Armchair Diplomat

OK, I'll admit it, I came

Hot off the LucasArts Twitter feed today, most likely in conjunction with some variety of GDC announcement, comes the news that The Secret of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge will be undergoing the Special Edition treatment that we all drooled over previously.  There ain’t much to it, but here’s the word for word:

Oh yeah, another thing: LeChucks Revenge: Special Edition is official! New puzzles, new enemies, new hair!

-LucasArtsGames, just forewarning my wallet

So that’s another $15 or so that I’ll be giving LucasArts unquestioningly.

But there’s something that has me confused.  Maybe it’s just a poor choice of wording, but this tweet would appear to suggest that new puzzle elements are going to be included into the game, something I don’t think I’d be so keen on.  Part of the beauty of the original Monkey Islnds: Special Edition was that it was a straight port, preserving the original game for a newer generation.

They’ve also posted up a (somewhat blurry) photo of the game’s new cover art, feel free to ogle.  I guess we can all feel assured that in that photo we can clearly spy a (somewhat blurry) beard on Guybrush.

Update: LucasArts have also opened the game’s official website, which sports some great looking in-game screenshots.

Also also, apparently I’m not the only person to start bitching and moaning raising genuine concern about the “new puzzles” phrase.  Since the announcement above they’ve fielded a flurry of questions and decided to put all of us at ease:

[New puzzles?] … not new for Monkey 2, I just know how all of you reacted to the first Special Editons Hair

Good to hear, because any change to Monkey Island 2 would be like callously beating my childhood with a frozen cactus.

… Metaphorically I mean.

… Probably.

I just wanted to make this joke before anyone else did.  In other, less hilarious news, your original PS3s asplode…

Pfft, hoverboards don't work on lava ... unless you got POWA!

BioWare announced the next DLC pack coming to Mass Effect 2 today, and after long weeks of speculation it looks as if we’ll finally be getting our hover-tank on.  The “Firewalker” content package will include five new missions for you to explore, all utilising your new hard-fightin’, hard-drinkin’ hovercraft.  According to the updated Cerberus Network page:

The Hammerhead is a heavy assault vehicle that hovers over the battlefield at up to 120 kilometers per hour and features a guided missile system ensuring accuracy even during aggressive maneuvering.

I’m not certain what kind of “aggressive maneuvering” the new content hopes to contain, but if I understand this correctly you could be doing doughnuts in a Seven-Eleven carpark and still blow up your target with this baby.  Heck, Sherpard could be sans-pantsing the local cops out the window at the same time if he wanted to.

This might, however, just be a way of reassuring owners of Mass Effect 1, for whom “aggressive maneuvering” could entail driving upward at an 85 degree angle while trying to swivel the Mako’s turret.

Whatever’s in store, the Firewalker pack is due out late March, and will be free to those with Cerberus Network subscriptions.  Nice.  Head on over to the Cerberus page for official info and some more pretty pictures.

We're buying our way to victory, Mr. Bubbles!

One of several things I was impressed with on my initial playthrough of BioShock 2 was that 2K hadn’t lined up any release day downloadable content.  DLC has become somewhat of a necessary evil for developers, but nothing irks me more than seeing “bonus” gameplay packs available before you’ve even managed to wrestle the shrink wrap off a brand new title.  That’s not bonus content, that’s active customer gouging, and far too many games are guilty of it.

Well 2K have tipped their hand today to announce their first DLC package for the new BioShock installment.  What’s on the way?  Here’s some press release for you:

The single and multiplayer experiences of BioShock 2 will be enhanced with downloadable content that will add more glimpses into the award-winning world of Rapture. Downloadable content will be made available soon, beginning with the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack, available this March on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Games for Windows–LIVE for 400 Microsoft Points and from the PlayStation Network for $4.99. Future expansions into the world of BioShock 2 are slated to arrive over the coming months and will continue to expand on the stories of the denizens of Rapture.

