Announcement of the Day : Elder Scrolls Online

Bethesda announced today that they're making an Elder Scrolls MMO. This has been a huge fan request since Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion. There's going to be coverage of it in next month's issue of Game Informer, which will look like this :

So look for that on newsstands in the next few weeks. I'm not one for fully single player experiences being converted into multi-player, but if one world can do it well, it'll definitely be The Elder Scrolls. Not you Fallout. Fallout had better stay a single player experience. What's the point of 'roaming the wastes' if thousands of people are doing it with you?! How could it be a wasteland.. yet lively?! But I digress.. Elder Scrolls Online will undoubtedly be really cool. Here's a quote from Bethesda about it :

"The Elder Scrolls Online merges the unmatched exploration of rich worlds that the franchise is known for with the scale and social aspects of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Players will discover an entirely new chapter of Elder Scrolls history in this ambitious world, set a millennium before the events of Skyrim as the daedric prince Molag Bal tries to pull all of Tamriel into his demonic realm.

“It will be extremely rewarding finally to unveil what we have been developing the last several years,” said game director and MMO veteran Matt Firor, whose previous work includes Mythic’s well-received Dark Age of Camelot. “The entire team is committed to creating the best MMO ever made – and one that is worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise."

Well, they sound committed to delivering a true TES experience. I'm excited to see what they've been developing.

Max Payne 3 Multiplayer Part Two ( and recap)

Another Max Payne 3 multiplayer trailer was released today. Further solidifying the fact that Rockstar clearly knows what they're doing in crafting a multi-player experience for a game that has previously been only single player. I'll include part one if you missed that as well.

(Part 1)

(Part 2)

This looks like it's easily going to be the best shooter of the year. Here's a list of the confirmed modes :


Game Modes :
Team Deathmatch : The typical team based killing affair, only set in Max's world and also with the inclusion of things like bullet time.
Gang Wars : Max Payne 3's flagship mode. Features narrative driven, five round matches. Each round is something different, be it simply a round of Team Deathmatch or defending/capturing a point. The winner of each round is rewarded and retains an upper hand in the next.
Payne Killer : In this mode two players are chosen by first kill (the killer/ victim) to be Max Payne and his partner from the single player story, Raul Passos. Whenever one is killed, their killer assumes their identity. Killing them, however, is not so easy, Max and Raul are loaded with ammo and pain killers.

You can also outfit your character with 'bursts'(similar to killstreak rewards) such as :

Bursts :
Bullet time : Max's signature time slowing move. When activated, you receive increased fire rate, on top of that, everyone in your line of slight is slowed.
Weapons Dealer : Awards the person who activated it with unlimited ammo for a period of time.
Weapons Double Dealer : When activated, the opposing team will drop their grenades fully primed and ready to explode.
Sneaky : Allows you to appear to have joined your opposing team.
Paranoia : When activated, all of your opponents see their teammates as enemies. The third tier of this burst turns on friendly fire as well.

Some of these may sound over powered(mainly paranoia), but you can take precautions against them when customizing your character. There is also a myriad amount of ways you can customize your character out side of weapon and burst loadout, from tattoos, to hair, to clothing. There's also plenty to offer within the actual matches like running with a crew (these crews will carry over to GTA V when it's released) , and Vendettas (when a player kills you two or more times you can activate one, it will track them on the map and you are rewarded with more xp when you kill them.)

A line of DLC has been announced already as well :

June 2012

• Local Justice Map Pack

Summer 2012
• Disorganized Crime Map Pack
• Deathmatch Made In Heaven Mode Pack
• Hostage Negotiation Map Pack
• New York Minute Co-Op Pack

Fall 2012
• Painful Memories Map Pack
• Trickle Down Economics Map Pack


Buying a 'Rockstar Pass' will give you  all of this DLC for $30. With all of this Max Payne is clearly shaping up to be the shooter, if not game, of the year.