FiringSquad: What other new content and improvements will be made available in the booster pack?
Kristoffer Bergqvist: There are 11 new awards for each player to earn, each of them valid for an unlock. There is also a pin tied to the new version of Conquest: Assault that is introduced in Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike – Assault Lines. The Assault Lines way of playing conquest will create a more goal oriented gameplay with higher demands on teamplay for both teams.
FiringSquad: Will there be any graphical upgrades for the release of the booster pack?
Kristoffer Bergqvist: The three new Northern Strike levels are without a question visually the most impressive ones in the Battlefield franchise so far. All vehicles and objects have also been updated with frost and snow to complete the feeling of fighting a battle in more central parts of the ice-age.
FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the distribution and price of Northern Strike at this point?
Kristoffer Bergqvist: Northern Strike will be priced similar to Battlefield 2: Armored Fury and Euro Forces. Currently the plan is to release this title exclusively on EA Downloader. With its small file size it’s an ideal product for EAD, you’ll have it on your computer faster than you can say “Garmisch-Partenkirchen”.
FiringSquad: Can you talk about any future booster pack releases for BF 2142?
Kristoffer Bergqvist: As we’ve been listening a lot to the community’s concerns of dividing the player base when releasing exclusive content there currently are no more booster packs planned for Battlefield 2142.
FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Battlefield 2142 Northern Strike?
Kristoffer Bergqvist: I can share you this story, as it explains exactly what Northern Strike is all about. In a play test the other day I spawned into the PAC home base on Port Bavaria, as you know by now is in a rocky passage high up in the Alps. A frost covered battlewalker stood there so I jumped in a stomped away towards the enemies. After a few steps a Hachimoto respawns in front of me and I quickly decided to leave the walker for its more agile cousin. After getting into the speeder, giving full throttle and max boost I soon find myself strafing infantry left and right, my only problem in the world is to decide whether to shoot or run over the poor EU soldiers struggling to establish a foothold in my base.
Suddenly I see a fellow Hachimoto, with an EU soldier behind the wheel! [DICE]jos, the thieving bastard! After nailing him with a few shots in the back he realises he is in trouble and takes of like a bat out of hell. With my guns hammering on the stolen speeder I chase him down this winter wonderland alp setting and can’t stop a grin from spreading on my lips when his (our!) vehicle starts to show sparks and fire coming out of the engine compartment. Desperately he plunges his vehicle towards our homebase in a hopeless attempt to escape the wrath of my cannons.
As we approach the PAC homebase I, and [DICE]jos, see the walker I just left in favour for the speeder still standing there, abandoned yet glorious. Jos sees his chance and I realize I have no chance to hit the brakes in time. The second my guns are placing the killing rounds into the speeder he stole he jumps out and leaps into the walker. With my body frozen in fear I boost between the walker’s legs! I hear the battlewalker’s guns opening up on me as I use a strategically placed snow mound to jump a small fence standing between me and freedom.
Mid-air I realize that I just cannot let this guy steal two of my vehicles and get away with it, so with a swift nudge on the steering wheel I swing my Hachimoto 180 degrees, now moving backwards with the front towards the walker, and jump into the gunner’s seat. Just as I activate the TV-guided weapon systems I see a swarm of missiles coming from the battlewalker with the thief in it. This is the last thing I see before my speeder explodes in a big cloud of fire, twisted metal debris and snow. From the other side of the office I can hear [DICE]jos giggle but the only thing I can think about is how awesome that mid-air turn must have looked. Judges’ verdict: Best flip, worst landing.
Elemental: Fallen Enchantress Preview Elemental: Fallen Enchantress is a standalone expansion pack and follow-up to developer Stardock's previous game in the series, subtitled War of Magic. That 4X strategy game was highly-anticipated and slated to compete with games such as Sid Meier's Civilization V for your turn-based strategy play-time, but was released in an incredibly broken and unfinished state that it never fully recovered from. Lead designer Brad Wardell apologized profusely to fans and set out with his team to go back to the drawing board and try again.
Almost two years later, the result of that proverbial mulligan is currently undergoing closed beta testing. In today's article, Will reports his thoughts on how Fallen Enchantress is shaping up, and will tell you whether or not you should be keeping an eye on it as it nears release later this year.
