Sorry I haven’t been writing. Getting back into the swing of things after CES and school starting again, it’s been crazy busy, on with the news.

Monday Night Combat:

 

We PC gamers are always looking for great games to play at our LAN party’s. One of the biggest determining factors is LAN play. When StarCraft 2 came out people were disappointed that it didn’t have LAN play. I guess that we just deal with it. Watching the MLG tourney a couple of months ago it was funny to watch the network go down and hold up the tournament. Monday Night Combat doesn’t have this limitation. I know that people might be short on cash right now cause of the holidays. I urge you to take a look at MNC. When the game first came out many people thought that it was just another TF2 clone. After putting over three hours in it I can say that it’s not. Think of TF2 with a mix of League of Legends/DoTA. Enemy bots are always spawning and trying to make it to your base. Some of the bots are easy to take down, some not so much. The classes are all pretty equal with my own personal opinion that the Assassin class is way overpowered, having a class that does one hit kills is overpowered for my taste. Like any great game that announcer has to be spot on, “Hey Ohhhh” and this one is. The best announcer in any game period is from Unreal Tournament. I can hear it now, “Killing Spree”. Not only is the announcer cocky in a funny way he also gives you good tips throughout the game. The guns in the game or weapons all feel really good, kind of like in the Call of Duty games. I have been playing mostly the Assault character. This is the most well rounded character in the lineup.  He has an assault rifle with quick reloads that does quite a bit of damage. The second weapon is a grenade launcher. This can do some serious damage if you place your shot correctly. The grenades bounce so you’ll have to take that into account.  For a game that supports LAN and dedicated servers this might just become our new LAN game. I urge everyone to head over to Steam and download it now. At $15 it’s one hell of a deal.

Steam MidWeek Madness:

 

Global Agenda is on sale until 7pm EST. I bought this after a friend recommended it to me. Was I in for a surprise. This isn’t the best shooter or the best MMO, but it is the best MMO Shooter! I talked a little bit about this game last time in Gaming News but I still have been super busy with other games and school. I need to put more time in it than what I already have. From what I have played so far it has good gun feel and the leveling up feels like your actually accomplishing something.  Once I get some more game time in i’ll post a full review. For $7.50 just go ahead and buy it. I know Lesar also picked this up along with D-RAYMAC and Technobear. I might add that there is no monthly subscription to Global Agenda. That is what made me buy the game. If you want to shoot people in an MMO then this is your game.

Magicka:

 

Another small indie game came out this week called Magicka. The people over at Arrowhead Game Studios have really done a great job. Again, I haven’t spent a lot of time with this game but a couple of LanOC member have picked it up. The game had a couple of problems at launch but the dev’s have been throwing out updates about every day. For $10 I would call it a good time waster. It also has Co-Op and Multiplayer and for those of you that need controller support it has that too.

I hope everyone enjoyed our CES 2011 coverage. All of the reviewers had a great time out in Las Vegas. Until next week, Wingless out!

Hey yo, 2011 is here and our LanOC reviewers/writers are off to Las Vegas for CES 2011. 

 
Just wanted to post a little something before we all head out. I will be covering the gaming side of CES along with other perspectives of the show. You will have to wait and find out what those are but they will be fun to read as always. I am looking forward to see what the new crazy thing is for PC gaming. We will be posting new articles daily so remember to watch the boards.

I highly recommend look at this thread and following all of us. Gives you a more in depth look into what we are doing at the moment.

I am also working on a write up on Global Agenda. If you haven't already please take a look at this game. I have been playing it the last couple of nights and this is the game that LanOC needs to play.  I don't have to time to write anything yet but i'll be working on it over the next couple of weeks. All I can say is 3rd person shooter MMO!

That is all for now. Wish us luck out in Vegas. We have some NFL playoff games and also the BCS National Championship game going on so I will have to place a couple of bets.

Hopefully one of our crew wins big in the casino. 

Wingless92 out. Happy New Year. 2011, putting the 11 in 1 out of 10!

