One of my favourite things of recent years has been the standard of Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider games. While there’s no doubt there’s Lara fatigue, it’s inappropriate when they’re some of the finest action platform/shooters around. So it’s with a happy face that I greet the news that the next game from the team is a complete reboot of the series, simply called Tomb Raider. The announcement comes via the cover of the next Game Informer, along with a press release. Details below.

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Are you sure you want to open today’s window? You shouldn’t be opening any windows or doors. It’s not safe out there. Listen- do you hear the moans? They hunger. If you insist on going in there, take this knife, but be careful. Because today’s game is…

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Recently I paid a visit to Creative Assembly, had a play of Total War: Shogun 2 and wrote about it. Yes. But not here! No. I did the deed over at IGN, and if you feel up to braving the journalism badlands outside of RPS then you can read it here. If you’ve lost interest in Total War, this preview is probably for you. Look, I say things like this:

Empire wasn’t perfect, and Creative Assembly know it. As such, this upgrade of the first game couldn’t have come at a better time. Firstly, compared to the huge tracts of history Creative Assembly’s been wrestling with recently, Medieval Japan is a comparatively tidy time period. Secondly, Creative Assembly are getting to look at their game in the context of the brand-free smash hit it once was- when all the mechanics worked almost flawlessly. Thirdly, the team are borrowing a bit of Eastern philosophy. Creative Assembly wants the design of Shogun 2 to be ‘zen’. Shogun 2, then, isn’t going to be a bigger game than previous Total War titles. It’s going to be better.

And then I segue into describing the new skill trees, the new interface and the new and ludicrously in-depth multiplayer, which boasts a (are you ready?) collectible card sub-game. Interested? Go and read.

This is lovely. Say hello to Sarif Industries, makers of top quality commercial augmentations. Go have a look at their site, listen to their sinister elevator music and check out their company statement. Get a little taste of Human Revolution’s day-after-tomorrow universe. Then gasp with exaggerated surprise as you bypass the firewall and get a look at Deus Ex 3′s hacking minigame. Good work, Squeenix. Here’s that link again. Thanks to RPS reader Ross “The Mangus” Angus for the tipoff.

The fifth window of our towering advent calendar of judgment must be opened. Open it! There we are. What lies beyond is a game of unfathomable human drama. A thing of betrayal and backstabbing, of hope and resilience, and – if it gets really bad – of making sure you set your alarm clock. What could it be? (more…)

Sundays are for not actually being attached to your node of Precious Mother Internet, and instead wandering around in the midwinter gloom of a holiday camp, somewhere in The West. Fortunately, you have already prepared a list of interesting web-materials for other people to browse through, and need only set it in motion…

• Do you read much of Troy Goodfellow’s blog? You probably should. Here he is writing about the Aztec national character, as seen through the lens of Civ. He’s doing a bunch of similar Civ posts. But there’s lots more, like this look back at Soldiers Of Anarchy. The podcast is worth a look, too. So go look!

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Hello youse.

Sid Meier’s Civilization. Oh yeah. Now I’ve got your attention. Speaking to a PC gaming audience about Sid Meier’s Civilization is like speaking to an audience of teenage boys about Sasha Grey. There’s an instant connection. Recognition. A smile. A remembrance of all-night sessions. Of good times, fun, frustration, disgust, guilt. And of desire. (more…)

For every time of plenty, there must be a time of famine. The digital crops aren’t bearing much fruit this week, so I hope you stored away some games from previous sales, or you’ll not have much to play this weekend. The deal of the week is still very special, but aside from that you’ve got a small discount on an already cheap game, a series of games that have been discounted to less previously, and a game that realistically they couldn’t charge much more for even if they wanted to. For more deals on all formats throughout the week, make sure to regularly check SavyGamer.co.uk (more…)

The fourth window on our advent calendar shimmers like a hallucination, giving off a smell of blood and the faint groan of distorted guitars. Is it even really there, or are we just scratching at the wall? No, wait, it’s open now. What sordid madness is back there…

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Greetings, gunners. As an old comrade-in-alms of the RPS Hive-Mind and a long-term dabbler in World of Warcraft, I’ve been drafted in to give a brief account of all the pre-expansion shenanigans that have been going on in the run up to the launch of Cataclysm.

It’s the biggest expansion to hit the game since its 2004 launch, and in the run-up patches a quite enormous amount of content has been incrementally downloading through game clients worldwide. The purpose of this patching has been two-fold: to offer players some kind of context for the expansion before it hits, and to put them through some memorably mad shit that they’ll remember for a long time to come.

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