Sinclair Solutions Test Pack contains a number of customization features that will allow players to further their character’s development in BioShock 2’s multiplayer modes and provide a deeper multiplayer experience. The pack includes:

- Rank increase to level 50 with Rank Rewards
- New playable characters Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca
- 20 new trials*
- A third weapon upgrade for each weapon
- Five additional masks*
*Some items are only available after a player achieves a rank of 41 or higher.

In the coming months, 2K Games will also be publishing downloadable extensions of the single player experience, providing new insight into the world of Rapture. These packages will include more narrative, new tools and new challenges that extend the lore and fiction of the failed Utopia under the sea.

So while the $5 price tag ain’t so bad, I really have to wonder: I’ve been playing the BioShock 2 multiplayer fairly constantly since I purchased it, and I’m only now tipping the edge of the currently capped level 40.  I mean the majority of us (excluding boosters of course, bless their hearts) have only just reached the level cap, is there really so much demand that it go higher already?  I haven’t even had time to feel superior to all those lowly level 36′ers yet.

What does concern me is that this, in theory, means that people who buy themselves the DLC will have a completely unfair advantage over all the vanilla retail players.  We won’t know exactly how the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack will effect the game’s balance until we find out the specifics of the upgrades, but this all seems a little stupid to me.  While they’re at it, they may as well package and sell the “BioShock 2 Multiplayer Anti-Freezing Patch” that allows you to play through more than two rounds without a console freeze.

Now there’s an unfair advantage I’d like to see.

Head on over to the 2K International site to check out the official PR.

It’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it, and don’t mind poking around inside your savegame.  YouTube user HarroSIN has managed to unlock the final DLC character from Mass Effect 2 for use in the suicide mission towards the end of the game, and has video’d the results for all to see.  Say hello to Kasumi … or her voice at least:

As you can see, it’s unlikely that Kasumi’s player model has been inserted into the game yet (she looks like a run-of-the-mill FemShep), but you can hear plenty of her voice-over work which is obviously just waiting to be activated inside the code.  Here’s HarroSIN’s notes on how this all works:

- She cannot be added to the party. If you attempt to do so, the game will remove her with a warning message but will still allow you to continue.

- After adding her to your squad, the Port Side Observation Deck will become available, although there is nothing currently present besides empty space (the outside of the level map).

- Being a tech expert, she can successfully navigate the pipeline during the suicide run. She can also be used to escort the remaining Normandy crew back to the ship.

- It is possible for her to die during the suicide run if you do not upgrade the Normandy’s armor.

Along with all that, this video also seems to confirm that Kasumi has trouble determining the difference between a military commander and an old Elvis Presley song, but who knows what dark secret in her history caused that.  So at this point, unless someone is very good with their shooping skills, I’d say we can double-dog confirm that Kasumi is our final character.  Now if BioWare would just stop acting so shady about it all!

Check out the original video (UPDATE: or don’t bother, EA has had it removed), and thanks to One Last Continue for the heads up!

Shouldn't Cerberus Assault Armour come with three helmets?

Only a couple of days back we were speculating over the possible content included in the next free DLC pack for Mass Effect 2.  Well today Bioware’s community co-ordinator Chris Priestly has spilled the beans via the official forums, and they didn’t come in hovertank flavour:

On Tuesday February 09 2010 Mass Effect 2 fans will be able to get the new Cerberus Assault Armor and M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun DLC for free through the Cerberus network. It should be available for all fans, both on PC and Xbox 360 at 12:00pm Mountain Standard Time.

Cerberus Assault Armor
Cerberus assault armor is designed for shock troops, turn the tide of battle against creatures or forces that would decimate normal soldiers.
Increases heavy weapon ammo capacity by +10%
Increases shields by +10%
Increases health by +10%

M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun
The M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun is a longer-range shotgun with armor-piercing loads. This design also violates several intergalactic weapons treaties, so the M-22a is not distributed to militaries.

-Chris Priestly, suggesting you suit up

So now, while this wasn’t what everyone was expecting (and eight out of ten Salarian science teams apologise for building you up), further on in the thread Chris drops another post to set overzealous would-be tank owners at ease:

This is the next piece (or pieces since you get 2 things) of Downloadable contant coming for fans of Mass Effect 2. We still have more DLC on the way, such as the mentioned Hammerhead and other rumors, and we’ll have more information on more DLC in the future. Stay tuned.

