PC Gamer

Behind the music of Lord of the Rings Online’s Riders of Rohan expansion

Earlier in the week, we gave you a look at the mounted combat system coming in Lord of the Rings Online’s Riders of Rohan expansion. But if horses are the most important thing to portraying the Riddermark of Tolkien’s world, the second most important things has got to be fiddles. Preferably ancient Norwegian fiddles, of the sort composer Chance Thomas used in crafting the expansion’s score. Check out the video inside to hear more about how the music of Rohan was created.

Dawnguard released on Steam

Like some kind of sneaky Dunmer, Skyrim’s Dawnguard expansion showed up on Steam this afternoon acting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The release coincides with Bethesda’s presence at QuakeCon, which began today in Dallas. Skyrim is also currently on sale for $30, and with Dawnguard priced at $20, you can get them both for less than the normal price of Skyrim by itself. The forests of Riften will be filled with howls this night…

Mass Effect 3 Leviathan DLC to reveal more about the Reapers’ origins

Robot monsters and organic life don’t get along. We’ve always known this fundamental fact of the universe, and it’s why I own Old Glory Robot Insurance. Soon, however, we may know even more about why the Reapers gotta reap: the rumored Mass Effect 3 Leviathan DLC has been summarized at EA’s Summer Showcase, and will give players the chance to “discover more about the origins of the reapers.”

Rise of the Triad bounces back at QuakeCon

What’s that sound? Is it the sound of the world’s least stealthy assassin jumping into your cult’s fortress via a bounce pad and smacking you so hard with a magic baseball bat that twelve eyeballs shoot out of your face? Quite probably! And if you remember Rise of the Triad, this remake will need little introducton. You, Rise of the Triad remake. Rise of the Triad remake, reader. Shake hands. Politely.

If not, it was one of the crazier second-wave FPS games – originally intended as a sequel to Wolfenstein 3D, but ultimately turned into its own thing. Its engine wasn’t very complicated, its style wasn’t subtle, but it offered lots of chaos and even more gore, and they were two things that early-to-mid 90s action games couldn’t get enough of. Want to see its modern trailer? Here it is.

Conquest of the Wizardlands adds Egyptian Magic, Communism to Dungeons of Dredmor

Dungeons of Dredmor (our favorite indie game of 2011, if you’ll recall) has fresh DLC. It’s $3, and with the irreverence we’d expect, it adds a pile of absurd skill trees (Banksterism, Paranormal Investigator, Magical Law) and features (item storage in pocket dimensions, graffiti, Diggle Hell, equipment “Encrusting”) into the game that domesticated the roguelike.

War of the Roses hands-on preview

I go into War of the Roses with a simple goal: I want to plant a crossbow bolt dead center in someone’s face. That’s not asking much, right? Just put a crossbow in my hands and I’ll handle the rest. I’ll check out swords and spears and other 15th century tools of death, but those are the weapons of the common man. I’m in it for the precision face piercing.

As soon as I launch the pre-beta build of developer Fatshark’s new multiplayer melee murderfest, I realize I have no idea what I’ve gotten myself into…

CD Projekt cracks open some Cyberpunk FAQs

Not, it must be said, all that many – most of The Witcher 2 developer’s current project remains cloaked in secrecy and protected with ICE and… uh… behind a wall of developers keeping schtum. Plot, style and exactly what it’s going to look like all remain unknown. These answers should however assuage any fears that it’s just going to be The Witcher wearing sunglasses even when indoors, and give some idea of how the company is approaching its new world and the experience it plans to offer.

End of Nations beta key giveaway

End of Nations, the Trion Worlds MMORTS, is having a beta event this weekend, and we’ve got 1,500 keys to give away to lucky PC Gamer readers.

Yes, you could be engaging in 26 a side co-op battles with over a thousand units this very weekend. All you need to do is follow the steps inside.

Modders return GTA IV to San Andreas hood

Take Two for the day in more ways than one, I guess. Along with the viral fun of GTA V mentioned earlier, an exciting project just hit a big milestone over on ModDB – a recreation of San Andreas for the GTA IV engine, along with races, gang wars, and a new set of interiors in Las Venturas. It’s 2GB of Not California goodness, and here’s the download link if you want to drop in and take a look around.

Want to see a little more before redownloading the whole of GTA and packing the car for a nostalgia trip? There’s also a preview trailer to watch, which you’ll find… right… wait for it…

Minecon 2012 Location Announced…

But where will it be? The tension! If only there was a video right here that would reveal all…