Today Ubisoft sent out a press release announcing that a new sequel in the Call of Juarez franchise will be hitting the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 sometime this summer.

Dubbed Call of Juarez: The Cartel, the third title in the series promises to take gamers out of the Old West and drop them off in Modern times. The game’s story will take gamers on an adventure that will span Los Angeles to Juarez, Mexico. Judging by the title, chances are the game will deal with the drug trade and gang violence that plagues the real city of Juarez, Mexico. The development is being handled by the Polish team Techland, who also made Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. Read more… »

After riling its PC fanbase with the cancellation of Battlefield 1943 and Onslaught, DICE seem keen to swiftly make amends as today marks the first peek at Battlefield 3, the official successor to the highly influential PC hit Battlefield 2 from 2005.

Hit the jump for the first teaser trailer and newly revealed details.

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While it may not come as that big of a surprise considering all the delays, it still stings a bit to hear developer DICE finally confirm that the PC versions of Battlefield 1943 and the Onslaught Mode DLC for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 have been axed.

Karl Magnus Troedsson, general Manager of DICE, said the cancellation was “to balance work on the new against the already shipped, prioritizing the amount of energy spent on the known franchises and the time spent on developing something entirely new.”

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Today indie publisher Paradox announced that it’s new co-op Norse-based fantasy action game Magicka has sold over 30,000 copies in it’s first 24 hours of being released. Pretty impressive considering the developer, Arrowhead Studios, is just an eight person operation. What’s even more impressive is that because of those 24 hours, Magicka is now topping the charts on Valve’s Steam service. Read more… »

“Aurora is an ambient indie RTS game that simplifies the genre to its strategic core.” That’s the quick tagline on Aurora’s homepage, and theoretically I could start and end this review with that statement. But what is the RTS genre’s “strategic core,” and is Aurora a game that truly exemplifies the RTS genre? Hit the jump to read more about this indie game that I discovered by chance. Read more… »

Apparently, it’s The Next Big Thing. While upcoming titles are resting on the laurels of legacy and countless years of hype (see Duke Nukem Forever), or new technology, publisher prestige and leaked trailers (see L.A. Noir), this game boldly tells you upfront, claiming to have transcended into greatness with little more than a few flashes of style. Offering gameplay in the vein of point-and-click adventures, Pendulo Studios promises “a story that will force you to use your brain power thanks to hundreds of puzzles. You will be titillated by its movie-like action sequences, and you will go into hysterics during the countless moments of sheer comedy.”

Read further and judge for yourself.

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Today a long running gaming joke has finally died. Gearbox Software has announced that Duke Nukem Forever will be released for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on May 3 in North America. A world wide released will be trailing close behind on May 6.

As I’m sure all of you know, Duke Nukem Forever has had quite an interesting and infamous development history. Originally announced in 1997 by 3d Realms, DNF saw several engine switches resulting in a seemingly endless amount of delays. Up until Gearbox’s acquisition of the IP back in September 2010, gamers widely considered the game to be vaporware. But all that is in the past and 2K Games along with Gearbox have done everything in their power to return this tainted title back to its proper place on gamers’ “can’t wait” list. Read more… »

Way back in June Valve co-founder and managing director Gabe Newell gave a little talk where he claimed that the PS3 version of Portal 2 would be the best console version, mainly due to the inclusion of Valve’s Steamworks technology. Despite this claim, Valve has been pretty tight-lipped about what exactly Steamworks on the PS3 would entails, that is until today.

According to Valve, Portal 2 on the PS3 will feature cross-platform multiplayer with both PC and Mac. On top of that, there will be cross-platform chat and cloud-based saved game storage. Also, when you buy the PS3 version of Portal 2, you’ll get a free SteamPlay version of the game for PC and Mac. Read more… »

Over this past summer I posted a little news story about TellTale Games and their acquisition of the rights to produce a Back to the Future game, as well as the rights to make a game set in the world of Jurassic Park. Well, as we all know, TellTale has recently released the first chapter of their Back to the Future game, receiving a ton of praise on it, however the developer has been pretty tight lipped as to what they are doing with Jurassic Park.

Well, TellTale has lifted the curtain releasing a few details about their dino-tastic adventure game. According to a recent article in Game Informer, Jurassic Park will be a five-part downloadable series that takes place on Isla Nublar (the island from the first movie). Acting as a direct sequel to the first (and as far as I’m concerned, only) movie, TellTale will tie up all the plot points, such as that secret shaving cream container full of dino DNA. Read more… »

I’m going to share something with you. Up until very recently, let’s say January 2011, I hadn’t played either of the games in the Mass Effect series despite being both a RPG and science fiction fan. I knew of the supposed quality of the series and Mass Effect 2 in particular, especially considering how many Game of the Year nominations it picked up.

I just finished playing both games. I put well over twenty hours into Mass Effect, and continuing with my female Renegade Shepard, I put over thirty-five hours into Mass Effect 2. Both games were incredible, and the series does so many things right. However there is one area where I feel BioWare missed the mark. Hit the jump to find out.

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Today developer Day 1 and publisher Warner Bros. announced that F.E.A.R. 3 has been delayed again. Once slated to arrive fall 2010, the spooky shooter was then pushed back to March 2011. Now F.E.A.R. 3 is scheduled to arrive on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 sometime in May.

According to a statement from WB, “The F.E.A.R. 3 launch date will now be in May 2011, as we look to deliver the best possible game for our consumers.” Read more… »

Dynamic Lights is the title of this short, short video posted Monday. It’s not much of an exciting title, let alone an exciting video. The excitement can instead be found in the tiny words at the top left corner just before you click on that play button, or right after the movie is done. It’s the point when you suddenly realize it’s not so much the video, but the game behind it. Using the new Unreal Engine 3, backed by Epic Games and developed by People Can Fly, it’s Bulletstorm; and you’re getting a back stage pass.

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