Game of Thrones: Beyond the Wall DLC Announced

Today, new downloadable content was announced for the video game adaptation of Game of Thrones. The DLC, titled Beyond the Wall, adds an additional two hours of play according to the issued press release.

Beyond the Wall explores the past of Mors Westfold and his early experiences with the Night's Watch. Players will travel, as you might expect, beyond the Wall and into Wildling territory, uncovering the origin story of Mors.

Game of Thrones: Beyond the Wall is currently available for PC and Xbox 360. The PlayStation 3 version will be launched on the PlayStation Network "in the weeks to come."

Ryan Clements writes for IGN. He's almost finished with the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Follow him on Twitter at @PwamCider.

Source : ign[dot]com

Battlefield 3: Aftermath Release Date Announced

EA has announced release dates for Battlefield 3’s Aftermath downloadable content. Battlefield 3 Premium members on PlayStation 3 can get Aftermath on November 27th, while Premium Xbox 360 and PC players can get it on December 4th. Non-premium players on PlayStation 3 can get Aftermath on December 11th, and non-Premium Xbox 360 and PC players will round out the schedule on December 18th.

As with all Battlefield 3 content, Aftermath will cost $14.99 (1200 Microsoft Points) and will be free to Battlefield Premium members. Aftermath is the fourth of five packs for Battlefield 3, coming ahead of End Game, which will be released in March 2013.

Separately, EA announced today that in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of Battlefield and the milestone of Premium passing 2 million members, it will offer Battlefield 1942 as a free download. Players can get 1942 on Origin’s official site, which notes that it will require an Origin account and will expire on March 1, 2013.

EA also revealed some interesting stats for Battlefield 3, noting that since its launch in 2011, players have passed 95 billion total heals and four billion total revives, destroyed three billion vehicles and fired two trillion bullets. "[Premium] has been an ambitious way to give our fans fresh, high-quality content at a great value," said DICE vice president and general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson. " This achievement is helping us define the new standard by which all other shooters deliver content and exclusive bonuses to their player communities."

For more on Aftermath, check out the details DICE revealed in July. For any other Battlefield 3 needs, look no further than our Battlefield 3 wiki guide.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Dark Souls' Miyazaki Talks Artorias of the Abyss

[Note: This is an interview with Dark Souls' director Hidetaka Miyazaki about the recently-released DLC content, and contains plot spoilers. Why haven't you played it yet?]

Dark Souls is an all-time masterpiece hall-of-famer, and one that's met with enough success to warrant an extension. The 'Artorias of the Abyss' DLC, now available on all platforms, adds a series of substantial linked areas, plus some superb new bosses and equipment – and also manages that Miyazaki trick of filling in blanks while suggesting a few new ones. The DLC is set in Dark Souls' past, in a kingdom called Oolacile beset by the Abyss, all accessed through the minor detail of a pendant.

“Oolacile is a kingdom of sorcery that had been ruined when the original story unfolded,” explains Miyazaki. “The additional content is set about a hundred years before Oolacile was ruined. In this kingdom, the sorceries are peculiar light spells that are different from the common ones in the original story.” Oolacile spells from the original game tended to be non-offensive and even charming magic – producing light, hiding things, disguising yourself. Tricks.

But in this Oolacile you find ridiculously strong dark magic and pyromancies. Sorceries designed to kill in direct, high-damage ways. “As one of the main themes of Dark Souls is 'fire and dark', these light spells also include darkness that occurred from the gap between them,” says Miyazaki. “The darkness leads to the Abyss, which is a keyword this time.”

The Abyss is your ultimate destination, but before that comes Knight Artorias the Abysswalker – a name that resonates throughout the original game's story. The DLC ties up the Artorias thread neatly, but introduces some seemingly contradictory details about his past. Or perhaps we're taking too much at face value.

“

As one of the main themes of Dark Souls is 'fire and dark', these light spells also include darkness that occurred from the gap between them.

“There is not a contradiction,” says Miyazaki. “The lore of Artorias that prevailed in the original story is very old, so that it is uncertain.” Things we thought we knew may be false? Argh Hidetaka, don't do this to me! “Hence by experiencing the story of the additional content there's a partial view of new facts, and the newly unveiled lore will show players another dimension. I suppose this is what lore is like and why it is attractive.”

Amen to that. After Artorias the DLC's final stretch goes to the bottom of the Abyss, where its father Manus dwells. This boss isn't just one of the best fights in the entire Souls series, but carries many answers about the nature of the Dark Soul itself – as well as being, at bottom, a human who goes crazy over a pendant. Sound familiar?

When Dark Souls first came out, an answer Miyazaki gave in a Famitsu interview said he'd choose either nothing or a pendant for his starting gift in Dark Souls. The pendant, which has no in-game function, became a focal point for the wilder elements of the community, and the centre of every conspiracy theory going.

I ask Miyazaki whether Manus is a little dig at the series' more obsessive players. “That is a very interesting consideration,” says the devilish fox. “But I suppose I did not include the meaning.” And as for the original pendant speculation, brace yourselves Dark Soulers for Miyazaki's final word: “When it comes to the pendant, I actually had a little bit of an intention to play a prank.”

On that bombshell, perhaps it's time to move onto practical matters. The DLC adds several new weapons acquired in typical Souls fashion, such as the pimpin' sweet tracer set that can be acquired by killing the grieving lover of a guy you also killed. “It is hard to pick up one weapon for players to see but the tracers you point out are good ones I would like them to check,” says Miyazaki. “Since we did all the basic weapons in Dark Souls, these additional ones may look different. Most have a specific image of the user in them, so they tend to be peculiar according to that. I suppose the tracers strongly reflect an image of a particular user – they look like a rare set of weapons, both of which are different in the way they are handled.”

“

It was at the latter development stage of Demons Souls when I began to think that I would like to try creating a huge connected map, so it was not planned to be adopted for Demons Souls.