The Elder Scrolls Online Details Leak - Should Fans Be Excited? The Elder Scrolls Online, long rumored to be in development, was officially announced yesterday. Still in development at Zenimax Online Studios, this MMO aims to combine traditional genre mechanics with the spirit and sensibilities, not to mention setting and lore, of the immensely popular series of single-player RPGs. Though the game is set for a full unveiling in the next issue of Game Informer magazine, what appears to be the entire cover story article has been leaked to the interwebs already. In today's article, you'll find summary and analysis of all the alleged details, as well as feast your eyes on the very first screenshots and concept art from the game. Of course, the burning question now is, should you be excited?
ANNO 2070 Review
The year is 2070. The majority of life on Earth was devastated when global sea levels surged after the melting of the polar ice caps. Swaths of previously habitable land are now deep underwater, and sovereign nations are a relic of the past. But there is still hope...
This city-building RTS/simulation game from Ubisoft tasks you with re-colonizing what little land areas are left on the planet following a global warming apocalypse. Does it have what it takes to be worthy of your time and money, or should it be cast out to sea with the rest of civilization? Find out in today's review!
Mass Effect 3 PC Review
This latest release from EA/BioWare is the final entry in their trilogy of sci-fi action RPGs, putting you in a dire situation: rally the troops to save Earth at all costs. There was a lot of hype surrounding the final act of what has been a vast and highly-customizable story-telling experience, and the reception among many hardcore fans has been less than stellar. Even people that haven't played the game have probably heard about all the nerd rage going on over Mass Effect 3's ending...
If you want to cut through all the crap and find out whether or not the rest of ME3 is worth playing, come check out Will's spoiler-free take on the first blockbuster game release of 2012.
Batman: Arkham City PC Review Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to 2009’s smash-hit action game Batman: Arkham Asylum. As the name suggests, you will be reprising your role as the Caped Crusader and going against an even larger 'prison' filled with Gotham's criminals and villains. A textbook example on how to do a proper sequel, Arkham City takes what worked in the original, excised or improved upon what didn’t, and elevated everything to an even greater scope. The PC version suffered from a few months of delay, but in that time, Rocksteady worked closely to NVIDIA to implement some familiar technologies from the last game, such as PhysX and 3D Vision, along with new DirectX 11 optimizations. But how well was the whole package executed? Read on to find out!
Saints Row: The Third PC Review Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plenty of critical and commercial success since it began on consoles back in 2006. This latest iteration, titled Saints Row: The Third promises the most outlandish fun and freedom of customization of them all, and in a much more PC-friendly package than its predecessor. Does it live up to those expectations and, more importantly, is it worth the price of admission? Find out in Will's latest review!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda Softworks’ latest offering in their series of epic fantasy RPGs, as well as one of the most highly-anticipated PC titles of 2011. As the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, prepare to take the fight to the mythical beasts that have returned to the realm after centuries of slumber, all the while exploring a huge and highly-detailed open world.
The PC version of the game promises enhanced graphical fidelity, standard RPG trimmings such as hotkeys and quick-save, as well as unbridled mod support, something we’ll all be thankful for once they release that SDK. Skyrim has already sold millions of copies and set records for play-time on Steam... Find out why in today's review, which happens to be one of the biggest and most in-depth articles on the subject out there!
L.A. Noire Complete Edition PC Review L.A. Noire, as the name clearly states, is a video game built on the tropes of one of the greatest periods of American cinema: film noir. Developed by the now defunct Australian developer Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games, this title has been out on consoles for a full six months before finally making its way to the PC. This “Complete Edition” of the game features improved graphics, keyboard/mouse controls, and every bit of previously-released DLC for free. But was it truly worth the wait? Read on and find out!
Mass Effect 3 PC Demo Impressions Mass Effect 3, EA/BioWare's third iteration in their series of sci-fi action RPGs and one of the most anticipated titles of the year, is fast approaching its March 6th release. This week, though, they released a playable demo on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 that offers a glimpse into both the single-player and multi-player portions of the full game.
Whether you're waiting impatiently for your download to finish or don't have the time to check it out yourself, go ahead and read some impressions of the demo from resident FSers Synch and Vandy in today's article!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 Review
The self-appointed "most anticipated game in history" launched worldwide this past Tuesday. Why, it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, of course (of course), what else? Unsurprisingly, the military FPS debate between this and Battlefield 3 rages on, but now that both have been released, surely we can take a look and objectively evaluate them both? Luke's taken the Xbox version of MW3 for a spin this week, so to find out what he thinks of it in today's review!
![BF 2142: Northern Strike Interview [ @ 1600 x 1200 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/07-s.jpg)
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