Action

This trailer reveals in-game footage from James Cameron's Avatar: The Video Game. From the looks of things, heavily armed soldiers will do battle against the alien locals, the Na'vi, in a war over the planet's resources. The Na'vi may look a bit fragile and rely mainly on melee weapons, but they're not pushovers. They're fast and are willing to call upon the local wildlife to aid them. Avatar releases on December 1st.

James Cameron's Avatar "will take you deep into the heart of Pandora, an alien planet that is beyond imagination. Gamers will encounter the Na'vi, Pandora's indigenous people and discover creatures and other wildlife the likes of which have never been seen in the world of video games before. When conflict erupts between the RDA Corporation, a space-faring consortium in search of valuable resources, and the Na'vi, players will find themselves thrust into a fight for the heart of a planet and the fate of a civilization."

Download Avatar 'Ignite the War' Trailer (112 MB)
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In this developer video, the team at Playlogic go into detail about some of the game features found in Fairytale Fights, a hack-and-slash action game where players use fairytale characters to cut a bloody path through hordes of enemies. Players have access to a variety of different weapons and items which work using Real Time Dynamic Slicing, a system that adds special directional effects to the bloodshed.

Download HD Fairytale Fights Developer Diary #1 (396 MB)
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This update for Torchlight, an action role-playing game, addresses a list of performance and balance issues. Be aware that it is ONLY meant for the version purchased directly from Runic Games, and those who purchased it from other outlets should check those sites for the appropriate updates. Additionally, players will have to first uninstall the game before executing the patch, then input their game keys. Be sure to keep and/or backup your save games. Full patch notes and installation instructions are shown after the jump.

The patch also doubles as a stand-alone demo for Torchlight and allows for two hours of gameplay.

[Update]: Due to a slight oversight on the developer's part, although the patch really updates Torchlight to v1.12, the game will still show v1.11 on the title screen.

Download Torchlight Demo and v1.12 Patch (418 MB)

A few days ago we reported that the PC version of Star Trek D-A-C would finally be released via Steam on November 17, the same day as the DVD and Blu-Ray release of the Star Trek movie revival. Well, it looks like gamers will get their Trek gaming goodness a few days earlier than planned. The Steam pre-order page has changed the release date. It's now showing a November 12 date for the game to be made available for download.

Pricing for the PC port has still not been revealed on the Steam web site. The top down space shooter from developer Naked Sky Entertainment is scheduled to have a number of extras not available in the first Xbox 360 version.

Each week we find more and more free games that do not quite fit into the freeware mold. Games that do not require a subscription fee to play, but encourage player usage of money through microtransactions or special subscription services. This is Playing For Free, a column that showcases these games.

Once again, we return to the realm of free-to-play MMO shooters. We've covered Quake Live, Battlefield Heroes, and even Combat Arms, so maybe it's time to tackle something a little more new. CrimeCraft was released in August, and quickly went to the "free unlimited trial" system that boils down to being free-to-play. It's not great, and certainly not better than other free-to-play MMO shooters like Combat Arms (even with insane community), but it's passable and, at least on the surface, unique.

While everyone else is waiting for pre-Black Friday sales, PC gamers know that sales on downloadable PC games can be found all the time, especially on Thursdays.

• Steam has cut the price of the original Mass Effect to just $9.99 for the weekend
• Impulse has a number of weekend game sales going on including Flock for $7.49, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl for $9.99 and Mosby's Confederacy for $12.99.
• GamersGate has cut the prices of several of their games. That includes Painkiller, Painkiller Overdose and Painkiller Universe which are down 30 percent each. It has also put Grappling Hook (for PC and Mac) on sale for 50 percent off its normal price this weekend.
• Direct2Drive offers up $5 off Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising if you put in the promo code 5OFFOPFLASH at checkout.
• Telltale Games is offering full seasons of Sam and Max Seasons One and Two, Strong Bad and Wallace and Gromit for $20 each, a savings of $15 each from their original price.
  

He's spend a long time serving his country, but Sam Fisher will be turning toward the dark side in Splinter Cell: Conviction. So, the best infiltration agent in the world decides to go rogue and solve the murder of his daughter on his own terms... things are bound to get bloody.

Splinter Cell: Conviction is scheduled to release on February 23rd, 2010.

Download HD Splinter Cell: Conviction Developer Diary #2 (133 MB)
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Valve's Steam PC game download service has added a classic character to its library. Earthworm Jim, the weird but cool action game mascot of the now defunct Shiny Entertainment, is now available to download via Steam in a bundle that contains the original game, Earthworm Jim 2 and Earthworm 3D. The bundle costs $19.99 and is the only way to get the games via Steam; they are not sold separately.

