Starbreeze has dished on some additional details surrounding their upcoming first-person shooter, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. Apparently, they plan to have at least 20 different maps included in the game when it is released in Spring 2009. While that sound all find and dandy, t is the multiplayer aspect of the game that has piqued my interest the most–because it will include a Pitch Black mode which will be exactly how its sounds…in the dark. Now, how effing cool is that people!

CVG got all the details about this from the latest OXM, which divulges that the online mode has a 12-player deathmatch as well as capture the flag modes (the usual multiplayer fodder) but what sounds pretty interesting to me is the “Butcher Bay Riot” which will have teams consisting of three or four player going at each other. The choices for each team include guards, mercenaries and prisoners who have to fight their way toward a central power cell so they can activate it. Then again, this is nothing compared to the “Pitch Black” mode that Starbreeze mentioned.

In this mode, all involved will be sent to a large arena which, of course, is pitch black and in it one of them will be playing as “a fast-moving, ultra blade-wielding Riddick” who as we all know can see in the dark, while the rest are just fodder packing flashlights and guns. If any of the weaklings happen to kill Riddick,they will be able to play as the our favorite escaped convict in the next round. Sounds very cool indeed… hurry Spring 2009 hurry!

It’s Wednesday, and that can only mean another hilarious video game review from Yahtzee Croshaw. This week he takes a romp through Pandemic’s latest explosives-laden playground, Mercenaries 2. Since this is a game that revolves around essentially declaring a one-man war against a foreign government by destroying practically everything within a 50-mile radius, there’s plenty for him to poke fun at here. Of course, despite the flaws and inherent ridiculousness of the game, he still concedes that it’s pretty damn fun.

Via The Escapist

Pandemic is releasing an explosive new update for Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. Total Payback will hit Xbox LIVE October 13th and PSN October 20th. Here’s what you’ll get with the update:

• Cheats – Unlock the total-payback power of all weapons, vehicles and airstrikes in Mercenaries 2, as well as everyone’s favorite: Infinite Ammo and Infinite Health
• SIX New playable characters – From Blanco to Fiona, Ewan, Eva and more
• Cross-region Co-Op multiplayer SUPPORT – Tear through Venezuela with friends from around the world

Mercs 2 fans should also keep an eye out for new DLC . You can look for a brief incoming from Pandemic soon. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is available now for the 360, PS3, PS2, PC and wireless.

The God-mode cheat is always good for stress therapy. There are times when you want to play a complicated, challenging strategy game. Sometimes you need to blow everything sky high and watch the world burn.

It’s Thursday, which means the PlayStation Store has been flooded with new downloadable games, demos, videos, and all sorts of other goodies. The headliner content for PlayStation 3 owners are two new demos: Mercenaries 2 and Fracture. Anyone who’s played Mercs 2 or read 1UP’s review can tell you the game is undeniably fun, but what about Fracture, LucasArts’ new shooter centered around destroying terrain? Give the demo a try, and then come back and see if you agree with Anthony Gallegos’ preview of the game from Leipzig.

PSP owners are in for a real treat compared with the usual slap in the face they see in the downloadable space — in addition to a demo and trailer of NBA 09, both Cube and PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient have been released for $10 each. These are the first two of six games being released on the PlayStation Store by D3 Publisher, with some classics like Dead Head Fred and Puzzle Quest still to come.

Much like this past weekend on Xbox Live, this upcoming weekend is a Double XP event in Call of Duty 4, and to celebrate the price of the Variety Map Pack has been cut in half from $10 to $5. Complimenting that is a new Rock Band album from Megadeth, and a ton of new videos from the AST Dew Tour. Hit up the PlayStation Blog for the full list of releases.

Last week, Electronic Arts decided to promote the release of Mercenaries 2 in a decidedly unique way: by giving away free gas to motorists in Los Angeles at a decorated station run by people dressed as characters in the game. The promotion went over well, and they thought they’d try the same marketing gimmick in the UK. Bad idea. Turns out they didn’t plan the event quite so well in London and ended up causing traffic to come to a screeching halt during the morning rush hour. People flocking to get their share of the £20,000 worth of free fuel ended up gridlocking the area for quite awhile, forcing police to shut down the station even though there was still £9,000 worth of gas left. Several residents and one politician, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, Lynne Featherstone, were notably upset, saying:

“Whilst a lucky few might have got some free petrol, hundreds of local residents have faced misery on their daily journeys this morning. They deserve an apology for being the victims of such an ill-thought out media stunt.”

