Gaming News Archives

It's been a long time since we've heard this name. And yet now that the franchise has been revived, we'd like to let you know that it has absolutely nothing to do with the 1993 Amiga/PC classic. Oh sure it borrows the setting, but that's it.

And as you probably all know, it's not a strategy game, but a first-person shooter with multiplayer co-op. So, is it any good?

This game forces you to shoot, run, duck and find cover fast. Enemy AI is bloody relentless. You peek around a corner and you'll probably end up dead in two seconds unless you seek out a better position. That's why it's important to fire like crazy the moment enemy soldiers are in your sights, because they are shielded and won't go down easy. Some foes are even tougher. You'll have to penetrate several layers of shield before you cause any actual damage to their health. The fact that enemies are a bit tougher than you'd expect can only be described as an advantage in this game. It increases the challenge and forces you to think quickly, while finding the best spot to counter foes that often attack in waves.

Read our review of Syndicate.

Time for some live action and it's all about Mass Effect 3:

Mass Effect 3 will arrive on March 6, finally bringing an end to the ocean of ridiculous pre-launch media which we're all drowning in right now.

Did I write that or just think it?

Well, as you may or may not know there are several Mech-themed games currently on the way. One of them is Hawken, which is in development at Adhesive Games (these guys right here) and I must say it does show tremendous promise. It appears I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Meteor Entertainment, the publisher of Hawken, received 10 million bucks for the project (from the same folks who funded League of Legends):

Meteor Entertainment has raised $10 million in a bid to launch a downloadable online game called Hawken. Aimed at hardcore gamers who battle each other online, Hawken is a fast-action shooting game where players can equip themselves with giant armored mech robotic suits and pummel each other in the ruined cities of a toxic planet.

The large amount of funding for a studio that has only one unpublished game in the works is a big bet, but one that the backers are making with a great deal of confidence. The investors include Benchmark Capital and FirstMark Capital, the same investors who backed the highly successful Riot Games, maker of League of Legends, a downloadable web game that was so popular that China's Tencent bought Riot for more than $400 million last year. At the time, Riot had just a million users, but the company was valuable because of its fast growth - it has more than 35 million downloads now and four million to five million daily active users - and the hardcore gamers were willing to spend real money for virtual goods in the free-to-play title. The investors call the sector the "core free-to-play market."

Check out gameplay footage from Hawken and the screenshots here.

Contrary to the traditional news stories releated strictly to the weekly UK top-selling games, I thought it would be a good idea to include the Steam best-sellers as well.

So, in the United Kingdom, the PS Vita title Uncharted: Golden Abyss has outsold every other game on the market, it seems. Check it out (the chart covers the best-selling games for the week ending on Feb. 25):

1. Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Sony
2. FIFA Football - EA
3. UFC Undisputed 3 - THQ
4. FIFA 12 - EA
5. Rayman Origins - Ubisoft
6. Mario & Sonic London 2012 Olympic Games - Sega
7. Syndicate - EA
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Activision
9. Battlefield 3 - EA
10. Final Fantasy XII-2 - Square Enix
11. WipEout 2048 - Sony
12. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Bethesda
13. Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure - Activison
14. Just Dance 3 - Ubisoft
15. The Last Story - Square Enix
16. Zumba Fitness - 505 Games
17. Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition - Bethesda
18. The Darkness II - 2K Games
19. Rage - Bethesda
20. Saints Row: The Third - THQ

As for Steam, well here's the weekly top 10:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
2. Wargame: European Escalation
3. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
4. Alan Wake
5. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
6. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
7. Serious Sam 3: BFE
8. Cities XL 2012
9. Crusader Kings II
10. Dear Esther

Feel nicer than usual thanks to this song. It's an album I've had for a long time and I still like to listen to it every now and then.

Performed by the Balanescu Quartet.
Original song 'Computer Love' by Kraftwerk.
Melody also used in Coldplay's popular song 'Let's Talk'.

Hm, actually, I think I may have picked the wrong crowd for this. Perhaps I should've posted some fucked up dead metal track instead, and I would've have got 'thumps up' all around.

Nah, fuck it! The morning never looked lovelier. It's quite possible you'll like this song. If not, you're a prat! And I hope termites skillfully invade your huge penis with very small testicles.

p.s. I just realized you probably might misinterpret the last sentence and think that I'd like to see termites invade your huge penis armed with their small testicles. That's not what I wanted to say originally, but it works too I guess.

Vader out