So not only is the Hammerhead on the way, but “other rumours” too.  The only other major rumour circulating the DLC track is the final recruit, the thief “Kasumi”, which BioWare remains tight-lipped about.  That is, of course, unless Chris is for whatever reason taking into account a bevy of Shepard/Wrex reuniting slashfic, in which case one of the next DLC packs could be very disturbing indeed.

While “in the future” may not sound like a particularly reassuring time frame for the next announcement either, keep in mind this first pack is only a fortnight out from release, so BioWare’s DLC schedule is obviously rolling out steadily at this point.  Or at the very least, in a more timely fashion than Mass Effect: Pinnacle Station.

So enjoy your free armour and shotgun, folks.  There’s no concept art for the shotgun yet, but the Cerberus Armour has already recieved it’s entry in the Mass Effect Armoury page for you to peruse.  It’s already the 9th down here in Australia, but I guess we’ll have to wait for you Standard Mountain types to wake up.  More news if we get it, but until then all you can do is read over the announcement.

ASCII art from GamesRadar's source code

OK, so no matter my personal misgivings with the upcoming Dante’s Inferno, even I have to agree that this viral idea is pretty cool.

So EA has launched a website called Hell Is Nigh, which asks the user to input six passwords to activate a download.  In perhaps one of the most original ideas to hit viral advertising in a short while, EA has purchased advertising space on major gaming sites’ source code.

What you see on your left is actually a screen capture of GamesRadar’s source code, discoverable by anyone with the inclination to right click their page.  In the last two lines of the ASCII art are Hell Is Nigh’s URL, and the password linked to this particular image.

Stalwart lovers of medieval poetry (and probably a few gamers too) have spent the day searching for the hidden art, which has turned up on site such as Digg, Kotaku, 1UP and IGN.  Being the helpful type, they’ve also gone and compiled the complete list of passwords needed, just in case you can’t be arsed looking them all up yourself.

All password entered, users are given a package of concept art, wallpapers and game music, all of which is subject to a hauntingly damnation-filled EA Licenceing Agreement, so you’ll find no overt spoilers from me.  It doesn’t matter however, as if you’re actually looking for spoilers I’ve already told you where to go and what to do to skip the entire exercise anyway.

So the rewards are not so amazing, but I’ll be damned if I’m not impressed with the creativity of the thinking behind this viral.  Now if only they had of made a bit more effort not making the game play like a bag of cocks, that would have been great.

Visit Hell Is Nigh, and show you’re getting into the spirit of things by being slothful and cheating on the passwords.  And thanks for the initial heads up, BrentCsutoras!

No more needs to be said, really, I’m all preordered up and waiting for release day.  So this gorgeous looking cinematic trailer is just filling in the time:

The teaser from Monkey Island's credits

After finishing up with Tales of Monkey Island, our favourite adventure resurgence cell Telltale Games have been indicating a return to the Sam and Max series as their next project.  Not many details are known about Series 3, known only as Sam and Max 2010 so far, but if questions in a Telltale comissioned survey are anything to go by, then things are about to take on a more paranormal twist for the crime fighting duo.

The survey, which if you complete in full rewards you with a free episode of any of Telltale’s games (the survey says to wait two weeks or so for the coupon, but mine cleared fairly quickly), asks participants to rate their interest in a series of PR pitches.  Considering all three pitches run along the same theme, we can probably deduce what Sam and Max are in for this year.

Here are the pitches, lovingly cut/pasted:

Wield psychic powers to battle an onslaught of the most unusual and fearsome villains across the galaxy and ages.

A terrible power that has thrived since the beginning of time, for controlling matter and space, calls to fearsome villains — the strongest and strangest who might wield it — intergalactic warlords and eldritch gods, under-dwellers and scholars of the arcane.

