Battlefield 3 Aftermath DLC detailed

Battlefield 3's next DLC called Armored Kill is coming out on September but EA decided to give the community a heads up on what to expect in Aftermath, the fourth DLC that's planned for a December release.

Here is a small description given by EA about Aftermath.

Set amongst the shattered districts, streets and surrounding villages of a post-earthquake Tehran Battlefield 3™: Aftermath depicts a continuing struggle for supremacy and survival amongst the devastation.

With operational capacity severely compromised the opposing forces must adapt and engage in vertical and horizontal urban combat amongst the dust and rubble with cracks and fissures in the terrain providing unexpected cover and paths to objectives. Additional support comes in the form of heavily modified troop transports and civilian vehicles specially adapted to deliver deadly force to the enemy.

Key Features

• Urban warfare on four new maps
• Fight through the dust and rubble, use the earthquake damaged terrain to your tactical advantage
• New heavily modified military and civilian vehicles – ingenuity and firepower combined
• New game mode
• New assignments, achievements and dog tags

No official date has been given. Even Armored Kill has no date still, which is scheduled to be released first.

After Aftermath is released in December, only one DLC remain for Battlefield 3 - Endgame, which is planned for an early 2013 release. Curious to what they mean about using earthquake damaged terrain as your advantage. I have a feeling it's just properly placed rocks that can be triggered to drop on players.

Path of Exile having another Open Beta this weekend

The Free To Play Action RPG Path to Exile is having another Open Beta this weekend for the whole world to try out. Grinding Gear Games is opening the beta for the weekend for a stress test, and of course giving players a chance to see what Path Exile has to offer.

I joined the last Open Beta Weekend days before the release of Diablo 3 and it's definitely in my watch list. Not only is it Free To Play, it also has a wide variety of unique features. For one, there is no currency system but rather a barter system. Trade your loot to vendors and you get a useful item in return. The skill tree in the game is also huge, don't believe me?

Yea... If you've played Final Fantasy X, then you have an idea on what you're getting into. Not the full shot of the skill tree but you get the idea.

This game has been in development for five years and I love how they mentioned this during their press release for the Open Beta Weekend:

The game is free to play, but does not feature ‘pay-to-win’.

People are taking notes to past mistakes and I like seeing that.

If you love games such as Diablo and Torchlight, this is definitely worth checking out. Beta servers will be up at 5pm PDT on Friday, July 27. Here's the Open Beta FAQ that includes a link to start downloading the game client.

Going to have a busy weekend so hopefully I'll find the time to join the Open Beta.

Here's a trailer to give you an idea...

Final day for the Steam Summer Sale

 

The great week of god crazy discounts is at its end. The Steam Summer Sale is on its last day and the last set of deals are decent to say the least. If you haven't played any of the Bioshock games, Bastion, or Splinter Cell: Conviction, it's worth the buy at 75% off. Here is the full list.

Last Day Deals:

• Operation Flashpoint: Red River – $11.24 (75% off)
• Football Manager 2011 – $9.99 (75% off)
• BioShock – $4.99 (75% off)
• SPAZ (Space Pirates and Zombies) – $2.49 (75% off)
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction – $4.99 (75% off)
• Jagged Alliance: Back in Action – $9.99 (75% off)
• Bastion – $3.74 (75% off)
• Double Fine Bundle – $7.49 (75% off)
• Indie Bundle XI – $9.99 (75% off)

Double Fine Bundle:

• Costume Quest
• Psychonauts
• Stacking
• Indie Bundle XI:
• Hydrophobia: Prophecy
• Orion: Dino Beatdown
• Star Ruler
• Waveform
• World of Goo

Indie Bundle XI:

• Hydrophobia: Prophecy
• Orion: Dino Beatdown
• Star Ruler
• Waveform
• World of Goo

