Publisher JoWood
Developer Tradewest
Release Date 12 October 2010

From skill tracks that award more impressive special attacks as they’re built upon to a borderline obsessive concentration on dramatic camera angles and intricate facial detail, the hallmarks of BioWare’s work can be seen even in the realm of orcs, potions and dense forestation.

Predictably enough, though, that is where the similarity ends. Surprisingly enough, Arcania: Gothic 4 tells the tale of a mystery nobody, attempting to make his way through a world now ruled by the player’s hero last time out. Possessed by a demon, there’s yet again a threat to the people, meaning our hero must prepare himself with a tutorial quest to collect a ring for his wife-to-be. A more classic tale there isn’t.

After faffing around a little with that task, players will soon learn of Arcania’s basic real-time combat structure, which focuses on a trio of magical, ranged and melee attacks. The first of these naturally builds as beasties hit the floor, coming in three basic forms: electricity, fire and ice. As each variant’s power bar is filled, milestones will signal specialised attacks covering a greater area, or having more prolonged effects. The second, at least, begins with a simple bow and arrow, which players will utilise to hunt wildlife over local terrain in a fashion similar to Cabela’s Big Game Hunter. Except without 20-foot trolls, and that. Anyway, third element of this trio will likely take up the lion’s share of most players’ time, as they club, cleave and hack their way through thousands of mythical monsters.

Examples encountered so far include beasts obscured by plumes of black smoke and beetles around six feet in width, though equal amounts of players’ time seems to be taken up wandering through the verdant, occasionally impressively rain-sodden countryside, talking to landladies. Could a greater recommendation be offered?

Click over to page 2 to check out the latest screens in our Gothic 4 gallery…

“Fifteen years ago, Duke Nukem 3D helped launch my professional video game development career,” said Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software. “The Gearbox Software team and I are ecstatic that we have grown to a position to be able to pick up and carry the torch and help Duke rise back to glory in his time of need. Fans of the legendary hero and all the incredible talent that have ever helped him all deserve the very best support that we can bring. Please join me in supporting Duke in his triumphant return so that we may all enjoy the unique, one-in-million entertainment experience that only Duke Nukem can bring.”

The deal, announced on Sunday, could be a game-changer for Randy Pichford’s studio, and it also means development of Duke Nukem Forever – which has now been in the works for a full 12 years – is most definitely back on track.

“Gearbox was handpicked as the new home for Duke Nukem because of their continued passion, commitment and long-time heritage with the brand and 3D Realms. Gearbox and Duke Nukem make for a devastating match made in video game heaven,” commented Scott Miller, co-founder of 3D Realms. “The gaming community’s love and demand for the Duke Nukem brand never wavered and Gearbox will not disappoint them. As you have seen from titles such as Borderlands, Gearbox will bring the right level of addictively compelling gameplay, humor and high powered explosive action to the franchise. Duke Nukem is back and will be bigger than ever.”

Check out our article on the making of Duke Nukem 3D to find out why Duke Nukem Forever is such a tantalising proposition…

Games™ has picked the 100 greatest videogames of all time, hitting shelves today with a special, limited edition cover for each. Follow the links to check out the covers: 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-100.

Issue 100 also features in-depth interviews with industry legends such as Ken Levine, Tim Schafer, Yoshinori Ono and Peter Molyneux, as well as a look back at the last ten years in gaming. It also discusses what the future might hold with some of the finest minds in the biz.

“GamesTM hits shelves today with a special, limited edition for each ”

Plus:

FEATURES
Discuss The Decade - In this issue 100 special edition of Discuss, we look back on the events, developments, controversies, promises, surprises and quotes from the last ten years in videogames.

100 Greatest Games Of All Time – As we reach our centenary issue, gamesTM chooses the 100 greatest games in history. The gloves are off. Let the arguments begin.

Great Expectations – Peter Molyneux promised us a no-holds barred interview, and wouldn’t you know it, he actuallly delivered. gamesTM speaks to the legendary game designer about Fable 3, Kinect and a boy named Milo.

No Gods Or Kings – With BioShock Infinite now officially unveiled, we sit down with Irrational Games co-founder Ken Levine to discuss his past, present and future.

