CVG has a brand new preview up for Red Faction: Guerilla, the "blow a hole in anything" FPS.

At one point we went on a GTA-style 'rampage' - stomping around in a mech suit, knocking over cars, levelling buildings - and were met with excessive force as the EDF sent in armed backup. This suggests the game's missions will require a stealthier, more tactical approach, which would fit in nicely with the idea of being part of the Red Faction underground resistance. Of course, there will be a fair amount of mindless destruction - one of the weapons in the preview code lobbed flaming 'sticky bombs' that exploded with a massive earth-shattering blast radius.

You can read quite a bit more on the new title, and view a handful of new screenshots over at CVG.

While technically this isn't a FPS, it is one of the more highly anticipated titles coming out for the Xbox 360. The debut trailer for Gears of War 2 hit last night around 2AM EST.

I've included the SD streaming version from Gametrailers after the jump, but there is a link to the HD version. You can also download the HD version via the Xbox Live Marketplace. In addition, Gametrailers also has a small visual comparison between GoW1 and GoW2, as well as an analysis of the new footage.

[ gears of war 2 trailer (34 more words) ]

There is a new BETA available for any servers running Episode 1 engine games (CS:S, DOD:S, HL2:DM). This BETA has just one change listed, and you can participate in the BETA by adding "-beta src0509" (sans quotes) to your command line.

• Fixed the RCON dos bug

If you'd like to run a server without this bug, be sure and participate in the BETA!

Originally, BioWare's Mass Effect for the PC was set to have a recurring online authentication every ten days. Under this method, should the game be unable to communicate with the SecuROM servers, the game would be disabled and you would be locked out from playing it after those ten days until a connection was established.

Feeling the fire from a lot of potential customers, BioWare has announced to Kotaku that the authentication methods will be toned down considerably. A one time only activation is required and re-authentications will only come if new game content is downloaded and installed. However, you can only install Mass Effect on just three computers before further authorizations are required.

Q: Did BioWare and EA change their mind on requiring that the game be re-authorized every 10 days?

A: BioWare has always listened very closely to its fans and we made this decision to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to them. To all the fans including our many friends in the armed services and internationally who expressed concerns that they would not be able re-authenticate as often as required, EA and BioWare want you to know that your feedback is important to us.

Mass Effect is already out on the Xbox 360, and is coming later this month for PC owners.

It's been all Team Fortress 2, all the time around the Valve offices this week. Another TF2 update has been released.

• Fixed several issues with the Family Practice achievement. Players
  with 10/10 progress that have not been awarded the achievement will get
  the achievement the next time they UberCharge any Steam friend
  
• Fixed toggle-fire option for the Medigun preventing players from earning the Second Opinion achievement
  
• Fixed The Kritzkrieg not charging faster than the Medigun
  
• Fixed issue that was preventing players from using their new Medic items on some servers
  
• Fixed melee weapons not being affected by The Kritzkrieg's critboost
  
• Fixed Server Browser sometimes refreshing in the background on startup when it wasn't visible

You know the drill! We'll have the CS-Nation server updated by the time you read this news.

The Killzone 2 footage from the PlayStation Gamer's Day is coming at you in a direct stream in both SD and HD flavors.


The highly anticipated PS3 title isn't set to be released until some time in February 2009.

A demo for Battlefield: Bad Company is set to his the Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store on June 5. This demo offers a taste of the single-player and multiplayer action. Shacknews reports that the single-player portion will take you through the very beginning of the career mode with "B" company. The multiplayer introduces players to the "Gold Rush" style of gameplay on the Oasis map.

For those of you who pre-order the title, you will have early access to the demo. That early entrance to the demo will only be through select retailers.

The fifth installment of the Call of Duty series, might not take place in yet another rehashed Western European front! This news came from an announcement by Activision. Publishing CEO for Activision, Mike Griffith, had this to say.

We'll bring the intensity of the recent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare title to a new military theater to engage our significantly larger user base which nearly doubled last year as new users came into the franchise.

Call of Duty 5 is slated for a late 2008 release on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PC, and Nintendo DS systems.

Also of note, the engine that powered Call of Duty 4 is being put to good use in a new James Bond game, set to be released this Fall alongside the new Bond film.

Shacknews, in its weekly Replay Couch, brings a few tasty morsels of Half-Life goodness with it.

• Half-Life 1 in Doom 2 - This is what happens when a mod maker has far too much time on his hands. This incomplete, but very cool, modification for Doom 2 attempts to port over the major elements from Half-Life 1. It's a very interesting result that you need to check out.
  
• The G-Man brings it - The G-Man doesn't need to bring it, when it's already been brought! I won't say much about this video. I'll just let the G-Man break it down for you.

So go ahead, take some time out of your stressful lives and enjoy these videos.

Variety's Ben Fritz recently got a chance to chat with Gore Verbinski, who directed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, who has been chosen to direct the Bioshock movie. The interview talks about Verbinski's interest in Bioshock, as well as asking how Verbinski will translate aspects of the Bioshock video game to a movie. Verbinski also hints at his interest in collaborating with Valve on a project - be it a game or a movie, who knows.

