Gaming mods are like fan-fiction: painstakingly crafted alternate stories, features and transformations born out of sheer love for the source material. In some cases they breed entirely new games in themselves, such is their sheer amazingness. Here are the best ones we’ve seen… Read more
Ah, the days of playing Counter-Strike for hours on end may soon return. According to Kotaku, Valve is working on a new version of the classic title, due out in 2012. The game will be called Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and thanks to supporting evidence on Steam forums, Twitter and gaming blogs, the news is shaping up to be more than just water cooler fodder.
Over on the Steam forums a thread has been started for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive which says “more info in the morning”. The details revealed thus far suggest the game with be released in the first quarter of 2012 and it will focus on 5v5 competition. A press release is expected within 24 hours from Valve and the game plays on an updated source engine.
Steam, Valve’s digital game distribution service, can currently grind to a halt when the company announces a big sale or major title like Portal 2 but that should soon come to an end. The company has announced that it’s designed a brand new content system for Steam that will supercharge downloads and put an end to having to download hefty updates for minor changes.
Valve says the new system decreases the amount of data you’ll need to download and will allow you to grab updates to games while playing them. It’s also promised that the new set up will bring long-awaited features including download scheduling, bandwidth throttling and the ability to pick which games you want to download first. Valve is rolling out the new Steam back end now and you can test its speedier approach by grabbing free HD trailers from the store.
Out now | From £free | Steam blog
Ah Portal 2, the gift that keeps on giving! After releasing Portal 2 Soundtrack Volume 1: Songs To Test By in May, Valve has outed a whole new batch of tracks to enjoy. Portal 2 Soundtrack Volume 2: Music To Test To.
The second volume of Portal 2 tunes features 18 tracks with all of them available as ringtones for Android and iPhone. If current cache of 40 songs from Portal 2 is not enough for you, Valve is already teasing a third soundtrack volume. Check out our favourite track from new album after the break.
One of the most popular online action games, Team Fortress 2, is now free on both PC and Mac. The new “free to play” promotion carries a few limitations compared to a premium account, but we’re inclined to download now and ask questions later. Here’s a quick account comparison to get you up to speed.
Team Fortress 2 free accounts feature 50 backpack slots versus 300 slots for premium accounts (expandable to 1000). Items are limited to standard, you’ll have access to limited blueprints, and items and gifts can only be received, not sent.
The Portal 2 soundtrack is out now for our favourite price…free! The album, Portal 2 Soundtrack Volume 1, is subtitled “songs to test by” and features 22 tracks from the game to enjoy.
You can also grab six of the tracks as ringtones from the same site with the choice of Android or iPhone-friendly formats. Check out our favourite track after the break…
Yes, yes, Portal 2 is all well and good but imagine if the Portal Gun was plonked into the hands of gaming’s favourite plumber in Super Mario Bros. In the video after the break, the moustachioed hero gets his hands on the Aperture Science weapon to navigate his way through the platform-strewn Mushroom Kingdom. We really want to play that game…
Portal 2 whipped Half Life fans into a frenzy when it was revealed at E3 last Summer, with more mind blowing puzzle play and shock PS3 support. Now the stand alone sequel is here at last, promising to do for potatoes what the first did for cake. Read our full Portal 2 review to find out all about it.