In different but related news, Steam has added the three Massive Assault strategy games from Order of War developer Wargaming.net to the service. You can get each game (Massive Assault, Massive Assault: Phantom Renaissance, and Massive Assault Network 2) separately or all three in a bundle package for $59.99. The bundle saves you $29.98 if you bought each game on its own.

Finally Steam has added the recent adventure game Fatale and the action shooter Doom Rails to its library.

While Tim Schafer's latest game Brutal Legend has bypassed the PC completely, the last game his did for our platform has finally appeared over at the DRM-free download site GoG.com. Yes, Psychnoauts, the old platform game released in 2005 by publisher Majesco, can now be yours for the low price of $9.99. We can't recommend this game highly enough.

GoG.com has also added Advent Rising, the sci-fi third person action game that Majesco also first released in 2005. While not nearly as good as Psychonauts it was made by the team that now heads up Chair Entertainment and features a story developed by Orson Scott Card. You can grab it at GoG.com for just $5.99.

In Assassin's Creed 2, players won't be acting as the lone wolf as they did in the previous game. Instead, the newly initiated killer will need a lot of support from allied factions to learn the skills of the trade. However, we kind of doubt Ezio can distract people the same way busty courtesans can. The game releases later this month on consoles and in 2010 for the PC.

Download HD Assassin's Creed 2 'Faction's' Trailer (47 MB)
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It looks like the trailer and web site that was launched late last weekend that looked like an official promo for the upcoming American McGee's Alice remake was not official after all. McGee's blog site has posted up word that the trailer " . . . does not represent any of the final art direction or story elements in Alice 2."

Even though the video is not an official promo for the game McGee admitted in a forum post on his site that the creator of the video, Troy Morgan is a friend of his. Morgan posted on his official site that the video was made as an ad pitch to McGee and the game's publisher Electronic Arts. McGee also admitted he helped in launching the ReturnofAlice.com web site where the video was previously hosted.

However he still states, " . . . *i* never said the thing was "official". i distinctly remember saying the word "unofficial" - which last time i checked means the opposite of official." He also admits that his efforts to highlight the efforts of a fan have caused him some problems with EA. He adds, . . . "i *wish* we could release actual official stuff. but we can't. because we live in communist controlled china - oh wait... not because of that. for another reason. i won't dare mention it. i might get in MORE trouble."

Capcom games are generally known for having stylized and memorable characters. Naturally, the development team working on Dark Void wants to live up to that expectation by having fully fleshed out characters for players to enjoy and interact with, and in doing so will overcome the stereotype that American video game characters are two-dimensional. We'll soon find out how successful they are when Dark Void releases in 2010.

Download HD Dark Void Developer Diary #3 (685 MB)
Download HD Dark Void Developer Diary #2 (102 MB)
Download HD Dark Void Developer Diary #1 (84 MB)
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We've been reporting for some time on the progress of Mytheon, the upcoming free-to-play action-RPG from developer Petroglyph and publisher True Games Interactive. Today, True Games has provided Big Download with an exclusive first look at three of the environments that the player will explore in the game. Mytheon is currently scheduled to officially launch in 2010 with a beta test said to begin soon.

The recently launched and free-to-play League of Legends allows players to compete against each other using summoners, each with special skills and abilities.

"League of Legends is a session-based, online multiplayer battle-arena game where rival teams compete against one another for victory on highly stylized battlefields and landscapes. The title combines elements of role-playing and strategy genres with addictive battle action that brings accessible, replayable, competitive gameplay into a whimsical universe that deepens with the player's commitment. Commanding one of dozens of unique Champions, players will wield awesome powers, abilities and items bringing ruin on their foes."

Download HD League of Legends 'Champion' Trailer (73 MB)
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Even though the PC version of Assassin's Creed 2 isn't due for release until the first quarter of 2009, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy aspects of the game ahead of time. One thing you can do is listen to the game's musical score which will be released on November 16 via digital download.

As he did for the original game in 2007, Jesper Kyd returns to handle the sountdrack duties for the sequel to Ubisoft's stealth action game. The soundtrack was recorded at Capitol Studios with "A-List musicians and a Hollywood orchestra." You can listen to samples of the score at his official web site. Kyd also handled the musical score to Gearbox Software's hit shooter Borderlands.