Ben Fritz: So is this the next project you'll be working on? When do you anticipate starting?

Gore Verbinski: I'll be starting to work on it immediately as soon as we get a script that's worthy. We'll then move actively into pre-production. I wouldn’t put a time schedule on it so much as to say I'm jumping in with a full commitment.

So there's no script yet, but they have plenty of material to pull from the game itself. So here's hoping it doesn't go the way of the Doom movie. Or the Alone in the Dark Movie. Or any other video game movie, for that matter.

Everyday Shooter, a musical shooter by creator Jonathan Mak, makes its PC debut on Steam today.

Winner of numerous Independent Game Festival Awards including Design Innovation, Everyday Shooter is everything but what its name implies. Drawing upon a mixture of arcade shooter gameplay styles, Everyday Shooter stands apart from the crowd by offering both a wide variety challenges and an all-guitar soundtrack, including procedurally generated guitar riffs used instead of traditional game sound effects.

Everyday Shooter is now available for just $9.99 via Steam, and those who purchase during the first week of availability will save 10% off the regular price.

In other Steam news, Portal: First Slice — the official demo for the title named Game of the Year by over 30 publications — is now available for free to all gamers via Steam.

You can find more information on Everyday Shooter at the designated store page.

In addition, the new Steam storefront has been released today. I've also heard some whispers that the Steam forums are next to undergo a redesign and upgrade in the near future.

A four player co-op demo of Haze is coming very soon to PlayStation 3 owners. The demo will let you experience the single player campaign and allow for three of your friends to join in at any time for four player mayhem.


In addition, four new screens were released. You can find all four, over at Shacknews.

Another update for Team Fortress 2 has just left the gate.

• Fixed clients getting the "Reliable snapshot overflow" error
  
• Fixed another unlimited UberCharge exploit
  
• Fixed elevators not working in user maps
  
• Networking optimizations

You will get this update automatically via Steam.

Production has recently started on Doom 4, according to id Software. In addition, the company is looking for a few good men to work on the sequel.

Production has begun on DOOM 4, the next journey into the legendary DOOM universe. We are expanding our internal team and are currently hiring to work on this highly anticipated title.[...]

We are looking for talented, ambitious and passionate individuals eager to join our accomplished team of developers working on the industry’s most innovative and anticipated games. For a complete listing of available positions, visit our id Careers page. Resumes can be submitted via email to jobs@idsoftware.com. All applicants must be authorized to work in the United States.

No other information is currently know about Doom 4.

GameSetWatch's latest in its "Design Lesson 101" series, takes a look at Crysis and where it all went to hell.

The strength of Crysis lies in choice. The choice to enter the situation on your own terms and from your own perspective. The game gives you powers, such as cloaking, speed, and strength, that can be used to turn the tide of battle. This adds more choice to how you handle a given combat situation.

The linear, corridor levels go against that sense of choice that the rest of the game has set up. The problem is that this other style of level does not compliment the more open style the rest of the game has set up. It feels far more restricting, in fact. You have less places to move around, less ways to approach a situation, and less opportunities to use your nanosuit powers.

The author shuns Crysis for essentially taking away those powers which you have learned to use for most of the game. If you give the player the initial ability to pick and choose how they want to go about doing something, that ability should not be taken away later on.

Far Cry 2 has a brand-new trailer that came out today. New footage is included along with a brief interview with Ubisoft.


Far Cry 2 is slated for release on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 systems in late October.

The new IP from EA and DICE, Mirror's Edge, aims to take free running to a whole new heights, literally! The latest look at this unique title came courtesy of the PlayStation Day hosted by Sony.


The game is currently in development for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 systems. It is tentatively slated for a late 2008 release.

The Sony PlayStation Day event also brought with it a slew if new media. Unfortunately, the streaming videos I was going to put up for Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 don't seem to be available anymore from where I saw them! However, there are new Killzone 2 screenshots immediately available for your viewing pleasure.


We'll hopefully have some videos for you some time tomorrow.

A dual update today for the Steam client and for Audiosurf. The Steam client update just fixes a few, minor bugs. The Audiosurf update fixed three issues that arose from the recent major update.

Steam Client

• Fixed Portal: First Slice being unable to launch for some users
  
• Fixed GoldSrc MODs being unable to launch from the Steam serverbrowser
  
• Fixed network issue on startup
  
  Audiosurf
  
• Fixed overfill warnings flashing when they should not be
  
• Fixed Repeat Song failing when used from the scoreboard screen
  
• Fixed mouse cursor could disappear after using the steam overlay

The updates will be automatically applied.

A new Portal map pack was just released from We Create Stuff. This map pack are actual Portal maps based off of the flash version of Portal, a 2D title that features 40 levels.

The pack places you in the role of a new test subject before the events of Portal. You can download the pack directly from this link, or visit the map pack page for a list of mirrors.