A nifty modder who goes by the tag Steaky has released the first Team Fortress 2 mod worth downloading,  The Great Class Dash.

The mod turns Team Fortress into a platformer similar to the flash game Canabalt. The first level starts out with you controlling only the scout. The only control in this stage is jumping, and its relatively easy to clear all the obstacles and reach the end of the level. Later levels introduce more classes though, and in the end, you will have to quickly switch between all nine to reach the finish.

….

The Great Class Dash is a single-player modification for Team Fortress 2 that transforms the game into a side-scrolling platformer. Players will have the chance to play four challenging levels. Additionally, the levels are filled with class-specific obstacles, meaning all nine classes will need to be used to beat the game.

Sounds awesome hey? Well after an hour testing it, I can confirm. It is indeed worth downloading, especially at its minuscule size of 69 megs.

Snag it here for a jolly good time.

Late last night Valve announced that it has updated Team Fortress 2 to now allow user made items.

Since that announcement, people have already been finding all kinds of new items including: new outfits for every class, new melee weapons for the Demoman, soldier and Pyro, and a new snack for the Heavy.

For those of you who don’t eat/sleep/breath TF2, this news may seem a bit confusing. A few updates ago Valve began to allow gamers to store extra items they find in a backpack. Because there is really no point in having doubles of items in your backpack, Valve implemented a system where you could convert your extra items into scrap metal and subsequently turn that scrap metal into unlockables. With this new update you can finally put your scrap metal to use and craft some cool new content.

According to Valve’s post of the TF2 Blog: “This is really exciting for us here at Valve. Starting from our core belief that entertainment products should be services, we’ve tried to increase the set of ways our community can impact our games, and the ways in which we can reward you for it. From the implementation of features requested by players and mapmakers, to unique community items given to valuable community contributors, to the purchasing and shipping of popular maps, to the ARG-style product announcement of Portal 2, we’ve tried to include our players in the ongoing challenge of improving our games and their communities.

This update represents the next step in that process. The line between developers and players is getting very blurry, and we think that’s a great thing.”

As I’m sure you can already tell, I think this news is fantastic. I haven’t touched TF2 in a few weeks since I have found all the unlockable weapons and have other games to play. However now that there is new stuff to get my hand on I expect to be making a return this weekend. I absolutely love how Valve continues to add value and life to their games. But maybe I’m just being a Valve fanboy. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Source: Shacknews.com

Rockstar has announced today that the long awaited port of Episodes From Liberty City for PS3 and PC has been given a last-minute delay, and will now be released on April 13th in North America and April 16th in Europe.

Previously stated for a March 30th release, Rockstar cited “a request by Sony Europe to make some minor content changes to the PAL PS3 version of the game” for the delay, but maintain that “the minor changes made to the game will not affect the gamers enjoyment of the games, these will not affect any gameplay elements and were not related to any local ratings requirements.”

For further details about the delay, head over to Rockstar Games for the full announcement. While the delay could be much worse, it’s still disappointing news nonetheless.

Source: Rockstar Games

Today EA announced that Black Box’s PC exclusive free-to-play MMO racer Need for Speed World will launch sometime this summer.

According to the press release: “Need for Speed World brings together best in class action racing with an unparalleled social experience. For the first time in a racing game, players will be able to compete against any one of their friends, family or pick from thousands of top ranked players to challenge in intense online battles and police pursuits across 150 miles of sprawling open world. Need for Speed World takes the well known and popular cities from Need for Speed Most Wanted and Need for Speed Carbon to create the biggest, most exciting race world ever released in the Need for Speed universe.”

Producer John Doyle stated, “We have expanded Need for Speed’s classic adrenaline fueled racing with an all-new power up system and deep RPG style progression to create a truly massive, socially-connected white-knuckle Need for Speed experience.”

For those of you who are interested, EA has just kicked off the English closed beta. In order to get your hands on it, head over to world.needforspeed.com and submit an application. As with all closed betas there are a limited number of spots, so don’t be surprised if you don’t get in.