Gaming’s greatest dog and rabbit sleuths Sam & Max must unravel the mystery, with manic Max gaining psychic abilities to shape shift, teleport, read minds and see the future to battle these foes.

This all comes together in a 5 month-long symphony of mayhem that gets deeper and more twisted with each episode.

—-

There’s a terrible power that has thrived since the beginning of time, for controlling matter and space. Should this power fall into the wrong hands — perhaps granting psychic powers to a sociopathic freelance rabbit detective — it could threaten the entire universe!

From the outer reaches of the galaxy to the most secret recesses of the mind, the power calls to intergalactic warlords and eldritch gods, under-dwellers and scholars of the arcane — the strongest and strangest who might wield it.

Do not turn off your gaming device! This time, you are in control! You must help freelance police Sam & Max overpower these threatening forces, master psychic powers and save the universe over the course of 5 monthly episodes. Should you fail to take up this challenge or meet defeat, the galaxy may never recover!

—–

Working unusual cases for decades in their own inimitable way, 6-foot dog and hyperkinetic rabbit Sam & Max are the only freelance crime solvers of their kind for the unusual, bizarre and just plain outrageous. Sam & Max face their biggest most peculiar challenge yet, spanning the ages, paranormal phenomena and powerful … toys over the course of the epic 5-part comedy adventure that gets more mysterious and surreal with each new monthly episode.

So to recap the running themes: Psychic powers, five episodes series, ancient god, magic … toybox.  Sounds interesting, although anything “outrageous” and “bizarre” should really just be par for the course with Sam and Max by now.

Aye?

The survey also shows Telltale’s interest in finding out what their customers would like to see them working on in the future. One of the sections toward the end of the survey asks participants to choose from Myst, Day of the Tentacle, Sierra’s Quest series, Loom, Gabriel Knight and several other adventure staples for potential new incarnations.

Given that design director Dave Grossman has previously waxed philosophical on the possibility of rebooting Loom, that one is certainly a possibility … and, personal wariness aside, it would give me a new reason to wear my “Ask me about Loom!” badge.

I’m just joking.  As if I need any reason.

If you want to help Telltale tailor their upcoming titles, and score a free game in the meantime, be sure to head over and complete the survey.  You won’t get your coupon immediately (presumably so they can make sure you didn’t just write “yo mama” is every box), but it doesn’t take too long and freebies are always welcome!

Concept art for the Hammerhead tank, as found in the Collectors Edition art book

The crew over at BioWare have been all a’Twitter this week, with the release and almost universal acclaim for the new Mass Effect 2.  Well a little while ago, they’ve also announced that a second DLC pack will be making it’s way to the game in the next couple of weeks.  And the best part of all?  Just like the Zaeed Massani content, it’s completely free for those already signed up to the Cerberus Network.  Nice to see that there’s still a developer out there who doesn’t mind adding the word ‘free’ to their DLC, BioWare.

As to the upcoming package’s content, there is all manner of speculation over the internet.  Eight out of ten Salarian science teams agree that this pack will be adding the M57 Hammerhead Hovertank, which was originally designed to replace the literally-all-terrain vehicle Mako from Mass Effect 1.  If so, then this means that we might actually get some planetary exploration back, instead of long, drawn-out scanning for minerals.  Quickly, launch moar probes while you still can!

Other rumours point to the 12th recruitable member of Shepard’s team, who is discoverable using a little debugging with the PC version.  The last member, known only by her placeholder name and image “Kasumi”, is a thief of some variety and is definitely probably not a crossover character from Dead or Alive: Paradise.  To my mind the tank seems more likely at this point, as we haven’t even heard BioWare discuss the last crew member, but there’s still an empty slot on the selection screen and a spare room in my Normandy, so they might surprise us yet.

I guess we’ll find out in the next couple of weeks.  For those with Twitter accounts, it’s no doubt worthwhile following the BioWare feed.  Gameplay developer Christina Norman is usually also quite free in her insider info.  Those wanting our opinion on Mass Effect 2, hold tight for the time being, as Stu is currently mopping the drool off his floor before writing his review.