There's only one thing you can say to that: gnomic. I asked Miyazaki about some more specific ongoing aspects of Dark Souls play, such as the Gravelord covenant – is it true players can only see the black phantoms in NG+ and above? “That is almost true,” Miyazaki almost answers. “In Dark Souls' design the position of enemies is fixed, so we could have intended to make the effect of Gravelord Covenant a new element seen in the second try after the game's ending. To be honest, I suppose I could have made it better.”

This leads us to the murkier waters of Dark Souls' entire online experience, a rather partial realisation of its wonderful concepts on which Miyazaki politely declines to comment. He's much happier talking about general principles than concrete information, the big ideas rather than the tiny details – like the difference in world design between the two Souls games. “It was at the latter development stage of Demons Souls when I began to think that I would like to try creating a huge connected map, so it was not planned to be adopted for Demons Souls,” he says. “But at the first development stage of Dark Souls I drew up a plan to implement the huge seamless map.”

I wonder about how fleshed-out some of the Dark Souls world is – do these names on the wind like Salaman have a specific history, did they ever even exist in some form? “Salaman is a character that has an important role, along with the witches of Izalith, in the story of pyromancy rather than in the story of Dark Souls,” says Miyazaki. “Salaman’s story was created to introduce a concept of pyromancy but, as you say, only his name appeared in the original story. His visual image has actually been created and he is one of my favourite characters. I have many favourite characters related to pyromancy as well as him.”

One of the few cheerful faces in Dark Souls is a pyromancer, Laurentius, but it's kind of interesting that there are any at all. I ask Miyazaki why he puts jolly characters in such a grim world, and with such grim endings. “As the creator of them I am very happy with your description of 'jolly characters',” Miyazaki says. “I think of serious characters like seedlings scattered over waste lands, hiding sorrow in their minds. But if I try to draw such characters, sometimes the seeds bloom unexpectedly. Having said that, I believe that some of the endings were what the characters hoped.”

“

I placed giant-sized women in the world since I am attracted by motherhood and 'huge women' as an expression of generous motherhood.

The man's a poet. We move onto Dark Souls' iconography and specifically its veneration, in a traditionally religious sense, of femininity and the associative bounty, fertility, etc. It's the main reason Gwynevere's such a good gag, I think. Then there's that strange female-only role of the Firekeeper, one that seems to be pretty crucial but is never fully explained, in a game about fire.

“I placed giant-sized women in the world since I am attracted by motherhood and 'huge women' as an expression of generous motherhood,” says Miyazaki. “Also, one of my favourite Japanese cartoons is 'Yasuragi no Yakata' written by the famous Fujiko Fujio. A huge woman appears for a little in that scary story. When it comes to firekeepers, I assume that there is a kind of illusion for women in my mind.” You ain't seen nothing yet. “Finding a reason why I am attracted by huge women would be possible but I would not like to do it so far.”

Perhaps that is it. There's always a reason for everything, it's just whether you're prepared to look – the Souls games put enormous care and attention into details that only a handful of their players will ever see or think about. I ask Miyazaki if he likes this idea or not. “I am glad if users think so,” Miyazaki says. “I would like Dark Souls to be a broad exploration game filled with so many veiled things and details. A broad map that lacks details cannot be attractive for users who want to explore it in depth. Having said that, the reason why I put a lot of care into details might be much more simple. I enjoy the process of adding elaboration into games, and like to communicate with users through the details I create.”

The success of Dark Souls suggests a new entry in the series should be cooking away in From Software's wonder factory – we can only pray. I ask if the Artorias of the Abyss DLC finishes things for Dark Souls. “We are not planning to release more additional content so far,” says the gnomic Miyazaki, gnomically.  Come on then, is the next game called Dragon's Souls or what? “This is also a very interesting thought,” says the probably uninterested Miyazaki. “But so far I can not say anything about sequels. I am sorry but it is uncertain whether I can get involved in the next sequel yet. I would also like to avoid giving confusion by saying something wrong at this stage.”

Well, you can't say fairer than that.

One does not really interview Hidetaka Miyazaki so much as temporarily observe him. The director of both Demon's and Dark Souls is that rarest of things in videogames – a creator that, like his works, remains something of a mystery. When you play them it all makes sense. Miyazaki's games do anything but give the player answers, slowly unfolding their few concrete details into even more questions. Straight talking from Miyazaki, in other words, would in some way betray his creations. And what creations they are.

Source : ign[dot]com

Dark Souls Artorias of the Abyss DLC Hits 360, PS3 Today

The Artorias of the Abyss downloadable content for Dark Souls is now available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Artorias of the Abyss adds PVP mode to Dark Souls, allowing players to battle against each other, as well as new maps and environments, new bosses and enemies, new NPCs and new weapons and armor.

Artorias of the Abyss is available now for $14.99 on PlayStation 3 and 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360. The content was first released on PC in the Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition and was confirmed for consoles in May.

“Artorias of the Abyss is primed and ready to bring console gamers more destruction, more pain, and more ways to die,” said Namco Bandai vice president of marketing Carlson Choi. “Our console fan base absolutely loves the challenge the Dark Souls franchise has given them. Artorias of the Abyss is sure to up the death toll with the inclusion of PVP and its Match-Making features.”

For more on what’s new in Artorias of the Abyss, read about what’s in the new content and our breakdown of how it affects the game. For more on Dark Souls, look no further than our Dark Souls wiki guide.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Max Payne 3 Hostage Negotiation DLC Release Date

Rockstar has revealed that Max Payne 3’s Hostage Negotiation downloadable content will be released for all platforms on October 30th. The pack will be available for $9.99 (800 Microsoft Points), or free to players who purchased the Rockstar Pass.