Personally, I’m curious to see how Black Box handles an MMO racing game. Other developers have tried this genre before (Motor City Online, Project Torque) but they never really were that successful. I think that as long as there is a good RPG element to keep gamers hooked (aka leveling system that provides distinct advantages) Need for Speed World will be able to hold its own.

What do you guys think? Is the concept of an MMO racer dead before it hits the tracks, or is there some promise to this premise?

Source: Shacknews.com

Today Bethesda Softworks announced that it has teamed up with developer inXile Entertainment to publish a new “third-person co-op fantasy action game” for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Dubbed Hunted: The Demon’s Forge, the new game promises to be a throw-back to the dungeon crawler days of yore combined “with the intensity and action of a modern-day shooter.”

Players will be able to pick one of two characters: a sword-wielding warrior named Caddoc and a bow specialist Elara. While either of these characters are capable on their own, inXile has designed the game so that the two work best together, hence the co-op feature.

Players will be able to modify their characters via weapon upgrades and leveling up. Each character has their own unique skill tree, allowing the player more customization option.

For those of you who don’t know, inXile was founded in 2002 by Brian Fargo, of Interplay fame. Fargo has worked on titles including: Fallout, The Bard’s Tale, and Baldur’s Gate, so he knows his way around an RPG.

Personally I’m very excited for this game. Brian Fargo is one of my favorite people in the games industry and I trust him to delivered a quality product. Also, Hunted seems like a game that is easy to pick up and put down, meaning that my roommate and I will be able to sneak in a few minutes whenever out schedules line up.  Unfortunately Bethesda has yet to announce a release date.

What do you guys think? Will Hunted be the new fantasy Gears of War, or will it be a crappy arcady Diablo?

Source: Gamasurta.com

If you are one of the millions of people who are still playing Modern Warfare 2, even though its multiplayer is broken beyond repair, then this is your lucky day.  Details and pricing for the game’s first downloadable map pack have been released, and it appears that killing has a steep price tag attached to it.

For the completely absurd price of $15 (1200 MS Points), you’ll be able to slaughter your enemies in one of five new maps, two of which are actually “slightly reworked” maps from the original Modern Warfare.  Xbox 360 owners will get first dibs at this DLC when it launches on March 30th, followed by the PS3 and PC versions which will be available at some undisclosed date in April.

For more information about these new maps, hit the jump.

New Maps:

• “Bailout” – A multi-level apartment complex.
• “Storm” – An open industrial park littered with heavy machinery.
• “Salvage” – A snowy junkyard fortified by stacked debris and crushed cars.

“Reworked” Modern Warfare Maps:

• “Crash” – A war torn urban environment.
• “Overgrown” – Which features a massive dry creek bed.

While I might have a problem with the $15 price tag of this DLC, I completely understand that Infinity Ward and Activision can charge it and people will pay.  After all, we are talking about a game that’s sold more than 25 million copies, many of which are still playing the multiplayer.  When a game is that popular, you can charge whatever you want and people will flock to it.

I personally don’t plan on picking it up, but I also haven’t played the game since December.  How do the rest of your feel about this DLC.  Are you excited about the new maps?  Is Activision charging too much, or is Modern Warfare 2 so good it warrants the steep price?

Source: Destructoid

Today Telltale Games announced that a new season of its popular episodic adventure game series Sam & Max will kick off on April 15. Dubbed ‘The Devil’s Playhouse,’ the new season will include five episodes, with a new one released each month.

The first episode, titled ‘The Penzal Zone,’ follows the premise that “Max has been bestowed with a set of powerful psychic abilities from an unusual ancient source that he’ll wield against the strongest and strangest foes the Freelance Police have ever faced.”

