square-enix-europe posts

Fans of the PC version of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light have been waiting patiently for the game's promised DLC content to be released for our version Today the wait is over as the downloadable third person co-op action-adventure game from developer Crystal Dynamics now has some cool extras to check out via Steam.

One extra has been released for free as players can now play the games as Kane and Lynch from the game series of the same name. For $3.49 players can also download the Legacy of Kain character pack where you can control Kain and Raziel from that now dormant game franchise. There are also three new challenge map packs (All The Trappings, Things That Go Boom and Hazardous Reunion). Each adds four new maps to the game and each pack costs $3.49.

It's always important for icons to reinvent themselves, and few video game characters are as recognizable as the ever agile Lara Croft. Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light is a spin-off from the Tomb Raider series and offers a new perspective to the treasure hunting and puzzle solving formula. The downloadable game looks downward onto the main characters using an isometric view camera, making it possible to see more of the environment to figure out puzzles and dodge hazards... that is, when she's not shooting at dangerous creatures. That's not the only change, since Lara can be joined by a warrior named Totec (the Guardian of Light mentioned in the title) to combine skills and overcome obstacles together. The game diverges from the traditional Tomb Raider formula on a number of different levels, but in this case, that's a good thing.

Check out all Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light downloads

You only have a week before Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days is released but various retailers are offering special pre-order offers for Io Interactive's third person shooter sequel. GameStop is offering perhaps the coolest of the pre-order bonuses; an exclusive new multiplayer map, the Radio Tower. Ordering the game from Best Buy adds eight new multiplayer masks for your character to wear in the game. Both GameStop and Best Buy's pre-order offers add new multiplayer weapons to the game.

If you buy the game from Amazon.com you can get a 16 page preview of the recently launched Kane and Lynch comic book. Finally Wal Mart is offering a free strategy guide for the game's Fragile Alliance gameplay mode as its pre-order incentive. Again, you had better movie quickly as Kane and Lynch 2 is due out on August 17.

[Via email press release]

Fans of the Dungeon Siege series of fantasy action-RPG titles just got a big wallop of a surprise this morning. Today VG247.com is reporting that Square Enix will be publishing Dungeon Siege III, the next full game in the series.

However the main developer behind the game won't be the title's originator Gas Powered Games but Obsidian Entertainment, makers of the just released Alpha Protocol and the upcoming Fallout New Vegas. The press release does say that Gas Powered and its founded Chris Taylor will be involved in a supervisory role in Dungeon Siege III. Look for support for four player co-op in the game as well. There's no word on a release date.

Update: We now have the first screenshots of the game

Want to drive around your neighborhood in a pimped-out ice cream truck? Well, you can't in real life but you sure can in the open world action game sequel Just Cause 2. Today its publisher Square Enix has announced that players of the Avalanche Studios developed title can now access the Chevalier Ice Breaker vehicle for free.

Yes, you can be stylin' and profilin' in this rig which comes with some low suspension, a great paint job and as you can see a very nasty looking front bumper that looks like it could tear up your Ford Focus if you happen to be on the wrong side of it. This is likely the first of many extra content releases for the game in the coming weeks.

[Via email press release]

A few days ago we reported that the next game to feature Tomb Raider lead Lara Croft would be a downloadable co-op themed title with a top down isometric viewpoint. Today our sister site Joystiq, who got to see the game during GDC 2010, reports back that Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light will indeed be released for the PC (among other platforms) sometime this summer.

Don't expect a full game experience, however. Joystiq states that the game will have about six hours of total gameplay and will be priced accordingly at $15. We suspect this is something like a side project for developer Crystal Dynamics before they make a full fledged Tomb Raider game at some point in the future.

Usually open world action games don't get the demo treatment but that apparently won't be the case with Just Cause 2. The upcoming sequel to the Avalanche Studios-developed game will indeed be getting a playable demo.

The info comes from the Twitter page of Eidos community manager Mike Oldman who later "tweeted" that the demo would indeed be released for the PC in addition to its console platforms. There's no word yet on when the demo will be released or what content will be contained in it although Oldman did say, in his humble opinion, that "it's awesome". The full game is still due to ship to store on March 23.

Gallery: Just Cause 2

There are already a ton of major AAA PC games set for release in the first quarter of 2010 (Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2, Star Trek Online, Command and Conquer 4 and Supreme Commander 2 to name just a few) . Today that schedule just got tighter with today's news that the open world action game sequel Just Cause 2 will be shipping to stores in the US for the PC and other platforms on March 23, 2010 (Europeans and other world territories get the game a few days later on March 26).

The Avalanche Studios-developed game was already well in the works before its publisher Eidos got bought out by Square Enix earlier this year. However the game will still be published with the Eidos branding. Will this sequel that promises action over a massive 400 square mile fictional South Asian island.with lots of shooting, driving, exploding and falling be enough to deal with the onslaught of other major game releases in the next few months? Good question.

In 2007, Eidos released Kane and Lynch: Dead Men from developer Io Interactive. The co-op themed third person shooter got mixed reviews, a movie deal and indirectly lead to a mass exodus of Gamespot team members. Now the newly renamed Square Enix Europe has officially announced that Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days is coming to your PC hard drive, if you dare, sometime in 2010. Despite the recent name change in the publisher, the game will still be released with the Eidos brand.

Expect to see lots of shaky camera work in the sequel as the official press release claims that the game "is inspired by documentary filmmakers and the user-generated era." You can expect to see lots of bullets fly out as the duo cuts a bloody chunk out of "the gritty Shanghai underworld." Hopefully it won't cut a chuck out of a gaming web site's personnel this time.

Square Enix's purchase of the UK-based Eidos is now complete, according to a new press release issued this week. From now on the former Eidos operations will be referred to as Square Enix Ltd. and will operate as part of the Square Enix Europe unit.

However that doesn't mean we have seen the last of the Eidos logo or brand name. The press release indicated that the Eidos name would still be used as a brand for the release of games, along with Square Enix and Taito. That likely means that the former Eidos game properties like the Tomb Raider and Hitman series could still have the Eidos logo for any future installments even though the games will officially be owned by Square Enix.