Duty Calls

You may have heard of a newly released free to play game that has been going around called Duty Calls.  The title of this game is purely coincidence and has no relation to a popular game with a similar title, i.e. Call of Duty.  It's a silly shooter that makes of the Call of Duty series in any way it can.  If you haven't already watched the game play for it, you can download and play it for yourself at the official website.  It doesn't take long at all to beat and should be enjoyed for the humor. 

If you're like me and were too lazy to actually download and play it, you can watch the full game here:

Monday Night Combat Steam Promotion

Monday Night Combat has been on the Xbox Live Arcade since August 11, 2010 and today is the release date for it's PC debut through Steam.  The TF2 Team is giving anyone that purchases the game on Steam through 10 AM PST, February 1, 2011 cross game items as a promotional boost.  TF2 players will receive two unique hats and a scout miscellaneous accessories item.  MNC players will receive class items that reflect their TF2 counterparts.

Here's a summary of the new items:

• Bonk! Slash!: Spy mask and Scout headphones worn by Assassin
• Mental Illness: Sniper hat worn by Sniper
• Jet Guns Are Better: Pyro's gasmask worn by Tank
• Eye Lad: Demoman's cap and eyepatch worn by Assault
• Bavcon: Heavy's bandolier worn by Gunner
• Doctor Dispenser: Medic's backpack and Engineer's hardhat worn by Support
• The Athletic Supporter: Available for every TF2 class
• The Superfan: The Mascot's hat worn by the Scout
• The Essential Accessories:The Mascot's wristbands, socks and shoes worn by the Scout 

 One thing I love about MNC is the cheap price, $15 for a good game is hard to come by when you're normally expected to pay upwards of $50-$60 for a new game of the same quality.  If you're interested in playing, check out the MNC store page on the Steam website. 

L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire is a new game soon to be published by Rockstar Games.  You play as a detective that is trying to solve murders in 1940's Los Angeles.  One of the reasons I'm looking forward to this game is the detail of the characters.  A new MotionScan system was used which captures an actor's facial expressions in amazing detail with 32 cameras that surround the actor completely to get every angle.

Video Games | L.A. Noire | Developer Diary: The Technology Behind Performance

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

This looks awesome. 

Australian Christmas

Just recently Valve has released the Australian Christmas update for Team Fortress 2.  A lot of new hats were released with this update including new class sets for the medic, demoman, and heavy.  Medieval mode was also added in which all players have to use melee weapons except for the sniper's huntsman and the new medic crossbow.  Valve also added in a new feature which allows you to buy stamps to support community mapmakers, those that buy stamps are given a hat that becomes progressively better as you buy more of the stamps.

The new item class sets include The Expert's Ordnance for the Demoman, The Hibernating Bear for the Heavy, and The Medieval Medic.  When a player has all the items of a set equipped they are given a special set effect.  One thing I liked about this update is that the new sets don't require you to have a hat for the full set.  Many players did not like the requirement to have a hat for the full set effect because of how hard they were to get unless you either bought them from the store, crafted them from a lot of metal, or traded with other players. 

The Medieval Mode is not quite what you'd expect from a Christmas update but it's very entertaining.  Red team defends the castle while the Blu team attacks from a wooden palisade behind a hill a short distance away.  On either side of the castle is two capture points as well as one final point in the back of the castle that must be captured for the Blu team to win.  The Blu team must first capture both points on either side of the castle before the castle gate will open.  The only entrance into the castle is the gate which results in it being the location of most of the fighting along with the final capture point.  Players have to use melee weapons, there are a few exceptions most notable are the sniper's huntsman and the new medic weapon the Crusader's Crossbow.  One amusing feature of this mode is that all text entered by players in chat is converted to Ye Olde English which can make conversing with other players both interesting and frustrating.   

Here's a video which will give you a very good idea of what Medieval Mode is like.




Sorry for the huge gap in blog posts everyone.