Portal 2′s Perpetual Testing Initiative

Valve has announced their new free Portal 2 DLC, which is effectively a map creator kit, in the best way possible – a memo from Cave Johnson.

TO: All Aperture employees
FROM: Cave Johnson

COMPANY MEMORANDUM

Cave Johnson here. Your boss. It’s come to my attention that some of you are concerned after receiving my all-staff memo yesterday (“You: Design Test Chambers or You’re Fired”). So to put your minds at ease, let me clarify: You are not mentally ill and you did read the memo just fine. It was real. You should be designing test chambers, right now and at all times, or by God I will fire you.

To celebrate the release, Portal 2 is on sale for $6.79 from Steam which is a bargain for how much time you’ll spend solving, and now creating, the ingenious puzzles it contains.

Check out the trailer for the new Perpetual Testing Initiative DLC below.

Mass Effect 3′s Free Resurgence Pack

Bioware is still looking to mend any fences that may have been broken from the nerd-rage generated by the ending to Mass Effect 3 with the release of the free multiplayer Resurgence Pack released today.

The free download will add:

• 2 new maps

Firebase Hydra – an abandoned Quarian colony, and Firebase Condor – a Turian warzone outpost.

• 6 new characters

Asari Justicar Adept, Krogan Battlemaster Vanguard, Geth Infiltrator, Geth Engineer, Batarian Soldier, Batarian Sentinel.

• 3 new Weapons

Striker Assault Rifle, Kishock Harpoon Gun, Geth Plasma SMG

The DLC will be available from the Origin store, Xbox Live and the PSN store from today as a free download.

Borderlands 2 DLC Will Add Mechromancy

Gearbox has used the PAX East to announce that the first DLC pack for Borderlands 2 will be released soon after launch and will add a new playable class – the Mechromancer.

The Mechromancer is a female human/machine hybrid with a robot arm, spiky red hair and a giant robot buddy called D374-TP also known as Deathtrap.

The DLC will be free to those who pre-order Borderlands 2, or as paid DLC for anyone else but no price has been announced yet.

They also revealed that players will be able to customise their character with different costumes that drop as boss loot, and different heads. A unique character head will be available to those who played the original Borderlands.

Battlefield 3 Close Quarters DLC Trailer

The first footage of the upcoming Close Quarters DLC is out and shows the Ziba Tower map in action.

The confined corridors and open air balconies of this multi-story apartment complex are packed full of every destructible object the Frostbyte 2.0 engine has to offer. I think almost every second of gameplay in this map will includes at least 3 things exploding in a shower of debris.

Check out the massive before/after image DICE included with the announcement to see what I mean.

The Close Quarters DLC will arrive in June and include 4 new maps, 10 new weapons and a host of new achievements and dog tags to collect.

Battlefield 3 Close Quarters DLC In June

DICE has used the Game Developers Conference to announce three new DLC packs for Battlefield 3 coming in 2012 titled Close Quarters, Armoured Kill, and End Game.

The Close Quarters DLC will be arriving first in June, focussing on intense infantry combat with “tight level design and vertical gameplay” across 4 new maps and 10 new weapons. They specifically stated the maps were designed to create a “highly competitive environment,” so hopefully it’s not 4 new versions of Operation Metro’s chokepoints of doom.

The Armoured Kill DLC will bring more of what Battlefield 3 does best – vehicle mayhem. Armoured Kill will arrive in September and add new tanks, ATVs, and mobile artillery to the game along with new vehicle focussed maps, including “the biggest map in Battlefield history.” Fans of Caspian Border, rejoice!

The final DLC pack, End Game, is a mystery at this point. Other than the news that it will arrive at the end of the year, the only other bit of info we have so far is that the cover art features a dude holding a knife. Maybe it’s some sort of knife party mode.

DICE hasn’t announced any pricing info for the DLC yet, but it’s probably safe to assume we’ll be looking at a similar price to the Back to Karkand DLC at $14.99 each.