 

Its almost Christmas time, have you filled out your list and checked it twice? Ah, who cares, on with the news.

World Of Warcraft Cataclysm


 
So we all know that WoW is the MMORPG juggernaut. With over twelve million subscribers according to Blizzard, there is no other than can touch it. With an new expansion the crowd of players comes out in force to pick up the game. Fans of Blizzard are a crazy bunch. I have never witnessed as many people that dress up for a game. You have to hand it to them for creating a game that draws so much attention. With this new release the level cap has been raised to 85 and you can now fly in Azeroth. Two new races have been introduced Goblins for the Horde side and Worgens for the Alliance side. All of the starting zones have been redesigned with all new quests. I haven't started a new character yet to see this new content. I have been working on my Blood Elf Hunter, hitting level 85 just a couple of days ago. The problem with WoW is that there is so much to do and so much to see that it turns players away. I have been playing for two years and I still haven't seen half of the game. With this new expansion Blizzard is hoping to change that. Until I create a new character I can't say how well this is done. What I can talk about is the new zones. Starting out, you want your hearthstone in Orgimmar.  This is the easiest way to get around the world now. Gone are the days of sitting in Dalaran and using the portals to transfer around the world. There are ports to the new zones in Orgimmar so it makes it pretty easy to get around. I try and stay away from Undercity because my Death Knight Tauren has problems going thru doors on his mount. About the quests, these are some of the best quests that I have ever done in the game. In Wrath of the Lich King Blizzard started this with flying quests and other quests that transformed your character. In Cataclysm they really took it to the next level. There are RTS style quests. mount quests and the all important siege tank quests. I can say that the RTS style quests were quite fun. They really changed up the gameplay. It took me about 25 hours to gather enough XP for me to get to level 85. One of the biggest changes that no one mentions is how much heath you gain. Being a Hunter in Mail, I was around 30k health in moderate gear. Now, its over 100k in randoms. There is so much to do and so much to see that this would be a 100 page post. If you play WoW and you haven't picked it up, you need to rush out or download it straight from Blizzard.

FireFall


I can't remember where I watched the PAX footage for this game but once I did I was hooked. Do yourself a favor and watch the trailer for this game.





It looks to be a cross between Team Fortress 2 and World Of Warcraft. If you want to see gameplay from PAX watch the video below.





I really like how you can switch between first and third person on the fly, with both views looking great. What I know so far is the game is a team-based-action-shooter that is free to play with micro transactions. I know for some the barrier for World of Warcraft is the subscription fee. With FireFall you don't have to worry about that. If you head on over the their site you can check out all the info for the game and also sign up for the beta. Hopefully when this comes out its going to turn some heads. This is one of my most anticipated games for 2011.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam



In three days the new expansion for Battlefield Bad Company 2 drops. For a measly $14.99 off the Steam store you can pick this up and join us for a great team based shooter. We will have a thread up in our forums of who has this and who is going to be playing. Remember, you must have the base Battlefield Bad Company 2 game to run Vietnam.

Steam's Midweek Madness Sale

 
If you haven't played Killing Floor you are missing out. If you like games with zombies, guns and weapon upgrades then this is the game for you. I have played many games with our writers Adam and Cory and have always had a great time. For $6.80 you can't go wrong. Do yourself a favor and pick this up and then play it at the next LAN on your downtime. 

Also on sale this week are Just Cause 2 for $7.49, Metro 2033 for $9.99.

Monday Night Combat


Monday Night Combat is launching on PC. You can pre-order it on Steam right now for $13.49 for a savings of 10%. This is a class based shooter, think Team Fortress 2 on steroids. This was a huge hit on XBLA but remember that not many people play TF2 on consoles. This may be something to look at when it comes out January 7, 2011. 