As Rockstar detailed earlier this month, Hostage Negotiation includes four new maps: Club Moderno, Estádio Do Galatians, O Palácio Strip Club and Favela Heights. The pack also includes new items, new weapons and a new avatar faction.

In a blog post on its official site, Rockstar showed off arm bandages and tattoos as accessories that can be equipped on the Filhos De Ogum avatar and revealed that “each faction's customized Heavy Helmet will reduce all damage taken to the head by 75%.”

Rockstar says that more details on the pack will be revealed next week, so keep checking back for new information on all four new maps. Until then, check out our Max Payne 3 wiki guide for all the details about the game.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Forza Horizon Rally Expansion Pack Announced

Microsoft has revealed new details about Forza Horizon downloadable content, including the Rally Expansion Pack. The Rally expansion will offer “an outstanding off-road racing experience with deeper ruts, higher jumps, and new surface types to explore” along with rally-tuned cars and co-driver calls. The pack is set to arrive on December 18th for 1,600 Microsoft Points, or for free to players who purchase a Season Pass.

Microsoft also detailed the content that will be included in the Forza Horizon Season Pass. As Microsoft previously announced, the Season Pass will be available for 4,000 Microsoft Points and will offer access to six monthly packs each including six cars, and Microsoft has now detailed the first pack, set to arrive on October 23rd.

The Month One Car Pack will include:

• 2012 Ferrari 599XX Evoluzione
• 2012 Lamborghini Aventador J
• 2012 Gumpert Apollo Enraged
• 2012 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider
• 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302
• 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air

The Month One Car Pack will be free to Season Pass holders or 400 Microsoft Points to everyone else. Microsoft promises that all future packs will include six cars each and will arrive between November 2012 and April 2013, also free to Season Pass holders or 400 Microsoft Points individually.

Season Pass holders will also receive a free bonus car on the third Tuesday of every month from November 2012 through March 2013, starting with November’s bonus car, the 2006 Lamborghini Miura Concept. According to Microsoft, “fans will be able to use their DLC cars in a variety of monthly DLC-focused community events, contests, and challenges, including photo contests, Rivals events, and more.”

Forza Horizon hits stores on October 23rd exclusively for Xbox 360. Curious whether or not you should pick it up? Read our Forza Horizon review.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Borderlands 2 Pirate DLC Leaks

Information on downloadable content for Borderlands 2 has leaked online. Called “Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty,” the pack appears to have been leaked by files included in yesterday’s early release of the Mechromancer class and features new missions, a new rarity color, new loot and more.

According to a trophy list on PS3trophies.org, three additional Trophies (and presumably achievements) will be included along with the pack: one for completing a mission called “X Marks the Spot,” one for discovering all named locations “in Oasis and the surrounding Pirate's Booty areas,” and one for completing “all Pirate’s Booty side missions.”

In addition, files from the Steam version of Borderlands 2 have leaked significantly more information. A thread on the official Gearbox forums includes multiple images, showing off a new currency called Seraph Crystal, a new pink item rarity, new head customization options for the game’s original four classes, a new vehicle and a plethora of new items, weapons, enemies and bosses. In addition, a text file on Pastebin allegedly includes all of the Echo dialog from the game. According to one entry, the story of the pack is summed up as follows: “legends speak of Captain Blade's Lost Treasure of the Sands. Of a prize so great that men would turn the sands red in pursuit of it. Of a pirate queen, courageous and deadly, who would stop at nothing to find it. Of a monstrous Leviathan. Of the Vault Hunters who journeyed to the desert town of Oasis, not knowing the horrors that would befall them.”

For now, the content is unconfirmed, but we’ve reached out to 2K and Gearbox for comment. Previously, rumors suggested that new downloadable content called Torgue could be in the works for Borderlands 2, but it’s unclear if that and Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty are related. Gearbox hasn’t detailed any downloadable content for Borderlands 2, though a Season Pass currently available for purchase suggests that multiple packs will be coming in the future.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Skyrim: Hearthfire Now Available on Steam

Bethesda has released Hearthfire, the second downloadable content pack for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, on PC. The content is on Steam now for $4.99 and is available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Hearthfire allows players to build a home, ranging from “a simple one-room cottage to a sprawling compound complete with an armory, alchemy laboratory, stable, garden, and more.” Players can also adopt children to build a family, and can use a carpenter’s workbench and drafting table “to transform quarried stone, clay, and sawn logs into structures and furnishings.”

Hearthfire originally hit Xbox 360 in September and follows the first downloadable content, Dawnguard, which came to PC in August. For now, the content remains unannounced for PlayStation 3, and Bethesda says it may never come to Sony’s console.

For more on Hearthfire, check out our impressions of the Xbox 360 version and see more in our Skyrim wiki guide.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Assassin’s Creed III DLC: George Washington is King

Ubisoft has announced new downloadable content for Assassin’s Creed III. Set in an alternate version of history, The Tyranny of King Washington is a single-player campaign that will be told through multiple downloadable content packs and features George Washington becoming king of America.

“As the revolution comes to a close, a new and most unexpected enemy emerges,” Ubisoft explains. “Driven by the desire to secure the fate of the colonies, the greatest hero of the revolution, George Washington, succumbs to the temptation of infinite power. The new King is born and his reign leaves no one untouched. To return freedom to the land our new hero must dethrone a tyrant he once called friend.”

The story will be told through three episodic content packs, all of which will be available by purchasing the Assassin’s Creed III Season Pass, which will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC for $29.99 (2400 Microsoft Points). The Pass will offer access to five content packs in all, including single-player content as well as maps and characters for multiplayer. According to Ubisoft, purchasing the Season Pass will account for a 25% savings versus buying packs individually, and Season Pass owners will have access to content one week ahead of other players.

“History is our playground – and AC teams have always loved playing with historical facts and their consequences as a way to better understand a time period,” said Ubisoft executive producer Sebastien Puel said of the Washington content. “While Assassin’s Creed III concentrates on history as it happens, we wanted to take some liberties with this DLC and tell you how things ‘could have happened.’”