Back To Karkand DLC Out Now!

The wait is finally over! The Back to Karkand DLC is out on PC and Xbox, bringing 4 classic Battlefield 2 maps back in beautiful Frostbyte 2.0 glory.

If you didn’t already know (in which case – I hate you) the DLC adds the Wake Island, Strike at Karkand, Gulf of Oman and Sharqi Peninsula maps along with 3 new vehicles and 10 new weapons to the BF3 arsenal. Wake Island has now been host to over a decade of warfare across 3 entirely separate video games. Plus I think it was also in an actual war at some point.

Got the Limited Edition of BF3? Then it’s free, otherwise you’ll have to cough up $20. The best $20 you ever spent.

Search for 3FL BF3 in the battlelog to jump into the action. We now have 40 3FL servers running the new DLC maps – everything from mixed modes, hardcore, Vehicle Fever, 24/7 Wake Island 1000 tickets and much more.

Want a specific type of server? Head to our Battlefield 3 forum and let us know!

BF3′s Wake Island Gameplay Trailer

While PS3 owners now have access to the Back to Karkand DLC maps, PC and Xbox players will have to wait until next week before getting a shot at the DLC.

For those of us who don’t play it on PS3, we could either pass the time by telling the PS3 players how they’re all a big bunch of jerks or we could watch the new Wake Island gameplay trailer over and over. Personally I plan to do both and throw in few brief interludes of staring longingly at the classic BF2 weapons on the Battlelog’s DLC page. Soon, my pretties, soon we shall be together once more.

You can check out the new trailer below on Youtube or download the full HD version (and I mean full HD, the file is just over 1GB in size) entirely quota-free from the 3FL download vault.

*Youtube video content is not quota-free as it is not part of the Freezone

Head to our forums to discuss the trailer!

Battlefield 3 DLC Dated & Patch Incoming

Be advised, we’ve spotted an incoming Battlefield 3 patch in your area. The next major update to BF3 will be out on December 6th and includes some great changes.

Look forward to nerfs to IRNV scopes and flashlights, buffs to anti-air rockets against jets, increased reload time for mortars, and kinds of bug fixes and balance tweaks. The full patch notes are quite long, so hit the Read More link if you want to see the full list.

The patch comes in at 2GB which might seem large, but it’s because it also includes all the map content for the Back to Karkand DLC pack which will be available from December 13th on PC and Xbox. PS3 players will get to play the new maps a whole week early on the 6th, assuming they can actually join a multiplayer match successfully, of course.

The DLC will be free for anyone who purchased the limited edition of BF3, otherwise you can buy it from your respective platform’s store.

Head to our forums to argue about discuss this post!

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Magicka: The Stars Are Left DLC

The latest DLC pack for Magicka, The Stars Are Left, is out now on Steam and sees the four little wizards take on Cthulu and the Lovecraftian mythos. The DLC features new levels, 2 new challenge maps and new robes, achievements and magicks along with full 4 player co-op support.

Alongside The Stars Are Left, two new item DLC packs have also been released. The Horror Props pack adds movie props like chainsaws and baseball bats while the Holiday Spirit Item pack adds some festive cheer with Freeze Rays and Anger Management Sticks.

All three DLC packs are available on Steam now.

BF3′s Gulf of Oman Trailer

Check out the brand new trailer for the Gulf of Oman map in Battlefield 3′s upcoming Back to Karkand DLC which will be released in December.

Besides the usual exploding buildings, the trailer also includes footage of the four new vehicles included in the DLC – the F35 SVTOL (short vertical take-off and landing) jet, the return of the desert buggy and the APC from Battlefield 2.

The fourth vehicle is the mightiest warhorse in the modern combat theatre – the Bobcat skid loader which appears at 0:52 in the trailer. I can’t wait to load that sucker up with C4 and drive it into a building.

You can download the 1080p HD trailer quota-free from 3FL or view the Youtube version below.

*Youtube video content is not part of the Freezone.