Steve Purcell, creator of Sam & Max stated: “Telltale continues to excel at channeling Sam & Max’s extremely peculiar sensibilities. For each subsequent season they somehow manage to toss ever more mind-addling scenarios at the Freelance Police. The creative team inhabits these characters so well that if I were their parents I’d be worried about them.”

One thing that is notable about this new season is that it will be the first time Sam & Max hit the PS3 (via PlayStation Network downloads). Of course the games will arrive on the PC and Mac, however Telltale has yet to comment if The Devil’s Playhouse will arrive on the Wii or Xbox 360.

For those of you who are interested, you are able to pre-order the entire season for $35. By doing so, you receive a “Freelance Police Elite Membership”, which entails a free episode of a Telltale game and access to a forum to chat with the development team.

I’m really excited to hear this. Sam & Max were staples of my childhood gaming experience, and while I’ve yet to play though either seasons 1 or 2, it’s good to know that these two characters are alive and kicking. Hopefully when spring break rolls around I’ll be able to dive in and relive my youth.

Source: Shacknews.com

For those of you who don’t know, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has essentially taken over the lives of many of us here at Gamer Limit.  We all adamantly agree that it’s one of the best multiplayer FPSs to come along in a while.

If you feel the same way as we do, you’ll be happy to hear that DICE and EA plan on supporting the game with lots of extra content.  According to Eric Brown, EA’s chief financial officer, BF: BC2 will receive an “extensive paid digital content plan with players receiving multiple packs of $5, $10 and $15” over the next six months.

Unfortunately no more details about this paid content have been given, but we do know that by the end of this month there will be two new free maps available for download.  This is on top of the two free maps that were available the day the game launched.

Hopefully the new DLC will include more than just maps.  New weapons and vehicles would also be great and would make the cost more acceptable.  They could even throw a new class in if they really want to get crazy.

I would like to hear from all you fans our there to see if you are interested in this DLC.  I know it’s hard to form a good opinion now until official details are released, but does the prospect of spending more money on BF: BC2 excite you or not interest you at all.

Today Epic Games announced that it has teamed up with Valve Software to help integrate Valve’s free Steamworks tools into all Unreal Engine 3 licensees.

This means that in the future games that use the Unreal Engine 3, like Batman: Arkham Asylum and BioShock, will be able to utilize some of the features that make Steam so great. These include auto-updating, social networking, matchmaking and a non intrusive DRM (and we all know how important that is).

Some gamers may be scratching their heads wondering why this is news worthy. Well as Valve co-founder Gabe Newell explained, “Epic’s technology is one of the most widely used engines in the industry and has powered many of the best games created in the past 10 years.” He continued, “It’s an honor to have Steamworks included in the technology offered to all Unreal Engine 3 licensees. It’s hard to think of a larger, better targeted group of developers who could derive more benefit from the Steamworks services.”

As you can probably tell I think this is a great idea. The Unreal Engine 3 is one of the most popular engines used to create games nowadays. By incorporating Valve’s Steamworks, gamers will now be able to have a more convenient, less intrusive gaming experience on the PC. That’s just my opinion though, and I’m just a tad bit in love with Valve. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Source: Shacknews.com

Today game streaming company OnLine announced that their service will be ready to roll out on June 17 for American PC and Mac owners. The company also announced that OnLive will require a $14.95 a month subscription fee.

For those of you who don’t know, OnLive is a new service (currently in beta) that allows users to play games remotely though their web browser. OnLive doesn’t require subscribers to download or install games. Instead, all the processing is handled by the OnLive servers, with the visuals being streamed to gamers.

According to OnLive executive Steve Perlman, there will be between a dozen and twenty-five titles available at launch. So far, OnLive has partnered up with EA, Ubisoft, 2K Games, THQ and Warner Bros. This means that when the service launches in June gamers will be able to play titles including: Mass Effect 2, Assassin’s Creed II, Borderlands, Dragon Age Origins, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, and Metro 2033.