Street Fighting Man – Street Fighter IV was a major factor in the rebirth of the beat-’em-up – we talk to Yoshinori Ono, the man responsible for arcade sticks becoming a coffee table centrepiece.

Team Player - ‘There’s no ‘I’ in team’, they say. Clearly they weren’t talking about Sonic Team, or the head of the Sega codeshop, Takashi Iizuka.

Outrageous Misfortune – He’s one of the games industry’s brightest and most creative talents, but his career has been beset by bad luck. We ask Tim Scafer about staying funny in the face of adversity.

A Link To The Future – We speak to a number of industry legends, including David Braben and David Cage, about what they think the future holds for gaming.

REVIEWS
The definitive verdicts on the biggest games, including… Metroid: Other M Shank Valkyria Chronicles II StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty R.U.S.E. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light Limbo Mafia II Castlevania: Harmony Of Despair

RETRO
Behind The Scenes – Burnout 3: Takedown gamesTM is given unrestricted access to the Criterion vault, returning with the untold story of the developer’s finest arcade racer.

VCS
Veterans Howard Scott Warshaw talks to his former Atari colleagues, and returns with their account of the rise and fall of the original videogame company.

Famicom Memories Japan’s best known retro gamers look back at the genesis of the country’s videogame age and the incredible impact of Nintendo’s Family Computer.

Issue 100 is available now from all good newsagents or online from the Imagine eShop. You can even select which cover you’d like to order by clicking here, though supplies of each will be extremely limited so you’ll want to act fast to get the one you want. Alternatively get it on your mobile device via iTunes.

Thanks to our friends at Blizzard, NowGamer is giving away 100 beta keys a day for the next ten days for the hugely anticipated Cataclysm expansion pack. So, maths fans, that means NowGamer has got 1000 keys up for grabs.

All you have to do to enter the draw is click here and answer the simple WOW-related question. Make sure you fill in your details and, if you’ve come here via Twitter, then make sure you retweet the original tweet and include your Twitter name with your answer – they’ll be checking!

At the end of each day, 100 names will be drawn from the proverbial hat and winners will be emailed their beta keys, so keep an eye on your email.

Apart from that, good luck and we’ll see you in Azeroth!

AMD has decided to drop the ATi brand name after long consideration. The “AMD” and “Radeon” brands will remain, but the ATi part will drop from future Radeon cards. Part of the decision was influenced by AMD’s move to integrate AMD CPU and graphics technology onto the same chip, similar to Intel’s Core i3 processors. According to thetechreport.com, the AMD Ontario will combine two Bobcat cores with Radeon graphics and the more powerful Llano will bring a quad-core Phenom II with a GPU that also does it justice.

AMD acquired ATi in 2006 after it operated for over 20 years as an independant and renowned graphics card manufacturer. You can read more ATi and the upcoming 6000-series of Radeon graphics here on TotalPCGaming.com.

Fallout: New Vegas’ rating information has been posted on the ESRB website – and in the process has turned up some of its dirty secrets. The mature rating lists “depictions of dismemberment, blood spray, and blood trails” as well as giving players at some point during your adventure in the Mojave to “activate a collar bomb around a slave-woman’s neck, resulting in depictions of blood and gore”.

But its the scandalous liason with a robot that piqued our interest: “there is also an extended sequence suggesting (no depiction) sexual activity with a robot (e.g., “Fisto reporting for duty . . . Please assume the position,” “I suppose I should test you out . . . Servos active!” and “Something wrong with someone if they got to f**k a machine.”

According to the listing, player will also “encounter male and female prostitutes: the screen fades to black as suggestive dialogue is heard in the background (e.g., “Nice charlies, too! Give them a shake for the Ben-man, will ya?”)” Sounds like sin city hasn’t changed that much since the war after all.

Read more Fallout: New Vegas news on www.totalpcgaming.com

This is one video game ultra-conservative activists can’t complain about without suffering the wrath of God. It’s called The Bible Online: Heroes from German developer FiAA, and it’s a turn-based MMO in the vein of Civilization, where you build a tribal community, gather resources and fight other tribes. This first chapter involves Abraham and his descendants as the first humans chosen by God.

