Battlefield 3: Aftermath will launch on November 27 for PlayStation 3 Battlefield Premium users, developer DICE announced today. The content releases a week later on December 4 for Xbox 360 and PC Premium users, and launches for all PS3 players December 11. Xbox 360 and PC gamers without a Premium subscription can get in on the action December 18.
The content is free with a $50 Battlefield Premium subscription, and will also be available as a $15 standalone download.
Aftermath adds four new multiplayer maps set in the streets and cities of a post-earthquake Iran. Additionally, the content brings a new game mode called Scavenger. Gamers who play this mode begin a round with only a knife, one grenade, and a sidearm, and must scour the terrain for more powerful weapons to get the upper hand on their enemies.
The Aftermath content also brings a new weapon, the crossbow, to players' arsenals. Additional achievements, assignments, and vehicles are also up for grabs in the new add-on.
Battlefield 3: Aftermath is the game's fourth of five planned expansions. It follows Back to Karkand, Close Quarters, and Armored Kill, and precedes the final expansion, the suitably named End Game.
The franchise that laid the foundations of the city building simulation genre is back, empowering players to create the world of their imagination! This new edition of SimCity marks a true rebirth of the franchise that brings the depth of simulation that has been the series hallmark for more than two decades and marries it with next generation accessibility and a robust multiplayer mode, giving players the power to change a world together. Players take charge of their own customized cities and build a world that co-exists alongside friends. For the first time in SimCity franchise history, players' decisions will have long-lasting repercussions that will extend beyond their city limits. Together, players will address real global challenges such as climate change, the search for renewable resources and natural disasters. It’s up to the players to decide whether to compete or collaborate to shape the world of tomorrow -- for better or for worse.
FAR CRY 3's walkthrough consists chiefly of the single-player "story" quests and associated missions.
It's suggested that once you liberated your first Outpost and have to travel to Dr. Earnhardt's in the west (for the mission "Mushrooms in the Deep") that you stop and segue into side missions and Hunting so you can equip Jason with better gear.
Beyond the limits of civilization lies an island, a lawless place ruled by piracy and human misery, where your only escapes are drugs or the muzzle of a gun. This is where you find yourself, trapped in a place that's forgotten right from wrong, a place that lives by the principles of violence.
In Far Cry 3, players step into the shoes of Jason Brody, stranded on this mysterious tropical island. You dictate how the story unfolds, from the battles you choose to fight down to the allies or enemies you make along the way. Slash, sneak, detonate and shoot your way across the island in a world that has lost all sense of right and wrong. Beware the beauty and mystery of this unexplored paradise and live to outwit its roster of ruthless, desperate characters. You'll need more than luck to survive.
Release Date: December 4, 2012
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs
There are 20 chapters in Hitman Absolution's campaign. Note for theAbsolution trophy (where you complete the game on Hard, Expert or Purist), you need to start a New Game on those difficulties (and not a "New Game Plus").
Scoring in Hitman Absolution is determined by your actions, and modified by the challenges completed for that chapter (note that this makes the values of your score change as more challenges are completed).
Positive Actions
Objective(s) completed. The more objectives a chapter's area has, the greater the score.
Target(s) neutralized. More targets, greater score. Also breaking news:2+2=4
Evidence collected. This nullifies the discovery penalty.
Body hidden. This nullifies the difference between non-target pacification and stealth kill bonus.
Stealth kill accomplished.
Head shot accomplished with firearm or thrown piercing weapon.
Signature kill accomplished. Signature kills are fiber wire kills and certain other challenge or accident kills.
Negative Actions
Being spotted. The first time 47 is spotted, the score is docked. This nullifies the evidence collected bonus.
Pacify or subdue a non-target hostile. Nullify this penalty by hiding the body.
Killing an unarmed person (civilian). There is no means to recover from this penalty.
Score Multiplier
Your score can be multiplied by completing challenges. For challenges in a level, you can complete the challenge, then immediately pause and restart from the last checkpoint (for short stages like King of Chinatown, Birdies Gift, and Welcome to Hope, that restarts the whole mission).
Red Hot Forking Action Warning
Note that if you take a disguise, the Suit Only challenge is instantly negated until you restart the entire mission (or quit and level select back to the last area you completed).