It is important to note that the $14.95 subscription fee “does not include the purchase or rental of games.” OnLive has yet to announce any official pricing regarding rentals and purchases.

According to the press release, the subscription fee will cover: “instant-play free game demos; multiplayer across PC, Mac and TV platforms; massive spectating; viewing of Brag Clips video capture and posting; and cloud-saving of games you’ve purchased-pause, and instantly resume from anywhere, even on a different platform.

Also included in the monthly service fee are features you’d expect from standard online games services such as gamer tags, user profiles, friends, chat, but with a twist: everything is live video. You’ll be friending through multiplay, Spectating, Brag Clips, or by flipping through video profiles of friends of friends of friends. OnLive is delivering the first instant video-based social network.”

Obviously OnLive will require gamers to have a pretty fast internet connection. The company has stated that there are no latency issues with a 1.5 megabit per second connection for standard definition visuals and a 5 megabit connection for 720p.

If gaming on your PC doesn’t fit you needs, OnLive also has a console that will allow you to play on your TV. So far the company has yet to announce when The MicroConsole TV Adapter will be available.

Personally I’m a bit skeptical of OnLive’s claims. I just can’t believe that a 1.5 MB connection would have no issues with lag. I guess I’ll have to wait until June to find out if this deal is all that it’s cracked up to be.

Source: Shacknews.com

We all knew it was coming, but it’s official now.  Valve – and their shiny Steam boat – are coming to Macs everywhere! It’s planned launch is in April, and Valve’s games – Counter-Strike, Half-Life series, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2 – will be ready too.

But, that’s not all they have up their sleeves.  More into after the break.

Valve plans to implement a new feature in Steam called “Steam Play.”  This will give gamers who own PCs and Macs the ability buy a game once, and play it on either system. Valve’s business development director Jason Holtman says, “…Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac.”

“We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play,” he added.

Valve plans to treat the Mac as a “tier-1″ platform, and all releases following Portal 2 this Christmas will be released on PC, Mac, and X360.  They are supporting a “heterogeneous” mix of servers and clients. This means that Mac and PC owners will be operating in the same “universe of lobbies, servers, and so forth.”  The first Mac Steam client available will be the new generation client that is being beta tested on Windows.

I don’t own a Mac. So, my investment in this announcement is minimal.   Mac owners can only hope this means big name titles will be hitting their white monitors much faster. If not, at least they will get Valve’s games the day they come out!  That’s a victory…right?

Any Mac users out there want to weigh in?  It’s great that they are making an effort to make it identical to the Windows experience, but isn’t this something that should have happened a long time ago?

Source: Eurogamer

As the IGF looms closer, more and more details are being revealed about the finalists. Today, The EA Partners initiative announced that they’ll be publishing two indie games, both from successful developers. The first is Klei Entertainment’s Shank, and the second is Hothead Games’ Deathspank. Shank is a current IGF finalist in the Visual Art Excellence category.

Both games will be making their way to the Xbox LIVE Arcade and the Playstation Network, with Shank also making its debut on the PC. It’s not surprising that EA wanted to pick up these great games, as Klei Entertainment’s flagship title, Eets! was highly successful on both the PC and the Xbox LIVE arcade.

EA seems rather happy with the deal as well, with Jamil Moledina stating in an interview with 1UP, “Battlefield 1943 was highly instructive to us as a company. EAP is definitely in sync with that concept.” Of course, Battlefield 1943 was a critically acclaimed success, so it makes sense for EA to want to snap up as many downloadable titles as possible. EA also stated that with the addition of these two new titles, they will be seeking to expand their digital distribution horizons, so expect to see more announcements from them in the future when it comes to publishing great indie games.

I’m really torn with this one, as Shank seems like it’ll be a completely awesome game, but EA has a history of fouling up anything they dip their hands into, even if they’re just publishing. Eets! did great without any major publisher, so I have to wonder why Klei Entertainment chose to utilize a larger publisher this time around.

Source: 1Up.com