Pack Deals

• Star Wars: Collection -$49.99 ( 50% off)
• Pop Cap Collection – $49.99 (50% off)
• Ubisoft Collection – $49.99 (50% off)
• Telltale Games collection – $49.99 (50% off)
• Id Collection – $49.99 (50% off)
• SEGA Hit Collection – $49.99 (88% 0ff)
• Paradox Collection – $49.99 (82% off)
• Rockstar Hit Collection – $49.99 (58% off)
• Valve Complete Pack – $49.99 (50% off)
• THQ Collection – $49.99 (84% off)
• Nordic games Collection – $49.99 (59% off)
• Cyan Complete Pack – $14.99 ( 50% off)
• Sqaure Enix Collection – $49.99 (79% off)
• 2k games Collection – $49.99 (77% off)
• Focus Hit Collection – $49.99 (82% off)
• MumboJumbo Collection – $34.99 (56% off)
• Bethesda Collection – $ 49.99 (72% off)
• 1C Collection – $49.99 (85% off)
• Railworks 3 Collection – $49.99 ( 79% off)
• Kalypso Colection – $49.99 (50% off)
• Strategy First Collection – $49.99 (50% off)
• Activision – $49.99 (77% off)

The last set of flash deals and community sales are up and are worth checking out. The deals last for only 8 hours so I suggest you check them out now.

Oh an if you're wondering on the game that's not available to where I live(Asia), that unavailable game is Operation Flashpoint: Red River which is fine by me. I just have no idea why that game is unavailable in my region.

Just like the holiday sale, the deals were hard to believe. 75% off? It felt like Christmas all over again. I snagged a couple of deals this week - Legend of Grimrock, Binding of Isaac, and Civilization V. Sum that all up, and I've only spent less than 20 bucks for them. Still looking at getting one more game, and with Saint't Row: The Third back at 75% off, I might just consider that.

Got anything good in Steam during the Summer Sale?

EA includes co-op to Dead Space because it's considered too scary?

I'm sure you guys have heard about Dead Space 3 having co-op. Based on EA's research for the first two Dead Space games, a lot of people thought it was too scary and wished they could play the game with a friend. Thus, co-op was planned for the third game. Apparently too scary is a negative for a" survival horror" game which is hilarious. 

EA' marketing head Laura Miele spoke to MCV about this change in the Dead Space franchise.

“We were doing research coming out of Dead Space 1 and 2 and we’re really proud of those products. We received feedback to understand how we can take the game out to even more consumers,” she stated.

“We were hearing feedback that they love the thriller game, but it was pretty scary, and the obvious next step was that they wanted to play with someone. So we introduced co-op into the game.

EA states that the same levels of horror in the first two games will be found on the third but now with a friend.

As much as they say it will be the same, you won't feel the same horror given when playing alone. The idea that you are all alone to survive and face these unknown creatures hidden in the dark is what brings out the scares and fears in these types of games. Dead Space 1 and 2 captured it perfectly with the atmosphere that somewhat resembled the first Alien movie some way. And let's not forget about the necromorphs.

I hate the fact that they implemented co-op. Dead Space was considered a sleeper hit among gamers but never a huge money earner. Adding co-op does bring more potential buyers, but I fear for the survival horror genre. I considered Dead Space the title keeping the genre alive. So hopefully more horror games get developed to fill in the gaps.

Check out the link to see Dead Space 3 first revealed at this year's E3.

Next Battlefield 3 DLC is the reason why I love this franchise

FACK! Just when I started hating EA and DICE for what they just recently announced, they throw this amazing DLC trailer that pretty much cater to why I love Battlefield in the first place -Vehicle Warfare. Four new maps, new vehicles, mobile artillery, and what they consider "Biggest map in Battlefield history"? Crap I'm sold, but still not touching Battlefield 3 Premium.

Yes, this video definitely got me back to my good side. Armored Kill is perfect. But they showed that announcement again at the end which made me hate them all over again. Can't we just get more DLC instead of a sequel?  No? Crap.

Armored Kill is the third out of five planned DLC for Battlefield 3 and is planned for a September release on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. Battlefield 3 Premium players will have early access and of course all five DLC for free when released.