Assassin’s Creed III is less than 30 days away, hitting Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 30th, followed by a Wii U version on November 18th and a PC version on November 23rd. The downloadable content will “also be available for the Wii U,” Ubisoft said, but no specific timeframe was revealed.

For more on Assassin’s Creed III, read our hands-on impressions in the frontier and find even more details in our Assassin’s Creed III wiki guide.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Darksiders II Wii U Functionality Detailed

THQ has revealed details on the Wii U version of Darksiders II. Set to arrive on November 18th, Darksiders II on Wii U will offer multiple pieces of bonus content not featured on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or PC versions, including the recently-released Argul’s Tomb content with new dungeons and armor and the Death Rides Pack with three new side quests. Also included will be the Angel of Death and Shadow of Death packs with new legendary armor and weapon choices, plus the upgraded horse speed boost from the Deadly Despair Pack. Players will also have access to additional unique legendary weapon and armor sets from the moment they start the game.

Wii U will also allow players to instantly access inventory and ability menus via the GamePad’s screen, and players will have the choice of using the GamePad or the Wii U Pro controller to play. Darksiders II will also offer the option of using your TV to play, or the choice to entirely use the GamePad’s screen.

Vigil games said back in March that Darksiders II would allow players to access menus without pausing the game and called the Wii U version “an enhancement of the core game."

Darksiders II launched for other systems on August 14th. For more on what to expect, read our hands-on impressions with the Wii U version. Still haven’t decided if you should pick it up on launch day? Read our Darksiders II review and find all the info you need -- including a full walkthrough -- in our Darksiders II wiki guide.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Sony to Support PS3 Until at Least 2015

Sony's VP of hardware marketing John Koller has revealed the company will continue to support the PS3 until at least 2015 with a range of first-party content. "A lot of great content is coming," Koller suggested, continuing, "And over the next 2-3 years, the PS3 has got an incredible lineup."

In an interview with Gamespot, Koller also said "We're going to continue supporting the PS3 for the next few years. Absolutely. And we're going to continue supporting it not only that long, but as long as there is a development spigot that's running hot. And I can tell you right now, the development spigot for PS3 is very hot. A lot of great games coming."

Quite what these games may be remains a mystery, especially extending so far into the future, but it's interesting to ponder what this means in relation to when the PS4 will be released. It seems pretty likely that there's going to be some overlap between the PS3 and PS4 in terms of support, the question is for just how long?

Let the speculation begin!

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Has Exclusive Content

Namco has announced that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on Wii U will have exclusive content.

We spotted Mario, Link and Bowser costumes in the reveal trailer alongside in-stage power-ups, including the Mega Mushroom, which super-sizes combatants. It's pretty damn funny.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 launched earlier this week on PlayStation3 and Xbox 360. Be sure to read our reviewand check out our interview withT ekken legend Katsuhiro Harada for more.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Sony ‘Working with’ Bethesda for PS3 Skyrim DLC

Sony is “working closely” with Bethesda to bring Skyrim’s downloadable content to PlayStation 3. In a recent interview, Sony vice president Adam Boyes said Sony’s development support team collaborates with all third party publishers to fix technical issues, and that includes Bethesda.

"We work with all of our partners to try and solve their problems," Boyes told Kotaku. "We have a big, broad dev support team that works closely with Bethesda, and with all of our partners, to work with them to solve that any sort of issues they have along the way. Of course, I always want everything to work always for everyone. I can't promise any kind of resolution or timeline but can say that everyone involved is trying their best to get this stuff working."

Previously, Bethesda said it was “not yet satisfied with Dawnguard’s performance on the PS3.” The publisher later suggested that the downloadable content might never hit PS3 at all, adding “this is not a problem we’re positive we can solve.”

Skyrim’s Dawnguard and Hearthfire content have technically never been announced for PlayStation 3, despite Dawnguard being available on Xbox 360 and PC and Hearthfire recently hitting Xbox Live.

Keep checking back to IGN for updates on the situation as it continues to develop.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Trials Evolution Origin of Pain DLC

Ubisoft has announced that DLC is on the way for popular Xbox Live Arcade title Trials Evolution.

The extra content will come to Xbox Live Marketplace sometime this autumn and will set you back 400 Microsoft Points.

So what do you get for your money? The expansion will contain 36 all-new tracks, tournaments, and skill games, as well as a new bike and lots of new objects to tinker with in the level editor.

Ubisoft also announced that Trials Evolution will be coming to PC. Generously, they're throwing in a copy of Trials HD, too.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. He's mastered the long distance bail. Follow him on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Animal Man #0 Review

Much like Swamp Thing #0, Animal Man #0 goes to great lengths to establish the dastardly ways of Anton Arcane, and succeeds. However, it also retreads much content that was inferred over the course of the series to date. We get a recap of Buddy’s strange role in relation to the Red, and a charming but ultimately fruitless summation of Buddy’s early days as Animal Man. These are moments that are well-written in the tradition of the dynamic between the members of the Baker family, but ultimately it’s nothing that is terribly necessary to witness.

That being said, Lemire does offer some great insight into the justification for the change he made to Buddy’s origin that is clever and thought-provoking, which is really the best thing that can be said about this issue. Though Lemire offers nothing particularly essential to the ongoing events of Animal Man, the ideas and thematic content he provides are interesting enough to warrant a read. It’s a bit of a leap to see Ellen so accepting of Buddy’s apparently alien-given powers, but at least their established dynamic in the previous 12 issues helps to offset that a bit.

Steve Pugh delivers some more fine work here, keeping up his usual momentum. Pugh’s ability to manage the bizarre radness of the Red alongside the quieter, more introspective moments in the Baker household remains impressive. The final scene between Buddy and Ellen in particular is great, considering that their conversation is predictable, yet Pugh is able to make you feel the impact through his stellar framing and emotional punch.

