotic alien beasts powered by the brainwashing powers of television…if television were invented by an evil villain years before it’s time.
The game’s presentation is thoroughly inspired by the tough-guy men’s magazines of the early 20th century, giving everything an over-the-top look and feel awash in machismo. It’s there in the way you see your commanding officer defiantly waving an American flag as his legs are crushed by a tank in the opening cutscene; it’s also there in the way you see yourself light a cigar using a handgun when celebrating a victory.
But in true Double Fine style, it’s all done with a wink and a nod, never taking itself too seriously.
Snowblind Studios explores the previously unseen northern battles of Middle-earth in this action role-playing game.
We’ve seen games individually based on the Lord of the Rings films and books, but we haven’t seen a game that encompassed nearly all major media birthed from Tolkien’s fantasy universe until now.
Warner Bros. and Snowblind Studios have license to use both the films and the books in their upcoming action role-playing game Lord of the Rings: War in the North. While this ostensibly lets the development team at Snowblind borrow visual elements from the films and stay closer to the lore of the books, their relationship with the fantasy universe created by Tolkien even goes deeper. The Tolkien estate is working in conjunction with the development team on the new story, overseeing details to ensure that it fits in within the rest of the Lord of the Rings canon.
War in the North occurs around the same time as the War of the Ring in which Frodo and Sam make their way to Mordor as the rest of Middle-earth fends off Sauron. And much like that story, War in the North focuses on the fellowship of a dunedain (ranger), dwarf, and elf attempting to fend off Sauron’s armies in the north headed by one of Sauron’s top lieutenants, Agandaur. Using this fellowship as the foundation for gameplay means that you’re never alone.
You always have direct control over one member of the fellowship whether you’re playing alone or with two other people. But if you are playing solo, then the AI will take over the other members. Additionally, if you’re playing as the dwarf but feel like switching to the ranger, you’ll have opportunities to switch at various hub areas.
The reason you might want to switch, and the reason why you’re always playing with two other characters at any given time, is that members of the team have their own strengths and skills that are designed to work more effectively when used in conjunction with each other. For example, Farin the dwarf is the tank of the group, which means he’s most effective when engaged in melee combat. In fact, one of his special abilities, called war cry, is even designed to draw enemies toward him and away from his teammates who might have a harder time standing toe-to-toe with more powerful foes.
This war cry skill also makes him impervious to knockdown strikes, but he can still take damage, and you would do well to use evasive moves while in this state. Meanwhile, Eradan the ranger is formidable at both close and long range, but he has the ability to surprise enemies with his special stealth skills. Finally, Andriel the elf can be used primarily as a support-ranged character because one of her skills lets her cast an orb that simultaneously heals other members of the fellowship and deflects enemy projectiles.
However, she can also dual-wield various weapons, which can make her effective in close combat.
Eidos Montreal reveals release date for long-awaited cyberpunk action-RPG; UK release set for August 26.
The traditional press release may want to watch its back, as more and more companies are using Twitter to make major announcements. The latest example comes from Eidos Montreal, which today used the microblogging service to reveal the release date for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Square Enix’s long-in-development action role-playing game will arrive on the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on August 23 in North America and August 26 in the UK.
Deus Ex will be available in two versions: The regular $60 edition and a $70 Augmented Edition. The latter will include premium packaging for the game, a 40-page art book, a DVD with behind-the-scenes features, and a motion graphic novel included on a bonus disc. Players who preorder from specialty retailer GameStop will get a new mission–complete with a cameo from original Deus Ex protagonist JC Denton–as well as in-game assists in the form of a grenade launcher, explosives, and an automatic lock pick.
Developer Eidos Montreal has said it wants to stay true to the spirit of the original Deus Ex, allowing players to choose their own approach to each level. Depending on the augmentations players choose, they can go through each part of the game with a focus on combat, stealth, hacking, or even social interactions. For more on the game, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.
We go hands-on with the exiled prince himself, Sebastian Vael, in Dragon Age II’s upcoming DLC pack.
Dragon Age II is almost upon us, along with the game’s first downloadable content pack: The Exiled Prince. It’s no secret that some fans were less than thrilled with the implementation of the previous Dragon Age’s DLC.
This time developer BioWare has tried to craft a content pack catered to their desires by extending the game’s storyline and not deviating from the main party.
On the eve of Dragon Age II’s release, we got the chance to try out this upcoming content pack and put the noble Sebastian Vael through his paces.
“All of the quests in The Exiled Prince revolve around a coup that you learn took place in the city of Starkhaven, elsewhere in the Free Marches,” explained Ferret Baudoin, lead designer for The Exiled Prince. “During the coup, all of Starkhaven’s ruling family was killed in a bloody massacre, except one: Sebastian Vael. Sebastian was third in line for the throne of Starkhaven, always overshadowed by his elder brothers.
So he led a life of excess–wine, women, and song. In the process, he became a headache for his father, who decided that Sebastian would do better with a life of religious contemplation in Kirkwall.”
;){kind=logo}
