Most Recent: PC

Portal 2 Authoring Tools step into open beta

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

If you ever daydreamed of creating your own Portal 2 levels, now’s your chance. Valve has released the same tools they used to create the game, and they’re available in the Tools tab in Steam. The tools allow you to pretty much create anything you want, from maps for single player and co-op, to making your own character skins, 3D models, sound effects, and music. All you self-conscious creators shouldn’t be intimidated, either, as Valve has included example maps and instances to help you get started. The Authoring Tools are still in beta, so be sure to leave feedback for the devs.

As there’s only so many ways to overcome the group of challenges in Portal 2’s single player and co-op, this is sure to go a long way towards lengthening the lifespan of your game. Be sure to check out our review of Portal 2 as well as an exclusive Warp Zoned interview with the game’s writer, Erik Wolpaw.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

A few more Hitman: Absolution details

Posted on May 10, 2011 by John Scalzo

After releasing a teaser trailer this morning, Square Enix has revealed a little bit more about Hitman: Absolution this afternoon.

Scheduled for release in 2012 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, Hitman: Absolution that developer IO Interactive is calling a “familiar and yet significantly different experience from other Hitman games.” The game will be powered by the all-new Glacier 2 engine, which is an enhanced version of the company’s proprietary engine last seen in Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days. We’ve also learned a few storyline details:

Hitman: Absolution follows Agent 47, a cold-blooded assassin, who takes on his most dangerous contract to date. Betrayed by those he once trusted — and now hunted by the police — he suddenly finds himself at the center of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world.

Hitman: Absolution will make its worldwide debut at this year’s E3 Expo, which will be held from June 7-9.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Crysis 2 Retaliation Map Pack coming May 17

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Crysis 2 was far from perfect, but you can’t deny that it had a strong multiplayer component. Well, that component will be getting a little stronger come May 17 when the Retaliation Map Pack drops for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 (hopefully). It’ll cost you $9.99 and come with four new maps: Park Avenue, Transit, Shipyard, and Compound. While most of the footage above contains the awkward character animations reminiscent of Halo (which is probably why Bungie always used live action to hype up their games), the first-person gameplay looks glorious as ever.

I might actually have to grab this when the PlayStation Network gets back up.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Remedy reveals more Alan Wake

Posted on May 10, 2011 by John Scalzo

Remedy’s Head of Franchise Development, Oskari Hakkinen, has reached out to Joystiq to confirm that a new Alan Wake mystery project is in the works.

Hakkinen was encouraged to send the confirmation due to a Joystiq report that “Alan Wake 2” had appeared on the resume of an artist who claimed to work on the title. The “2” part in the title appears to be a mistake, but Remedy also revealed that the new project is not DLC for the original Alan Wake:

Fans of the franchise will be excited to learn that yes, more Wake is coming! But to be absolutely certain to avoid confusion, this next Wake installment will not be Alan Wake 2. But neither will it be DLC. The rest we’re saving for our official announcement when we’ll actually SHOW YOU.

So it’s not a sequel and it’s not DLC. So it’s either a sidestory (in the same way that Capcom doesn’t consider Resident Evil: Code Veronica a sequel to Resident Evil 3: Nemesis) or it’s a new edition of Alan Wake that contains new content (and I would guess the previously released DLC as well).

There’s no details on when it’ll be officially announced, but Remedy did say the game has a tentative release date of Fall 2011. Hakkinen also said that “platforms” (that’s plural, with an “S”) for the game would be announced soon. So it sounds like Alan Wake may finally be lighting up the desktops of PC gamers this Fall as well.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Activision: No Diablo III in 2011, Call of Duty 8 will be awesome

Posted on May 10, 2011 by John Scalzo

Activision held their quarter financial call yesterday and laid out a few more details about their 2011 slate of games. The company’s executives stressed that any real information about these titles would have to wait for E3, they did reveal a few juicy tidbits of information.