On the other hand though, the people who did manage to fill their tank for free seemed to have no complaints. On woman who waited in line 40 minutes stated:

“I think it’s a brilliant promotion. I don’t see it becoming a full-time thing, but I think it’s a great idea – I’ll be telling my sons about the game.”

There’s at least one lesson to be learned from this whole ordeal though: people don’t mess around when it comes to free gas these days.

Via The Telegraph

Gamers are now being given the chance to relive the first two classic titles in the Oddworld series, as they’ve now made their way to Steam for download. The two games, “Abe’s Oddysee” and “Abe’s Exoddus,” are now available for purchase at either $9.99 each or $14.99 for both. Steam is also running a special on these games from now until September 4, where you’ll get an extra 10% off. That’s a pretty sweet deal for a couple of games that received some huge critical praise in the late 90’s. That should get you through the weekend until Mercenaries 2 is released.

Via Steam Games

If you’re not familiar with the Jagged Alliance games, don’t feel too bad; there hasn’t been any mention of the series in over a decade after all. But the people who do remember the games and fans of tactical action will be happy to hear the original 1994 title is making its way to the Nintendo DS. The game will blend some RPG elements with turn-based combat as you lead a ragtag team of mercenaries through a nonlinear series of missions. At this time, not much is known about the new DS version, except that it will release some time in 2009 and will essentially be the same as the first game:

“Jagged Alliance provides an exciting blend of RPG and turn based action, which has already won fans and accolades worldwide. The time is right to bring its frenetic battles to Nintendo DS and allow a brand new audience the experience the exhilarating game play.” commented, James Spice, VP of Marketing for Empire Interactive.

Really, I’m more than happy to see some older classics getting a fresh new start of the DS (much like the upcoming ChronoTrigger). Anything that lets me play some old favorites while on the go is alright in my book.

Via Kombo

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcJyCdbC08c[/youtube]

Mercenaries 2 is set to rock your world on August 31st, so EA has decided to release a commercial that reminds us all what Mercenaries 2 is about while entertaining us with a damn catchy tune.

If this commercial has taught me anything, it’s that I’ll be happy that I’m playing the side of the mercenary rather than the side of the people who hire the mercenary because I’d pretty much be in a lose/lose situation since I’m sure the mercenaries would charge an outrageous amount for their service.  Then, if I double cross them (as the woman in this commercial has), I could expect the mercenaries to retaliate in ways I wouldn’t dare imagine.

What am I talking about?  Who the hell would rather play the person who hires the mercenaries rather than play as them?  Why would you want to just sit around for hours, waiting for the mercenary to come back just to pay them?  Then what, would you just continue to order them around while you sit at your desk thinking of new ways to use the mercenaries?

In other words, great job Pandemic Studios for putting us in the shoes of the mercenary rather than the obviously boring, and mundane role of the person who hires the mercenary.

When is in-game advertising not quite so annoying? When you can destroy ads at will; and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames will allow gamers to do just that.

According to GameDaily, Jay Sampson, VP of global sales for Massive isn’t perturbed at all by having the in-game ads placed in Pandemic’s Mercenaries 2 blown to bits. He counts it as a win for consumer and marketer alike.

“It’s purely a byproduct of gameplay and this notion of a highly destructible environment,” commented Sampson. “Sticking to our ethos of ‘do no harm to the game,’ we tagged the parts in the environment for ads and like everything else in the game, they can be destroyed. It’s mirroring what the studio wants out of gameplay and making the most of it.

Ads will respawn when you restart the game giving you the chance to frag them to your hearts content. This brings up fond memories of LEGO Star Wars and Jar Jar Binks for me.

There are no shots at Grand Theft Auto in the the new screenshots of Saints Row 2, but they’re still worth checking out if you haven’t already gotten your fix of violent, open-world games this year. The game looks pretty good, judging by these stills, even if the “Pimps ‘n Hos” gang style thing just strikes me as somehow being pretentious.

I’ve already got a pre-order down on the game (because I’m a nice guy and like to help out the people working at GameStop), but even as big a fan of the genre as I am, I’m beginning to feel a little burned out on this style of open world game. Mercenaries 2 is close to being released, I played more than my fair share of GTA IV, and I still find myself playing Crackdown from time to time. But I can’t help but feel like many of these games aren’t innovating enough to justify their release.