Slashdot Mirror

An anonymous reader writes "bit-tech.net has the news that the eagerly awaited next installment to the Quake series, Quake 4, is on course to be released in time for Christmas. PCGamer grabbed the chance to have an exclusive play through of the upcoming title in the June issue of the magazine." Trailer also downloadable from 3D Gamers. (Scroll down for the non-reg links.)

sanderb writes "The Doom 3 demo is out (on Windows). It does not seem to be linked on the Doom 3 site yet, but is available from e.g. 3D Gamers (includes torrent). Time to see what my FX5200 can do..." Other readers point to Fileaholic.Com and Shacknews.com.

Rogerpq3 writes "A G4/Tech TV feature on DOOM 3, offering a history of the DOOM franchise in the words of the folks at id Software. The clip can be found on the air on The DOOM Franchise, episode 310 of a series called 'Icons.' The piece offers clips from DOOM 3 and other games, interview footage, analysis and more, and for those without access to the program. You can download the movie at: 3DGamers, Doom3HQ, Doom3.de, Doom3maps.de, and FileShack. It's really worth the download for any Doom and id fans out there. (Thanks: BluesNews)"

Phil John writes "As announced on the America's Army site, version 2.1 of America's Army: Special Forces is now available for free download, either as a full install or an update from 2.0.0a. There's a BitTorrent version of the update patch and a full standalone Windows version available from 3D Gamers to ease the load on the download mirrors. New goodies available: 2 new maps, brand new physics engine, new weapons and even an armoured vehicle with 50mm gun turret. Go forth, download and continue fighting the 'global war on terrorism'."

Phil John writes "As announced on the America's Army site, version 2.1 of America's Army: Special Forces is now available for free download, either as a full install or an update from 2.0.0a. There's a BitTorrent version of the update patch and a full standalone Windows version available from 3D Gamers to ease the load on the download mirrors. New goodies available: 2 new maps, brand new physics engine, new weapons and even an armoured vehicle with 50mm gun turret. Go forth, download and continue fighting the 'global war on terrorism'."

Thanks to GameSpot for its review of Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing for the PC, which it awards its worst score ever, 1.0/10, rhapsodizing: "Big Rigs is a game so astoundingly bad that it manages to transcend nearly every boundary put forth by some of gaming's absolute worst of the worst and easily makes it into that dubiously extraordinary category of being one of the most atrocious games ever published." The review goes on to explain some of that atrociousness, noting: "You can clip your truck right through every object on a race course in Big Rigs, from the biggest of houses and walls, right down to the smallest of lampposts. Furthermore, bridges evidently don't actually exist, despite the fact that you can see them - driving over any of them results in you sinking right through them." Although Big Rigs makes a valiant attempt, what videogame would you rate as the worst of all time?

Time Doctor writes "Linux and Mac gamers will be happy to hear that America's Army 2.0 is out of private beta, and available via mirrors at 3DGamers and HappyPuppy, among others. See this news post on the AA site for the gameplay changes." We covered the release of the Windows version of AA 2.0 a couple of weeks back, as this free FPS recruiting tool continues toward its goal of "providing civilians with an inside perspective and a virtual role in today's premiere land force, the U.S. Army."

Thanks to Blue's News for their post announcing that a playable demo of Remedy's PC third-person shooter Max Payne 2 has been released, with the 246 MB download featuring "the first three levels from the game, as well as a 'dead man walking' level that must be unlocked", and download sites including a BitTorrent link from 3DGamers. The well-received action title recently got a post-release interview over at Beyond3D, with project leader Markus Maki commenting on recent PC benchmarking controversy ("if a vendor can make the game run significantly faster with optimizations, without ruining the visual experience, I'm all for it"), and what they would have done with more time ("We're just scratching the surface of physics gameplay. With more development time, I'm sure our guys would've figured out a lot of cool stuff to do with them.")