Game Nights

The comments started flowing over the last week or so about having game nights. We have a wide variety of people in LanOC which is great. Not all people play the same games. We have been thinking about setting up nights for specific games. The two biggest games right now are COD:Black Ops and  Battlefield. We need our community's input of which games for which nights you want to play. Now I know that we are going to have a TF2 night and a Starcraft 2 night but we are just wanting to get your input. There are so many games out there that we all play that we can't fit them all in but we will try and figure out a system that works. One night might be a FPS night then the next be a RTS night. Just thinking out loud here but what will make this work is people showing up on game nights with games that they own and giving their input. I know that games aren't cheap and we don't all own the same games but the ones that the community agrees on will be giving first priority. Let us know what you think in this thread.

That is all for Gaming News this week. I have one final left for the semester, hopefully i'll do just as good on this one as I did on my other ones. Remember your cast of editors/writers are leaving on January 5th for CES. Please post up what you want us to cover. I hope you have a good week and remember to get your Christmas shopping done early. Or, you can be like me and order all of your stuff online, have it gift wrapped and shipped to your family. I don't know what it is but I suck at wrapping gifts, I blame it on the wrapping paper. Have a good week everyone. Wingless92 out.

Sorry about last week everyone, I had surgery and was out of it. Now that things are back to normal we can get on with it. Here is your weekly gaming news.
 
Chrome Web Store

 
I am a huge proponent of Chrome. As many of the readers know I switched from an iOS device to the Android platform. I like to customize my products, that is why I changed devices.  If you have Chrome installed head over here and check it out. As much as I hate to say it more and more people are playing casual games in their browsers. Looking at Zynga with their Facebook Farmville app, it is now being reported that Zynga is worth more than Developer/Publisher Electronic Arts! I have never played Farmville but you can't deny the fact that people play and they are paying for in game items. With games in browsers and digital retailers like Steam/Direct 2 Drive/Impulse and others, PC gaming is not going anywhere. That is why I think Google put games in their Web Store. Think about it for a minute, how many people do you know with a laptop? Now take all of those people, have them install Chrome and boom, gaming machine on the cheap. Now i'm not saying were going to get Metro 2033 kind of graphics here but is that what most of the users want? Over the Thanksgiving holiday I started playing Defense Grid. This is the kind of game that would work perfect for a browser based game. There are a few games that are in the store but you yourself are going to have to click over to the page and see what you can find. Google might have something here. Only time will tell.

 Midweek Madness

 
 Who doesn't like games for $2.50? Head on over to the Steam page and check it out for yourself. Some of my favorite games are the real cheap Midweek Madness sale games. You never know, this could be a diamond that you were looking for.

Tron Legacy

 
Is anyone else foaming at the mouth for Tron Legacy? Looking over at Amazons' site they have the soundtrack for $4.00. I am a huge Daft Punk fan. Sometimes its not about the words in a song but the beat. Sometimes you just need to sit back and listen to the music, not the words. If you still didn't know, Tron Legacy hits on December 17. If you want a quick taste of what your in for on the soundtrack, it's right here. 

CES 2011

 This is what I need from you, the readers. What do you want to see our expert panel of writers cover at CES? Is there a new Android tablet that you've been eyeing? Maybe the Playstation Move? Some new game that is coming out? We want to hear from you. Post your comment in the thread and let your voice be heard. 

Games For Windows Marketplace

 
Microsoft just released their new Games For Windows Marketplace. It's good to see that Microsoft is back in the saddle so to say. The problem is, Steam is where everyone is at. Why would you want another program to get your games from. Sure, getting games for $1.00 is nice and they have been running some impressive sales. The problem that I see is that their too late to the game. Just like Xbox Live everyone has their friends and games on Steam. It just makes me wonder why it took them so long when they saw what Valve was doing and why they didn't jump on this sooner. Time will tell how many PC gamers will be drawn back in but with games like COD requiring Steam to be installed it doesn't look good. Although, the more competition the better for us consumers.

We only have a couple more weeks until Christmas, all of us at LanOC would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy the holidays everyone. If you can't find me this week I will be grinding my hunter Miniwingtoo in World Of Warcaft. I want to give WoW another week before I do a review of Cataclysm. Join our members for power leveling of epic proportions on the Horde PvE server Hellscream. As the Master Control Program would say, "End Of Line".

