Crysis developer Crytek used Microsoft's E3 2011 press conference to formally unveil Ryse, the Xbox 360 exclusive previously known as Codename: Kingdoms.

A Kinect-controlled first-melee game set in the world of Ancient Rome, Ryse will see players using Kinect gestures to block attacks with their shield, swing their swing, kick foes, deliver headbutts, and throw blades at foreheads. Read more »

As if Magicka didn't already suffer enough magical 'friendly fire' incidents, developer Arrowhead and publisher Paradox have announced that wizard-on-wizard violence will be formalised on June 21 when the PvP mode launches for free.

Along with classic Deathmatch, which players are apparently quite capable of emulating for themselves at the moment anyway, there'll be another two modes for duelling wizards. Brawl will give players or teams a limited number of lives for them to fritter away until there's only one survivor. Kreitor mode, inspired by an eponymous fan, will see new Magicks unlocking at intervals, so the match changes over time as wizards get new toys to play with. Read more »

Blacklight: Tango Down developer Zombie Studios revealed back in January that it was planning to make the sci-fi shooter's sequel a free-to-play game. Now, with E3 barrelling down upon us, that sequel has been formally revealed as Blacklight Retribution.

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The Amazing Spider-Man and his 2099 counterpart join forces in the E3 trailer for Spider-Man: Edge of Time, giving a pleasing peek at how Peter Paker and Miguel O'Hara intend to save each other's lives across time with strategic deployment of face-punches.

With a plot from Spider-veteran Peter David, Edge of Time promises "narratively-driven 'cause-and-effect' moments, uniquely utilizing 'picture-in-picture' moments where the actions of one Spider-Man have immediate effects on the other Spider-Man and his surroundings." Great power does come with great responsibility, after all. Read more »

The E3 2011 trailer for Radical Entertainment's super-powered sequel Prototype 2 has arrived, overflowing with blood, guts, and growled threats. In it, we see that new protagonist James Hellar's revenge on the original star's Alex Mercer involves... spreading exactly the sort of carnage as Mercer did. Well, They do say we hate people who remind us of ourselves. Or who turn us into mutated monstrosities.

Prototype 2 is due out on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2012, published by Activision. Read more »

With E3 2011 only a few days away, publishers are hard at work filling our inboxes with trailers for upcoming titles. Namco Bandai has joined the fray, sending over a new trailer for Soul Calibur V featuring in-game footage.

Soul Calibur V was announced early last month, and is slated to arrive on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2012. The game is also expected to feature 'guest-starring' characters (as it has in the past); however, Namco Bandai has been tight-lipped about the additions. Hopefully we'll hear more next week. Read more »

If our preview of Metro: Last Light left you wanting more, today THQ has released a gameplay trailer featuring pieces of the content shown off during an E3 2011's "Judge's Week" presentation.

Metro: Last Light is launching in 2012 from developer 4A Games and is slated to hit the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Read more »

Though the latest trailer for the Human Head Studios-developed shooter Prey 2 does not feature any gameplay, it's a pretty exciting three minutes and twenty-one seconds.

The trailer begins with a plane being transported out of Earth and crash-landing on another planet. It then follows the game's protagonist collecting bounties on the alien world. The cinematic looks good, but does the game itself live up? We're looking to find out when we see the game at E3 2011, next week. Read more »

The 'grimdark' future of war is coming over all-arcade in Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team, a twin-stick shooter announced today by publisher THQ. Developed at THQ's internal Digital Studios UK team, Kill Team is due on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in July. No word of a PC release, sorry.

Playing as one of four Space Marines classes--Sternguard Veteran, Techmarine, Vanguard Veteran or Librarian--players are sent to stop an Ork Kroozer from attacking a Forge World. It'll support two-player split-screen co-op, for you to bring a chapter buddy to the slaughter. Six different chapter skins are on offer, so you won't get stuck in a boring one like the Ultramarines. Read more »

If the supposed release of Duke Nukem Forever is all a massive prank, it certainly is a thorough one. Today has brought word that its first multiplayer downloadable content will be free to members of the First Access Club, while the launch trailer has, well, launched.

"Any First Access Club member who has registered as of today will receive the very first downloadable Duke Nukem Forever multiplayer add-on pack for free when it's released!" Gearbox explained today. There's no word on what exactly this will contain, but extra maps and character customisation options are likely candidates. Read more »

"Free-to-play" never means "completely free," and Age of Empires Online is no exception. Publisher Microsoft this week revealed the assorted content and bonuses that'll be on sale for the F2P online revival of the strategy series, along with its launch date.

Age of Empires Online will launch for PC on August 16 as a free download from the Games for Windows Marketplace, but will also available in a $19.99 boxed retail edition. The boxed version will contain the Greek 'Premium Civilization Pack,' which would otherwise cost $19.99 itself, along with an retail-exclusive item store and some trifling physical knick-knacks. Read more »

Gearbox's much-anticipated co-op shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines largely dropped off the radar after it was announced in 2008, but the Borderlands developer has always insisted it was still on its way. Today, publisher Sega pulled back the curtain to reveal a new trailer, more details, a single screenshot, and a release window--spring 2012.

Described by the official site as "a true sequel to James Cameron's classic Aliens," Colonial marines promises drop-in/drop-out co-op for up to four players. Marines will venture into movie environments such as Hadley's Hope, the Sulaco and LV-426, armed with weapons including pulse rifles, motion trackers and flamethrowers on "self-contained missions within an over-arching narrative." Read more »

Volition has announced that the farting unicorn--affectionately known as Mr. Toots--will indeed be added to the arsenal of weaponry found in Red Faction: Armageddon.

The living "weapon" was promised as a last-minute addition if the Armageddon demo for the was downloaded over one million times. Since downloads have hit that mark, the creature will be added to the game as an unlockable reward for completing the single-player campaign. Read more »

There are some "behind-the-scenes" videos that delve deep into the process of making a game a development team is proud to call their own, then there's this.

Ubisoft has just released a "Road to E3" video for its upcoming title Assassin's Creed Revelations, which features nothing but a few lofty promises. "Game of the show!" a number of people in the office holler, setting a goal for next week's big industry event. Read more »

EVE Online players will soon be able to step out of their spaceships, at last, and onto stations with the 'Incarna' update. In the wake of that, developer CCP Games has announced plans to sell cosmetic "vanity" items for real money in the pew-pew spaceships MMO.

Pretty items such as "clothes and accessories for your character, custom paint jobs or logo placement on your ships or a fishtank/stripper pole for your Captain's Quarters," or the fancy techno-monocle above, will be purchasable for real cash money. Read more »