StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Videos

The closed beta test for Blizzard's second version of StarCraft II, called Heart of the Swarm, recently went live, and IGN Pro League has been checking it out. The multiplayer portion of the game is currently available for testing, letting players with access play around with some of the new units added to StarCraft's three armies.

You can see some of the highlights below. For more on what's new in Heart of the Swarm, check out IGN's previous coverage of unit changes and abilities as well as why Blizzard considers Heart of the Swarm to have a higher skill ceiling than Wings of Liberty.

For more you can check out IPL's YouTube channel.

Blizzard also released full match videos of Heart of the Swarm, which are embedded below.

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Grifball will be added to Halo 4 multiplayer

According to Joystiq who was in attendance at a 343 Industries panel, the much-beloved, fan-made Halo multiplayer variant, Grifball, will be an official game mode in Halo 4.

Grifball was introduced by the fan community in Halo 3 when the "Forge" mode allowed for the creation of new types of levels and games. It was not featured at launch, but was eventually patched into Halo: Reach, and will now be available at launch in the latest title.

Grifball is a unique type of game variant created by Burnie Burns of Rooster Teeth, in which two teams attempt to carry a ball or bomb into the enemy base. All players are armed only with energy swords and hammers. So essentially it's futuristic death rugby.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

PAX: Halo 4 Updates Grifball and Oddball

If you've ever wanted to throw your skull before, you'll enjoy the changes planned for several multiplayer modes in Halo 4. 343 Industries announced today that players will be able to pass and catch the ball/skull/bomb in both Grifball and Oddball during its Halo panel at PAX.  This news comes a day after the announcement of Capture the Flag (CTF), and a new War Games map, Exile. Similar to allowing the flag carrier to carry a Magnum in CTF, you'll also be able to weild a pistol while carrying the ball in Oddball. Assassinations are also possible which apparently vaporzize your enemies.

Here's the two modes in action.

Both modes themselves are carry-overs from past Halo games, Oddball featuring classic "earn points each second you control the ball" gameplay, while Grifball arms players with Gravity Hammers and Swords in a bid to score points by carrying the ball to the other team's goal.

Including a weapon in CTF makes enough sense given how wide open t=most CTF-ready maps are, but I wonder about adding a pistol to the ball-carrier mix given the typically smaller-sized arenas best suited for Oddball. There's something about relying solely on melee attacks that's always balanced out the gameplay, so it'll be interesting to see how it plays (343 only showed the mode off via its presentation, it wasn't playable).

In case you missed it yesterday, here's what we thought of the new CTF mode.

Casey Lynch is Editor-in-Chief of IGN.com. Follow his non-sequitur ramblings about video games, '80s films and Protest the Hero on IGN and Twitter.

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Aliens: Colonial Marines Escape Mode Announced

Gearbox has revealed details of a new multiplayer mode for Aliens: Colonial Marines. It's called Escape, and pits a team of four US colonial marines against – you've guessed it – a team of four playable Xenomorphs. The mode has the added pressure of a time limit, in which the soldiers must stay alive and make their way to the evacuation zone. Meanwhile, the Xenomorphs must hunt down and kill the marines.

The Xenomorphs aren't all the same, however. There are distinct classes (seen in Gamespot's trailer). The Xenomorph Soldier is highly resistant to damage and excels at close combat; the Xeno Lurker is the fastest and most agile of the aliens, possessing a "quick strike" ability which lets them pin marines to the ground; finally, there's the Xeno Spitter which can attack marines from a distance by spraying acid from its "cranial acid pouches". Charming.

SEGA says that players "will have to work together as a team, utilizing each faction’s unique skills, and identifying their opponents’ weak spots to either reach the safety of the escape point or to eliminate their targets". No details were given regarding the abilities of the marines, but presumably one of you will have the nerve-shredding job of monitoring the motion detector.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is out on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on February 12, 2013.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. Alien is one of his favourite films. Prometheus isn't. Follow him on IGN and Twitter.

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Gears of War: Judment Free-for-All Mode Unveiled

Microsoft has unveiled a new multiplayer game mode for Gears of War: Judgment: it's called Free-for-All mode.

As the name suggests, the mode promises to throw team tactics out of the window and, in a first for the Gears of War series, it will ask players to take on every other player. It's every COG solider for himself.

Epic games will debut the new mode this week at PAX Prime where a playable version will also be present. Alongside this, two new maps will be on show: Gondola and Library.

The Gondola map promises to take place in a quiet, gated community located only a short gondola ride from the renowned shops and businesses in the prestigious Agora foothills. The Library level, meanwhile, will take place in an archive of important documents surrounding the life, career, and personal interests of Alexiy Desipich.

Gondola

Free for all is the second new multiplayer mode introduced in Gears of War: Judgement. The first is OverRun, the class-based competitive mode that pits Locust and Cog soldiers in a head-to-head battle.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. You can be part of the world's worst cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.

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God of War: Ascension trailer shows off multiplayer battles

God of War: Ascension is one of the biggest games currently in development, hugely expanding the scope of regular God of War games by adding a multiplayer component that features customizable warriors battling each other for the glory of their patron god.

http://www.gamesradar.com/god-war-ascension-trailer-shows-multiplayer-battles/

We wouldn't have thought it possible, but it looks like God of War: Ascension will actually be even more brutal and uncompromising than God of War 3. Which is saying something considering GoW3 featured a scene in which Kratos literally twists the head off a god.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com