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And now, your weekly gaming news.

World Of Warcraft Cataclysm




I know some of our community plays, what we like to call WoW. Now I know some of you don't like WoW or don't want to play a subscription fee monthly but you can't deny what WoW has done. This is why Activision holds on to them. This game is a money maker. Last that I heard it had over 12 million subscribers, paying fifteen dollars a month, you do the math.With yesterdays 4.3 patch hitting, Azeroth has changed forever. All of the home cities are different and you'll have to take some time to get newly acquainted with your new home. Also remember, Dalaran's ports to all of your favorite cities have disappeared. I guess that Blizzard wants us in the old world checking out all the new content. I for one can't wait till I can fly in Azeroth. That was one of the biggest complaints of the game. Glad to see that Blizzard listens to their community and reacts. I will be going to the midnight release of Cataclysm at my local retailer. I will be sure and post some pictures that next week in the Gaming News. I would like to see our community start a guild but I know its hard to leave a server that you've been on for a long time. Regardless, I hope everyone enjoys the new expansion when the game drops. I will make a WoW screenshot thread for our community see what we are doing in game.

Steam's "The Give & Get Sale"



It's that time of year again, Thanksgiving. Now I know most of you are going to be sitting down with family like I am, but this is the time to open your wallets for the crazy Steam sales's. As of this writing this is what's on sale. Remember, these are one day only events. If you see a game that you want, make sure to buy it right away. Don't wait and miss the sale.


I will be updating the forum post about the Gaming News with the updated sales. My recommendation for today is Borderlands. I have put about 30 hours into this game and it's one of the best RPG/FPS/Open World games that I have ever played. A big problem that I find with open world games is theres so much to do you get lost just trying to get around and enjoying the story. I have never finished any of the Grand Theft Auto games. There is so much to do in the game that I get lost and have a hard time finding my way back to sanity. I'll just steal a car and cruise the city for hours on end when I could of been working toward the story and furthering my character. For some reason this never happened in Borderlands. Quests are clearly marked as "Side Quests" or "Main Quests". This sort of game design really helps out a player like myself that easily detours from the main story line. Again, for ten bucks you can't go wrong with Borderlands. That is my pick for today. If you do pick it up watch for a sale on the DLC pack. Hopefully Steam will throw these on sale this week.

Gran Turismo



Gran Turismo 5 launched today for the Playstation 3. I had this preordered but I cancelled at the last minute. I love writing for LanOC but sometimes I have to be "picky" about what games that I review or preview. I am not made of cash and I have to buy all of the games that I want to review. Don't feel sorry for me either. I don't like handouts, just saying that I can't buy every game that comes out. Sometime down the road here i'll pick it up. Maybe even this weekend with all the Black Friday sales going on. It just seemed stupid to pay full price for a game this close to Black Friday sale's that all the retailers are having. I am looking forward to reviewing the game for you. I love driving games. Other than First Person Shooters, Simulation Driving games are my next favorite. I have over one hundred hours in Forza 2. I have been waiting for GT5 since the PS3 was released. Hopefully someone has it on sale this weekend, if not i'll wait till I see a sale on it and grab it then.

Call Of Duty:Black Ops




It seems like the game is running better day by day. Since the last Gaming News Treyarch has released a couple more patches for singleplayer and multiplayer. I have put quite a bit of time into the multiplayer and its almost where it needs to be. It still needs some work but our community is playing almost every night. I am excited to see Treyarch doing the right thing for us PC gamers. Watch your Steam Downloads page for updated information on Black Ops.

Another Wednesday down and another LanOC Gaming News is in the bag. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with your family, take some time for yourself and just relax. We all need to step back sometimes from life to figure out what matters most. Remember to watch the LanOC Gaming News forum post for the most up to date Steam Sales. Thanks again everyone. Wingless92 is out.