Thanks to Eurogamer for their first impressions of Worms 3D, as Team 17's 2D turn-based strategy classic gets Sega-published and updated into the third dimension. The article suggest that "...we couldn't really see how the move to 3D would bring with it much in the way of 'improvements'", but ends up addicted, and "surprised at just how timeless the Worms formula appears to be." Blue's News reveals that a demo for Worms 3D is now out, possibly leaked early, but downloadable from Gamer's Hell, 3D Gamers, and BitTorrent via GameTab, and for those of you still digging the original 2D version, it seems the Asian-only Online Worms has 3 million Beta testers in China.

Thanks to several readers for pointing out the PC demo for Activision's World War II FPS Call Of Duty has been released - there are mirrors at Gamer's Hell, 3D Gamers, and a BitTorrent via FileRush, and Blue's News, as well as providing a longer list of mirrors, clarifies: "The 174 MB demo offers the single-player Burnville mission from Infinity Ward's upcoming shooter." This public release follows last night's controversy over the demo's exclusivity to FilePlanet, and Activision's subsequent change of heart, following a petition from many of the major game sites.

Thanks to Blue's News for their post indicating that the playable PC demo of Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII has been released, "offering a sample of the upcoming Battlefield 1942 add-on that plays 'what if' with experimental weapons." You don't need the original title to play, and there are mirrors of the 165 MB download on 3D Gamers, Gamer's Hell, BF1942files.com, and a BitTorrent link via 3DGamers.

Thanks to Blue's News for their post indicating that the playable PC demo of Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII has been released, "offering a sample of the upcoming Battlefield 1942 add-on that plays 'what if' with experimental weapons." You don't need the original title to play, and there are mirrors of the 165 MB download on 3D Gamers, Gamer's Hell, BF1942files.com, and a BitTorrent link via 3DGamers.

Thanks to several readers for pointing to the release of a second trailer ('The Docks') from Half-Life 2, via Valve's Steam content delivery system, as well as via GamersHell, IGN, 3D Gamers, and the obligatory BitTorrent link, courtesy GameTab. This follows the first movie, named 'G-Man,' that was posted a couple of days back -- all of these new Bink-encoded executable movies are direct-feed parts of the large shakycam E3 movie we mentioned a few weeks back.

Several online sources have rumored the development of an as-yet unannounced Terminator 3 FPS title for the PC, Terminator 3: War Of The Machines, to be published by Atari for Xmas 2003. Apparently, the title is currently in development at European Steel Of Haste developers Clever's, who have a teaser splash screen on their site seeming to back up the rumor. The game allegedly has heavy online components, and is completely different from the console Terminator 3 title from Black Ops, which is also scheduled to ship later this year. Update: 06/03 14:26 GMT by S : Thanks to boomtown.net for pointing out they sneaked a look at this low-profile title at E3.

Thanks to several readers for pointing out that a playable PC demo of Humvee Assault, a vehicle combat title, has been released at the Sylum Entertainment site. And don't forget, this title proclaims ".. whether rumbling through a sun-baked desert, steaming tropical jungle or frozen tundra, it's up to you to deliver a knockout punch to America's enemies." Yay America! Boo America's enemies! Here's a 3D Gamers mirror, other mirrors welcome.

An anonymous reader writes "The Unreal Tournament 2003 demo for Mac has been released - see the story at Insidemacgames.com." The demo has 5 maps, requires OS X, and download mirrors, as always, are hard to come by - try 3D Gamers and Fileshack, also here's unofficial BitTorrent link-age [verified, correct file -Jamie]. It's good to see the Mac community being supported with high-profile titles like this - but what other games would you like to see ported to the Apple-icious platform?

Mandelbrot-5 writes "From the Activision Wolfenstein web site: "The multiplayer test is OUT! You can find it at www.castlewolfenstein.com, www.gamespy.com, as well as a few other places. Here is a list of other mirrors in case you're among the many who are fighting to grab it: FilePlanet 3D Gamers Blue's News Return to Castle Wolfenstein multiplayer pits players in a team-based Axis versus Allies contest for front-line domination, where multiple player classes must mobilize and work together to accomplish mission objectives. The multiplayer element of Return to Castle Wolfenstein is currently in development by Nerve Software with assistance from id Software and Gray Matter Interactive.'"