If not required reading, Animal Man #0 is still an enjoyable issue.

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He loves superhero pets so hard.

Source : ign[dot]com

Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition – Extra Content Breakdown

The real problem with DLC, quite apart from the fact it costs money, is that most developers don't give it enough TLC. Instead of feeling like extra content, it can feel like superfluous content. Dark Souls has always followed its own path. And with its new content, which comes as part of the PC's Prepare To Die Edition and will be available to buy on consoles soon, it shows just what DLC should be like - almost.

You can find IGN's full review of the Prepare to Die edition here but here we’re just concentrating on the new stuff. There are two sides to it, the first being a large single-player area, Oolacile, which is split into roughly four smaller sections (the environments flow into one another very easily, so dividing them up is a little arbitrary). The second is a multiplayer arena, something the playerbase has wanted since Demon's Souls, which theoretically should lead to easier matchmaking.

A set of carvings can be found that let you communicate in multiplayer. Drop one and the odd, distorted voices utter a phrase like 'Very Good!', 'Hello!', or 'I'm Sorry'.

If you're a Dark Souls nut and don't want minor spoilers about the content, such as character names, best to skip to the final paragraph now and know this: you will absolutely lap it up. The best thing about this new content is that it slots beautifully into Dark Souls' world, like it had always been there, and shines much light on certain unexplained aspects of the original. Dark Souls, superb as it is, has the unmistakeable signs that it was rushed to make its original release date, and this feels like it was meant to be there all along.

“

This new content is that it slots beautifully into Dark Souls' world, like it had always been there

Finding it is the first tricky task, and you won't be able to enter Oolacile until a significant way into the game - basically, you need access to the Duke's Archives and the Darkroot Basin. There's a little in-joke with the fans, based around a broken pendant and a somewhat obscure character in the world, but that's about as friendly as Dark Souls ever gets. From here it's one big stretch of deadly environments, and one hell of a boss line-up.

Things start off with the Sanctuary Guardian, which managed to kill me about ten times as a welcome present, a lion and serpent combination that's vicious, poisonous, and shocking. After this comes the only minor disappointment with the single-player portion of the DLC, an expansive wooded environment that is basically a mirrored version of the Forest area from the original. It's a different beast, with a visual overhaul turning it into a spooky netherworld dotted with fake lights, but the familiar geography blunts a little of the impact. As with everything to do with Dark Souls, the lore justifies it, but I'm still not happy.

The setups for each boss are amazing and actually finding the hardest enemy in the DLC is a challenge in itself.

This place takes ages to explore safely, thanks to the ridiculously hard-hitting tree-men that are dotted everywhere and can be all-too-easily aggro'd in groups, though shortcuts can eventually be opened up and there's a very interesting merchant character waiting to be found. I was around soul level 45 when first attempting this section, and got a good kicking quite a few times.

The boss awaiting at the end of this is a killer. Knight Artorias is one of the great legendary figures in Dark Souls' world, a presence often hinted at but never seen - and here he is, a corrupted beast swallowed by the Abyss. Putting him away solo is a massive challenge, worthy of comparison with anything in the original, and I could only do it in the end thanks to Summoning in some wonderful help. The fight is so good though, with more than an echo of Ornstein and Smough, that you want to go straight back and do it again.

From here things go down - deep down. A stretching walk over the remains of a town take you into its guts, preparation for what's to come with ranks of bloated-head warriors and their deadly dark mage backup. As you press further and further in, you eventually find the very bottom. Barely lit, filled with enemies in corners, haunted at pockets by the unblinking eyes of ghosts that then begin to move slowly, steadily towards you. Unaffected by your shield, and simply wanting to touch you and drain sweet life, they're a dangerous and unsettling addition to the Dark Souls bestiary.

If you kill enough former inhabitants of Oolacile you might get one of their pustule-ridden heads to wear. Hats FTW!

The final boss lies in wait beyond this - and then, in best Dark Souls tradition, there is actually a final, hidden boss back along the path that's even tougher. Both are terrifying opponents to face, capable of destroying ill-prepared teams and turning what looks like a possible victory into a crushing defeat. Both match up to the very best Dark Souls has to offer, and ensure this new content slots neatly in alongside the wonderful original.

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What is not such an easy fit, though it can also be great on occasion, is the PvP.

What is not such an easy fit, though it can also be great on occasion, is the PvP. The arena is unlocked after defeating Artorias, and is snuggled away in an antechamber almost like From Software is somehow embarrassed. Six pedestals represent three different PvP modes over two maps - duels (one versus one), team battles (two versus two) and four-player FFA matches. If you ever want to actually play a game of Dark Souls PvP, then go for a Duel at the Ruins.

That mode and map is your only real chance of action. I've spent hours – and I mean hours – standing on the trapdoors for the other modes and maps, waiting patiently as the little glowing red circles supposed to indicate other players blink in and out of existence. Dark Souls' online has always been less-than-perfect, but the game is so good you tend to muddle through and be grateful when it does work.

The red circles are supposed to show other players waiting for matches, but they didn't impact anything for me.

But this is a dedicated matchmaking system that gives its players no feedback - it may well break the lore, but the fact you can't have something as crass as a player count or an estimated wait time begins to really grate after a few hours. So basically, the PvP modes are largely unplayable at the moment. Perhaps things will improve as more and more players discover the arena, and there's a wider spread of levels, but going on From Software's past form don't count on it.

That said, the one mode that does work semi-regularly, a Duel at the Ruins, shows what we're missing. I've fought crazy dark wizards that are half-Saruman half-Zorro, giant hulks in unbreakable armour heaving clubs and knocking you around like a tennis ball, and assassins that turn invisible when you respawn, and strike with a backstab while you're looking.

People don't talk much about Dark Souls' customisation options, but it's a game where you can make your avatar look unique, and there are some awesomely silly hats and armour sets lying around - as well as unbelievably cool weapons. The duels are so good because you see all of this, and come across tactics you'd never have imagined. Just like the single-player, thinking on your feet is the only way to victory, and so it breaks my heart there isn't a better structure for it.

There was no-one else around to fight with – so we decided to strip naked and do this queensbury-style.

The Prepare to Die content adds much to Dark Souls, and not a bit of it feels out of place, or like filler. The single-player is recommended without any caveats, though it is important to emphasise it's designed for experienced players rather than newcomers and thus you won't see it for a good while. As for the PvP... well, it's the same old story. The concept is great, and when it infrequently works it is great. But it just doesn't work most of the time. While I love Dark Souls more than anything, sitting in front of your PC for hours waiting for something to happen is just a waste of time. The matchmaking needed to be much, much better than this.

To find out how Dark Souls: Prepare to Die edition scored, check out IGN’s review.

Source : ign[dot]com

Skyrim: Hearthfire DLC Available Now

Hearthfire, the second downloadable content pack for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, is available now on Xbox Live. The pack will cost 400 Microsoft Points ($5.00) and, like all Skyrim downloadable content, will start as an exclusive for Xbox 360 players.

As Bethesda announced last week, Hearthfire lets players purchase land and build a house from the ground up. According to Xbox Live’s Major Nelson, you’ll be able to go “from a simple one-room cottage to a sprawling compound complete with an armory, alchemy laboratory, stable, garden and more.” Players will also be able to use tools and a carpenter’s workbench to turn stone, clay or logs into furniture and can also adopt children.

We first heard the Hearthfire name back in May, when a trademark listing suggested that Bethesda had new content in the works. Hearthfire follows Dawnguard, which launched on June 26th and was later released on PC. Currently, Bethesda says that Skyrim’s downloadable content may never come to PlayStation 3.

For more on Skyrim, check out our Skyrim wiki guide and Skyrim iPad app, and keep checking back to IGN for our Hearthfire impressions later this week.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition Review

Praise the sun! A Souls game has arrived on PC. It is surely weary. We'll let it rest, and get to the new edition's bonus content and the quality of the port in a moment. On the off chance you've been off collecting beetles for the last three years and missed Dark Souls entirely, here's a recap of why to be excited.

On consoles, this began with 2009's Demon's Souls, a sleeper hit that offered a quest so hard, so hefty, so immaculately crafted that developer From Software might have hewn it from rock. It and sequel Dark Souls summoned staggering review scores, gifting a generation of jaded gamers with a cocktail of fear and self-respect.

You're best off not taking your cues from Dark Souls' charming marketing slogan of “YOU WILL DIE.” While it's best known for being nipple-rippingly difficult, ultimately, it's all about the weight I was talking about earlier. That dark heft. First and foremost, this is the physical weight of your character, and the foreboding atmosphere of From Software's stunning world.

Dark Souls tells the story of your hero trying to save an intriguing world which, by every possible metric, fell long ago. Abominations make their homes in the forgotten nooks of a lost civilisation. A handful of enigmatic survivors are all that's left, but you're as free to talk to them as kill them, and they're as liable to help you as to lie. Best of all, the game literally kills you off somewhere between character creation and the first cut-scene. Above all, Dark Souls seems to thrill at escaping expectations.

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Dark Souls can happily scare the crap out of you in broad daylight, with something as simple as a giant insect dive-bombing your head as you cross a narrow walkway.

An example is how your character controls. Just to swing a sword sees your avatar putting their back, shoulder and wrist into the blow, leaving you to wince at the weapon's weight. Hit attack again, and you'll roll the weapon around down, up and around, maintaining its momentum to strike once more, quicker this time. But every single attack, every block with your shield, every panicked evasive roll, takes a fat bite out of your endurance meter. Never mind whatever action games you've played before, you have to learn to fight all over again because, simply put, you're only human.

That might not sound so bad when you're gleefully taking apart a zombie with a mace. How are you going to deal with a pack of feral dogs? Or a rat as big as a Land Rover? These are the questions Dark Souls asks you, before leaning back in its high-backed leather chair to light a cigarette. It never rushes you. It never needs to. It simply tells you, to your face, that certain death lies this way. And then it tells you to walk.

Which brings us to the radioactive feather in Dark Souls' cap. Death is something you fear. If you die, you don't just get cast back to the nearest waypoint. You run the risk of losing any unspent XP or precious humanity points. Never mind fleeing from ghosts in brooding catacombs. Dark Souls can happily scare the crap out of you in broad daylight, with something as simple as a giant insect dive-bombing your head as you cross a narrow walkway.

All of which is why Dark Souls has a reputation of being a colossal beast, but also so addictive. If a game's capable of making you grin with each new item you furtively recover, imagine how it feels to stand over a slain boss. On a minute to minute level, though, what makes Dark Souls moreish is its suffocating consistency. That down-to-earth, tactile combat is a reason to play Dark Souls in and of itself, but it also functions to immerse you in the game's similarly plausible world.

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What defines Dark Souls is the moment you decide you're literally out of your depth, and turn the hell around, with all your precious XP intact, to go explore somewhere else. But for the most part, you won't do that. You Will Die.

You're not completing levels, or even doubling back in the Metroidvania style. You're just exploring, taking step after nervous step through a foul wonderland that oscillates between great cruelty, and moments of sweet relief. Its great achievement is in not feeling like a game world at all, much as Minecraft didn't, and it's a similar joy to explore. This simply feels like a place where you really, really shouldn't be, where every step is heavy with dread.

Let's put it this way - it's not the petrifying Capra Demon boss that defines Dark Souls. It's not the key he drops, that leads you to a room where you fight a disgusting, cannibalistic chef. It's not the labyrinthine sewer that the chef guards, or the village you find beneath the sewer, or the putrid moat the village is built above. It's not the nauseating creatures that live in the moat, nor is it the terrible beast that lays its eggs in them. It's not the staircase you find behind her, leading you down still further. What defines Dark Souls is the moment you decide you're literally out of your depth, and turn the hell around, with all your precious XP intact, to go explore somewhere else. But for the most part, you won't do that. You Will Die.

Saving Dark Souls from the loneliness that haunted the open worlds of say, Metroid, is its online functionality, which was designed with the same blend of accuracy and fearless creativity that defines the rest of the game. Players can scratch messages into the ground, which are pulled at random into your own world. Watch Out For Wizard, you'll find, lying ominously before a closed door. Or more dubious stuff still - Step Off, written over a chasm into blackest darkness.

More traditional multiplayer is limited to blue and black phantoms - other players invading your world, to help or assassinate you, for their own selfish aims. Offering some of those moments of relief are the game's bloodstains. Touch one, and you'll see the final seconds of a real-life player, which is a bit like opening a present. Perhaps you'll get a poignant warning, as they flee from something you didn't spot, or you'll just laugh as they go cartwheeling lackadaisically off a ledge.

“

The mouse and keyboard controls in the Prepare to Die edition are a war crime. Losing the gentle acceleration of analog movement would have been bad enough, but the mouse doesn't control the camera so much as wrestle it around on a rubber leash.

All of this survives, totally intact, in the PC port, with a single caveat - you must own a Xbox 360 pad, or suitable equivalent.

The mouse and keyboard controls in the Prepare to Die edition are a war crime. Losing the gentle acceleration of analog movement would have been bad enough, but the mouse doesn't control the camera so much as wrestle it around on a rubber leash. Meanwhile, the GUI's adaption to the keyboard is just awkward. All told, you could be playing on an emulator. If you don't own a pad but somehow end up with Dark Souls running on your PC, remove the power cable from the back with a barge pole.

But if you do own a pad, and quickly grab this 80Kb fan hotpix, which unlocks the game's resolution from 1024x720, you'll be able to enjoy the definitive edition of Dark Souls until the Artorias of the Abyss DLC arrives for consoles this winter. That content's packed in the PC version for free, and we're pleased to announce that it's... fine. It's just fine.

The best thing we can say is that it's not ungenerous. It's three whole new areas for you to plunge through like a nervous knife, each packed with the epic bosses, new items, new spells and unsettling NPCs that you've come to expect during the rest of the game (Artorias of the Abyss is, sadly, squirreled away towards very end of Dark Souls).

You'll cut off the tail of a chimera to use as a whip. You'll descend deeper than you've ever been before. But throughout, there's the niggling sense that this wasn't the work of the entire From Software team.

This being DLC that's basically a given, but it shouldn't feel that way. The first new area, Royal Woods, repurposes a ton of art assets from Dark Souls' other trembling forest of Darkroot Garden. The next area, Oolacile Township, is a definite high point – a cluster of slumped towers you have to pick your way down – but it fails to surprise in the way that Dark Souls' best areas do. Finally, the Chasm of the Abyss itself is as barren, rather than as bleak, as the name implies. All of that said, of the four new bosses, the duel with the disturbingly fast Knight Artorias is my new favourite of any Souls game. Good luck with that.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -- Hearthfire Announced

Bethesda has revealed the next major downloadable content for Skyrim, called Hearthfire. Unlike the vampire-hunting focus of the last add-on, Dawnguard, Hearthfire doesn't seem to do much to enhance combat. Instead, with Hearthfire you'll be able to purchase a piece of land in Skyrim and build your own house.

Within the custom living space you'll be able build kitchens, greenhouses, libraries, alchemy labs and trophy rooms to show off your accomplishments. Outside it sounds like you'll be able to set up gardens, fish hatcheries and beehives to make resource collection a little more convenient. You can also hire a steward to help out with household tasks.

Hearthfire will also allow you to adopt children and take care of them while they live at your home. Bethesda has set the price of Hearthfire at 400 Microsoft Points and plans to release it on September 4 on Xbox Live.

Source : ign[dot]com

Why Games That Make YOU a Developer Are a Crucial Part of the Future

The level of connectivity we’ve reached this generation has brought with it a lot of undesirable side-effects. Day one patches. On-disc content sold back to us as downloadable content. Multiplayer that empowers and unleashes the biggest jerks mankind has to offer.

But it’s not without its benefits, and the rise and rise of user-generated content is one of them. More and more games are beginning to embrace the power of user-generated content, or UGC.

LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule recently announced that a staggering seven million levels had been created by users for the series. LittleBigPlanet players have made the game exponentially larger than any one studio could ever attempt to make, or any one gamer could ever hope to play. The Forza franchise has built on entire online in-game economy on the buying and selling of car designs players create themselves. Forza owners can choose from thousands upon thousands of custom and replica liveries that have been crafted by other fans with no input from developer Turn 10 whatsoever.

If you can think of a famous race car, somebody has probably already recreated it in Forza 4.

However, while UGC that’s basically indistinguishable from similar studio-created content may look like an attractive way to have users help offset the soaring costs of AAA development, there’s far more to it than that.

“It’s definitely a nice add-on to the main game, but it’s also one that has to be thought out carefully right from the start of the game,” says Antti Ilvessuo, creative director at RedLynx and lead designer of Trials Evolution. “It’s no silver bullet that you can just throw in there and think, ‘Hey this will make our game popular.’”

“

It’s no silver bullet that you can just throw in there and think, ‘Hey this will make our game popular.’

“Games and how we play them are changing really rapidly nowadays, so how you define user generated content changes also. Letting users create stuff for a game is definitely a big part of the future of games. I think a big part of that will be creating content creation in way that users don’t notice that what they are doing is creating a lot of the game’s content.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Bigpoint’s Rune Vendler, game director on the browser-based free-to-play Gameglobe – a game built entirely around the concept of UGC.

“I don't really think of user-generated content as a shortcut to cheap labour, almost the opposite,” says Vendler. “With Gameglobe, the goal was to design a platform where being creative did not feel like hard work, but an entertaining activity in itself.”

“Putting user-generated content into a product massively changes it. Once it went live, it was obvious that we, the developers, were no longer the sole owners of Gameglobe; it's as if the game itself is now owned just as much by the community, and they get to decide a great deal about how the game evolves. For a lot of AAA games, you can't or won't share that kind of control with the users.”

John Drake, Director of Communications & Brand Management at Harmonix Music Systems, looks at UGC success stories as falling into two groups; games that let users share and/or sell created content (like the Rock Band Network) and games that drive users to create as a fundamental part of the experience. Drake cites games like Minecraft, LittleBigPlanet, and Sound Shapes as great examples of the latter.

“Both approaches have big wins and inherent limitations,” says Drake.

“

If you can give players agency to not only engage in a world but actively create within that world, your universe will be infinitely richer.

“I hope we see companies continue to evolve and embrace user-driven content as a strategy. When it's done right, ‘formal UGC’ – as opposed to general modding done outside the structure of a game – embraces the fact that games are inherently an interactive expression. If you can give players agency to not only engage in a world but actively create within that world, your universe will be infinitely richer.

“Though UGC certainly isn't a perfect fit for every title, I think it's a gamble we'll see more games willing to take as the medium evolves. The value UGC adds to a game goes beyond simple monetisation of a mechanic.

“UGC empowers the player, enriches a community, and makes a game come to life with the passion of its fans. I don't think gamers should pin all of our hopes on it, especially since designing these systems can be as time-consuming and expensive as building more assets in studio, but I think it's an exciting area to be optimistic about.”

As John Drake pointed out to us, RBN is most certainly NOT 'Baby's First Rock Band Authoring Toy'.

So why is it that more studios haven’t quite embraced this model of conscripting fans to create canyons full of content as well as others?  Are there risks in letting users make and share their own content?

“Allowing for user-generated content is limited by your game’s style,” says RedLynx’s Antti Ilvessuo. “For example, a game that is story driven would need new content that somehow fits into the rest of the game. Then there are issues about game balance, and you have to have a way to monitor and check content for stuff that is offensive. So the game style also has to be the right fit for user-generated content.”

“But still, content creation can be made possible in numerous ways. It’s just not an easy thing to do.”

Bigpoint’s Rune Vendler agrees that the process is not a simple one.

“I don't want to speculate about other studios' development plans, but I don't believe you can conscript anyone to create content,” he says. “Users have to want to make it, and have fun doing so.”

“

Users have to want to make it, and have fun doing so.

“Creating a game that supports user-generated content well is not trivial. The creative tools in Gameglobe have taken a long time to develop, and are of a completely different quality than what we're used to internally. The infrastructure needed to host and serve the content is substantial, and the technology to drive it all is complex.

"Once we got Gameglobe working, however, it was an amazing experience. We're giving people the freedom to create games and express themselves in a way many didn't think possible. Of course, they can misbehave, but with Gameglobe we've found that almost everyone reacts very positively to being handed this freedom.”

Harmonix’s John Drake also gives us a similar response.

“There are practical realities that keep UGC from being baked into every game,” he says. “Building tools that are accessible to the average player is a massive design challenge, supporting UGC systems for an evolving audience in perpetuity is expensive, curating the excellent from the average can be a struggle, and it's a big gamble that your audience will show up and be excited to create.

Drake points out that crafting a system that truly compels users to create “can't just be about ‘conscripting fans’ and crowdsourcing content.”

“For UGC to really take off, a developer needs to understand what fans love about the game in question, where they'd want to take it if they could, and how to build a pipeline to connect those desires in an accessible and decipherable way.”

“Oh, and then they need to build all those tools and ensure it doesn't absolutely break the core product that it's meant to extend,” adds Drake. “I'm thrilled, for example, that Rock Band Network tracks will work in Rock Band Blitz when it launches this August , but it meant testing for weird edge cases like, ‘What if the song only has drums and guitar?’; cases created by the breadth of content in RBN.”

The payoff for UGC done right, however, can be hugely satisfying.

“It's incredible to see what people have done in the Rock Band Network,” says Drake. “This was a professional suite of tools and standards and, to make it into Rock Band, we expected folks to rise to that level.”

“We had some reservations about whether people would want to invest that amount of time and energy, but all our concerns were silenced when we launched. The enthusiasm was palpable, and the community really self-enforced a quality bar beyond expectations.”

At this point there are over 1,800 tracks available on the RBN, available to Rock Band fans around the world.

“We've had big bands add extra tracks via this system and burgeoning acts find a really passionate audience of rhythm gamers,” says Drake. “It launched us way beyond where we expected, expanding the volume of content we could have ever created for the Rock Band audience at Harmonix.”

“The team who built the Rock Band Network are fans ourselves, so it's infinitely satisfying to see a community form around these creative tools. Harmonix built the system, but the network is really driven and owned by the community of Rock Band authors, and they're doing amazing things.”

It’s tracks of a different sort being built by fans in Trials Evolution, but the RedLynx team are no less amazed at what their biggest fans can put together.

“We as developers are always really surprised at some of the amazing things that our users have created,” says Ilvessuo. “It’s really humbling to see stuff that you never thought possible when making game made by users. It is definitely very satisfying too, to be sure.”

Luke is Games Editor at IGN AU. You can chat to him about games, cars and how Rock Band is a great way to give a four-year-old great taste in music here or find him and the rest of the Australian team by joining the IGN Australia Facebook community.

Source : ign[dot]com