Our experiences with Biblical games with moral learning, rather than gameplay at its heart have never been good, but FiAA is a developer with a focus on games, not Christianity, so this might not be the case. The Bible Online: Heroes beta launches on 6 September and you can sign up for it on the official website.

Realtime World, the ailing developer of APB: All Points Bulletin (which received somewhat less than high praise in recent reviews) that recently declared itself bankrupt, has released figures for the game in order to help a sale.

A total of 130,000 players are registered, playing an average of 4 hours a day and with paying players spending an average of $28 a month. But significantly, Realtime Worlds hasn’t stated what proportion of the 130,000 registered players are paying customers.

APB cost $30 million to make, was launched in July this year and you can check out the review as well as more APB news here. APB scored an average of 5.9 on Metacritic.

Verdict: A superb case design, brimming with features and perfect for overclockers and PC power houses, if a little too much plastic for our liking. 8/10

DIMENSIONS: 550 x 230 x 599 mm
MATERIAL: Plastic/Steel

MOBO COMPATIBILITY: M-ATX / ATX / E-ATX / GIGABYTE XL-ATX

COOLING SYSTEM: Front:230 x 30 mm red LED fan on/off x 1
Top:200 x 30mm fans x 2 (one optional)
Side:200 x 30mm fan x 1
Rear:140 x 25mm fan x 1
VGA Fan Duct:120 x 25 mm or 120 x 38 mm fan x 1(optional)
VGA Holder:80 x 15 mm fan x 1(optional)
DRIVE BAYS: 3.5”: 5 Hidden (2 in 1 2.5″ and 1.8″ SSD drive support), 5.25”: 6 (2 converted SATA HDD drive bay available)
EXPANSION SLOTS: 9
I/O PORTS: USB 3.0 x 2,USB 2.0 x 2, IEEE 1394a x 1, e-SATA x 1, Audio x 1, Mic x 1

For £150 you expect something more from a case than an enormous plastic/steel housing with a few too many slidey and knobbly bits for our taste. But if you have the same snobby reaction to anything that isn’t austere, matte-black brushed aluminium, swallow your bile down and remind yourself that this is a Cooler Master chassis. The Taiwanese company has a very good handle on the market, erspecially considering that the revamp of the 690 series resulted in some sterling improvements to an already excellent design (check our review of the CM 690 II Advanced) .

HAF stands for High Air Flow and boy, has this case got airflow potential. A fair amount of elbow room inside to begin with (enough space for a quad-graphics setup) and two monster 200mm fans, one mounted on the top and one on the side panel, plus a rear 140mm exhaust and room to install another 200mm beast on the top. There are enough turbines here to start a wind farm, making the HAF X a very attractive option for system builders that place a premium on a  low case tempurature.

The HAF X is a step up from the old HAF 932, with an industrial grey finish and a few military-style aesthetic touches. Bolted on are a few obvious upgrades to the external interfaces, like USB 3.0 support and two hot-swappable drive bays that support the 2.5-inch as well as the 3.5-inch standard, for all you hardware posers with solid-state drives. Once you’ve twisted the thumbscrews and slipped the side panel off though, there’s a suprising level of practicality and design ingenuity that belies its relatively mundane exterior. There are four tool-free bays in addition to the hot-swappable drive bays, GPU air duct and reinformed retainer for heavyweights like the 5970 or first the generation Fermi cards, PSU cable managment partition, a total of nine expansion slots for ergonomic case flexibility and probably most valuable of all, enough space inside to manoeuvre large and expensive components comfortably and safely.

The HAF X is bursting with features in fact and though it feels odd to be working with such a cleverly designed and tooled case whose moving parts and primary composition is plastic, if aesthetics takes a very distant second to functionality, then for some it may well trump its flashy aluminium contemporaries,

Click here to see more hardware reviews from the Total PC Gaming team, or talk hardware in our forum…

When the NowGamer Network caught up with Spector to talk about his current project, Epic Mickey, which he’s working on for Disney, we couldn’t resist throwing in a curve-ball about Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which is being put together at Eidos Montreal. We asked whether he had any questions for the team at Eidos.

“I’m curious why they decided to introduce a third person mode, because I would not have made that call,” was his reply. You can catch the entire Wii-themed interview with Spector here, or check out the latest gameplay video of Deus Ex: Human Revolution here.