First off, it looks like it’s unlikely that a new Blizzard game will be released in 2011. That means no Diablo III and definitely no StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Instead, the publisher’s COO, Thomas Tippl, said to expect both games in 2012: “[O]ur outlook at this time does not include a new game from Blizzard in 2011. Should Blizzard not release a major title this year, we would expect, for planning purposes, to launch a minimum of 2 Blizzard titles in 2012.”

Mike Morhaime, the CEO of Blizzard, was a tad more optimistic, saying the team wants to release Diablo III in 2011, but that they’re not ready to confirm an official release date yet: “The development team is working hard to try and launch Diablo III this year. But I want to be clear that we do not have an official release date or window yet. As always, we will not compromise the quality of the game in order to hit a window.”

While a 2011 release date is still a question mark, A Diablo III beta is being planned for the Summer.

One Activision title that does have a confirmed 2011 release date is the currently unannounced Call of Duty 8. The publisher still hasn’t shared any new information about the next entry in the mega-selling series, but Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, is pretty convinced it’ll be awesome: “By any measure, Call of Duty is one of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world and we expect this year’s game will set a new standard for this incredible franchise. The creative excellence and sheer scale of the game we are making and the unprecedented online universe that will accompany it will reset the bar for this genre, giving players a new level of immersion, connectivity, community and of course epic action. The game today has exceeded every internal milestone and we look forward to sharing this with you soon.”

Hirshberg also confirmed that a new James Bond game is in the works for 2011. But again, it looks like we’ll have to wait until E3 to learn more about it (and all of these titles).

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , ,

Brink launch trailer is full of wall jumping

Posted on May 9, 2011 by John Scalzo

The continuing PlayStation Network outage means that Brink‘s multiplayer portions will be closed off to PS3 players, but that hasn’t stopped Bethesda from releasing an amazing launch trailer that shows off the game’s wild wall running and gorgeous gunplay.

Brink will be available in stores tomorrow for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Hydrophobia Prophecy out on Steam today with a flood of new features

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

The PlayStation Network version won’t be coming for some time due to obvious reasons, but Dark Energy Digital is proud to announce that the latest iteration of their water-obsessed odyssey, Hydrophobia Prophecy, is now available on Steam. Revealed back in April, this version is an absolute tidal wave of new content, including “upgraded graphics, brand new gameplay mechanics, exclusive new levels, a reworked back story, a dramatic new ending, recast voice acting and much, much more.” Also included is Darknet, an upgraded version of their Listening Post, which allows you to give direct feedback during any part of the game.

Dark Energy Digital has taken serious strides to augment the original Hydrophobia since it was released to mixed reviews. We at Warp Zoned wish them nothing but success with this overflowing vessel of content.

Posted in News, PC, PS3 | Tagged

Saints Row 3 character creator announced

Posted on May 7, 2011 by John Scalzo

Ninja? Pirate? Ninja-pirate? Naked ninja-pirate? The choice is yours…

First off, that’s the greatest opening to a press release in… well, pretty much ever. Secondly, ninjas and pirates are almost totally identified by what they wear, so there can never be a “naked ninja-pirate.” Although, I suppose if anyone could pull it off, Johnny Depp could.

All this talk of pirates and ninjas is because THQ has revealed the Saints Row Initiation Station, a standalone character creator that’ll be made available for free ahead of Saints Row: The Third‘s holiday release. But pirates and ninjas running around Steelport will seem relatively normal next to some of the other character ideas THQ has suggested:

  • Your favorite train wreck celebrity-turned reality TV star
  • Your least favorite overpaid prima donna professional athlete
  • A cape-wearing superhero (or villain)
  • Cowboys and Indians
  • A Dominatrix and her sex slave
  • Tag-team wrestling partners with sordid pasts

Players will be able to use the Initiation Station to create as many characters as they can come up with. These characters can then be uploaded and shared with all your closest friends. You can even download someone else’s character and change it to suit your own twisted imagination.

Oh yeah, Saints Row 3 is going to awesome. Or at least awesomely bizarre.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged