Itching to try Battlefield 3 Early?

DICE has outlined it's plan for Alpha and Beta testing of the highly anticipated Battlefield 3 on the game's official website.

The Alpha testing stage is a closed invite only affair while the Beta will be open to those of you out there who bought a copy of Medal of Honor that had a beta label on it. Here's how it's going down straight from DICE:

How can I get into the Alpha Trial?

It is a highly tech focused test period where the main purpose is to do a number of server related tests in preparation for game launch requiring a set amount of players online to ensure the final experience is as much fun and easy as possible.


Is this the Beta promised to buyers of Medal of Honor: Limited Edition?

No, this is an Alpha Trial, meaning this software is still not at the "Beta" development milestone. The Open Beta will start in September. The exact date for when Medal of Honor: Limited Edition players can join the Beta will be announced at a later date.


Can I join the Battlefield 3 Closed Alpha Trial?

The Alpha is a closed test and by invitation only. If you'd like to have a chance to be called upon make sure to register for our newsletter and ensure your Veteran status is up to date.
We are also not giving away keys to the Alpha Trial on any of our social networking platforms.


Recently a Medal of Honor: Limited Edition Beta newsletter went out to users. What is that all about?

Well, that newsletter says you are entitled to play the beta in September. It is however not a ticket or a code. If you purchased a copy of Medal of Honor with the Battlefield 3 Beta sticker on it, you are eligible for the Beta. If you have not received the newsletter, make sure you opt in on your EA Profile to receive them. Also, if you havent received the newsletter and own a copy of Medal of Honor: Limited edition, you are eligible to play in the beta.

So get registering folks if you wanna have a chance of being in the Alpha.

Trio of X-Men Destiny Behind the Scenes Character Trailers

X-Men Destiny is shaping up to be an interesting title to say the least, although not a great deal has been shown since announcement apart from the odd trailer here and there. However Activision have released three behind the scenes videos focusing on the different characters of Silicon Knights upcoming title.







Hold any hope or excitement for this game? Let us know!

Lack of Multiplayer for Darksiders Explained

Darksiders was a game screaming for multiplayer with its plot and gameplay set around a hack'n'slash adventure style with the four horsemen of the apocolypse as the focus and yet it was missing from the original title. With Darksiders 2 also set to launch with multiplayer being absent you may be wondering just why that is.

What it comes down to is data and animation, game director Marvin Donald explains:

"You've got completely different animation sets. It's 800 to 1,000 animations for Death alone and they're all unique. One thing great about working with Joe [Madureira] is that he comes up with awesome characters but they have completely different proportions, so you can't share any of the animations across them."

It's not just animating the characters but balancing their powers that would also take time. "Of course there's balancing with the different abilities. We're going to want them to play differently, so we wanted to spend some time developing each of the characters individually."

He was keen however to reiterate the desire that multiplayer is indeed something the team want to do at some point, it's just a case of when.

[Source - Shack News]

Call of Duty 4 Star Wars Mod - Galactic Warfare Released

By Mark

Star Wars Mod: Galactic Warfare has been released by German modding outfit Black Monkeys, the project has taken over two years but a final release is now available.

The mod is a total overhaul and conversion of CoD 4's multiplayer and pits players as an Imperial Forces Trooper or a Rebel Alliance Soldier, in addition to the skin changes there are seven playable maps and even killstreaks such as the Airstrike and Viper Droid. These use the Y-Wing and Tie-Bomber starfighters.

It looks great in all honesty and it's available here - ModDB

Battlefield 3 Mod Tools? Fraid Not

By Mark

Back in February executive producer of DICE Patrick Bach let us know that they were still undecided as to whether or not mod tools will be implemented into Battlefield 3 when it releases later this year.

Now it seems we have the answer and that is unfortunately for some, no. When speaking to German gaming magazine GameStar, EA's Senior VP Patrick Soderland had this to say:

"As of now, we are not going to make any modding tools." "If you look at the Frostbite engine, and how complex it is, it's going to be very difficult for people to mod the game because of the nature of the set up of levels, of the destruction and all those things. It's quite tricky. "So we think it's going to be too big of a challenge for people to make a mod."

A blow to some no doubt who were chomping at the bit to see what they could come up with when messing around with the buffed up Frostbite 2.0 engine that's being used for the game.

[Source - GameStar]

Tribes: Ascend Gameplay Ahoy

By Mark

Tribes: Ascend may not be known to everyone, especially the franchises PC origins that were massively popular from a multiplayer standpoint. Watching this video it's incredibly easy to see the similarity to certain other games but remember, Tribes has been around for a loooooooong time.

Another huge bonus this game has going for it is the fact that it is going to be a free to play title on both Xbox Live Arcade and PC this fall. Gameplay after the break!

Bodycount Sets a Date

By Mark

Bodycount, an upcoming FPS published by Codemasters and developed by Guildford Studio has set a solid release date for you to note in your calendars should you choose to do so. Some are saying it's the spiritual successor to Black that released on PS2 and the original Xbox in 2006 with some of the same staff working on the game.

The news comes by way of the titles official Facebook page in a statement that said:

Great news everybody! Bodycount will be coming out on the 30th August in North American and 2nd September in EMEA

For those of you unaware about the game or want a refresher here's a trailer for the game, just head past the break.