By repeating this process before you complete the level completely, you will insure that you have the largest point multiplier possible before completing the mission in earnest for leaderboard scores.
Checkpoints in Hitman Absolution only record objectives completed, the items (and ammo) currently carried by 47, his disguise, and his starting location.
Nothing else is saved, due to the plasticity in the A.I. routes (targets speed up / slow down their paths as 47 is far / near a spot where they perform a specific task).
Use checkpoints to your advantage for completing challenges. Sneak to a checkpoint and "start" the mission closer to a target (for example, Death Factory's Testing Facility) or a spot where you can complete several challenges quickly without having to travel all the way across the map.
Note that checkpoints do not work if enemies are fully alerted to 47's presence.
Restart Checkpoint vs. Restart Mission
For the most part, player activated checkpoints are handy if you are running through the game and want to explore and test each level's limits before completing it on Hard, Expert or Purist.
The most hardcore Hitman players will have no need for checkpoints, as they've conditioned themselves to do the perfect run.
However, for the Absolution achievement, you may find that player activated checkpoints for Hard difficulty to be the way to go if you don't want to keep dying and retrying a particularly tough mission.
About This Game
Hitman: Absolution follows Agent 47, a cold-blooded assassin, who takes on his most dangerous contract to date. Betrayed by those he once trusted -- and now hunted by the police -- he suddenly finds himself at the center of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world. Boasting a cinematic story, distinctive art direction and highly original game design, Hitman: Absolution combines much-loved classic gameplay with features never seen before in the Hitman franchise.
Release Date: November 20, 2012
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
Exact gameplay details for this new Tomb Raider reboot haven't emerged quite yet, but the image of Lara Croft securing a tourniquet on her battered and bloodied arm with a giant recurve bow strapped firmly to her back confirms that the franchise is headed in a new direction.
For Lara's origin story, Crystal Dynamics have cited a number of influences on the development of Tomb Raider. The origin story of Batman Begins was one, as well as the environments of Uncharted, Half-Life 2's physics, the brutal survival tale of 127 Hours, the mysteries of Lost, and the Eagle Vision of Assassin's Creed.
The focus of the game is survival. From melee combat to ranged and stealth tactics, the new reboot will feel like an entirely new game to even the most ardent fans of the franchise. Crystal Dynamics' global brand manager Karl Stewart mentioned that the game would include "a variety of different play paths and playstyles."
Furthermore, he revealed that there are items and artifacts that must be discovered to unlock a "core discovery."
FORAGING & COLLECTION
In keeping with the theme of survival, Lara will require continual sustenance to survive - kind of like in real life. How much required food or foraging is still unclear, but Stewart allays fears that this could become a simulation game, saying "You’re not going to be picking berries and drinking your own wee in order to survive, but there will be a sense of realism in that she will have to scavenge food to keep herself going."
About This Game
Tomb Raider delivers an intense and gritty story of the origins of Lara Croft and her ascent from frightened young woman to hardened survivor, armed with only raw instincts and the physical ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance. Superb physics-based gameplay is paired with a heart-pounding narrative in Lara's most personal, character-defining adventure to date.
Fresh multiplayer details from Crysis 3’s urban jungle, including one brand new mode: Hunter.
About This Game
The hunted becomes the hunter in the CryEngine-powered open-world shooter Crysis 3! Players take on the role of 'Prophet' as he returns to New York in the year in 2047, only to discover that the city has been encased in a Nanodome created by the corrupt Cell Corporation. The New York City Liberty Dome is a veritable urban rainforest teeming with overgrown trees, dense swamplands and raging rivers. Within the Liberty Dome, seven distinct and treacherous environments become known as the Seven Wonders. This dangerous new world demands advanced weapons and tactics. Prophet will utilize a lethal composite bow, an enhanced Nanosuit and devastating alien tech to become the deadliest hunter on the planet.
Prophet is on a revenge mission after uncovering the truth behind Cell Corporation's motives for building the quarantined Nanodomes. The citizens were told that the giant citywide structures were resurrected to protect the population and to cleanse these metropolises of the remnants of Ceph forces. In reality, the Nanodomes are CELL's covert attempt at a land and technology grab in their quest for global domination. With Alien Ceph lurking around every corner and human enemies on the attack, nobody is safe in the path of vengeance. Everyone is a target in Prophet's quest for retribution.
