PC Previews

The mouse twitched in my hand like a skid row junkie looking for a fix. Detective Cole Phelps responded, whipping out his .45 in the direction of two fleeing criminals. The nickle plated Colt barked, spitting hot death. The two goons fired back, their shots whizzing past Cole’s head and popping out of the monitor thanks to L.A. Noire’s new “PC exclusive 3D enhanced graphics”. Whatever those are. I’m a 1940s detective damn-it, I can’t be expected to know what this rigmarole is.

So, let’s get this part out of the way: yes, Lara Croft’s appearing in a new game, and no, it’s not part of the Tomb Raider franchise. Why shed such an established brand? According to developer Crystal Dynamics, it’s because the download-only Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is going to be a completely different experience than what fans are used to, and the title’s intended to reflect that.

“Different” barely begins to cover it. The biggest change, however, is that Lara actually has someone along to help her this time. A dude someone.

I’m carrying a bag filled with gold. My team is plundering a mine, and I’m the point man - lugging burlap-wrapped bullion back to a capture point in our base. My teammate is a desperado, and he’s yelling at me from beneath his face bandana to hurry the hell up.

“Throw the gold!” he hollers. I’m trying.

Ever found yourself playing Team Fortress 2 and thinking, “This is fun, but I sure wish I were wearing a coon-skin cap”? At long last, your prayers have been answered in the form of developer Fat Shark AB’s Western-themed online shooter, Lead and Gold - Gangs of the Wild West.

If you don’t know what Defense of the Ancients is (lovingly known as DotA by its gigantic community), you may not know what an RTS is, either. The original DotA is a single custom map that was created for WarCraft III. It took the core concept of the third WarCraft’s focus on hero units and stripped away the bothersome base-building and army management.

Want to see the brand new map Valve’s created for Left 4 Dead’s free Survival Pack DLC? Thought so! We got Chet Faliszek, the game’s writer, to give us an exclusive guided tour of the new map, “Lighthouse.” Click play below to check it out, then we’ll regroup for further details and impressions from our hands-on session.