Mass Effect Trilogy Set Announced

BioWare has announced the Mass Effect Trilogy Compilation, bringing the original Mass Effect to PlayStation 3 for the first time. The set will combine all three Mass Effect titles into one package and will launch on Xbox 360 and PC on November 6th for $59.99. A PlayStation 3 version will follow, though a specific date hasn’t been announced just yet.

BioWare will also release the original Mass Effect as a standalone title via PlayStation Network, though an exact date hasn’t been announced for that either. This marks the first time Mass Effect, which was published by Microsoft Studios originally, will make its way to Sony’s console. IGN has learned that the standalone version will include Trophy support.

Separately, BioWare announced N7 Day, a “worldwide celebration” that will take place on November 7th. The day will include in-game, online and live events, and more details will be coming soon on MassEffect.com.

Mass Effect was originally released on Xbox 360 in November of 2007, followed by a PC version in May 2008. Mass Effect 2 launched on Xbox 360 and PC in January 2010, followed by a PlayStation 3 version a year later. Mass Effect 3 launched for all three platforms on March 6th of this year, and a Wii U version will follow on November 18th.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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Pick a Card, Any Card With Might & Magic: Duel of Champions

It's no secret that free to play titles are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Both independent studios and behemoth publishers are experimenting with different ways of reeling in new players and holding their attention. In doing so, they are becoming ever more adept at striking the enticing balance between valuing the player’s investment of time with coaxing them to dip into their pocket. There will always be those poorly-considered, thinly-veiled attempts to grab your cash, but the industry appears to be getting a handle on what makes the free to play model appealing rather than abhorrent.

Ubisoft is a company trying hard to get this right and the publisher-slash-developer has a robust free to play line-up launching over the coming months. This is evidenced by none more strongly than its Might & Magic franchise, which the publisher has been in charge of for close to a decade: there's the immediate smash and grab gratification of Might & Magic: RaiderZ; the more considered option of Might & Magic Online; and the specialised nature of Might & Magic: Duel of Champions. It’s this last title that I’ve been tinkering with since its open beta launched earlier this month and I’m a little surprised to say that this card battler is gratifyingly deep and undiluted.

Decks are constructed around a single hero, of whom there are four for each of the primary factions: Necropolis, Inferno, Haven and Stronghold. Each faction has creatures loyal to it and can be boosted by the game’s fifth, neutral faction, which has no heroes of its own and exists only to supplement the dominant four. In addition to factions there exist seven schools of magic, the use of which is dictated by the hero at the centre of the deck, and each hero is typically able to wield cards from two or three of these schools. Added to the spell cards are trap and fortune cards that affect both the opponent and/or the hero, as well as event cards that sit outside of the battlefield and are changed each turn, potentially affecting the flow of play on a turn-by-turn basis.

There’s a lot to get your head around, but one of Duel of Champions’ most fundamental concepts (and where it varies most from the granddaddy of card trading games, Magic: The Gathering) is battlefield position. Creatures are placed on either the front or back line depending on their attributes and can then either attack enemy creatures directly opposite them or move to a vacant field position to block incoming attacks. Depending on how the attributes of different decks stack up against each other and the skill of the players, duels can last anywhere from five to forty minutes.

The starting decks are adequate, but it won’t be long before you’ll want to venture to the shop to spend the spoils of war or exchange real world cash for in-game currency. The cards that form the lifeblood of the game come in an assortment of varied flavours. There’s the quick gratification of the smallest, two-card pack costing 2,000 gold (representing around two to four online duels or approximately 30 euro cents), all the way up to multi-pack boxes that can only be purchased with Seals, which are obtained by levelling up or by purchase, and cost 1,000 seals for 120 cards or 3,000 for 384 cards (approximately €15 - €35).

In playing to level 5 over several hours, I earned enough in-game currency for around four 8-card Heroic packs, a 12-card Reinforcement pack and enough Seals for the 120-card box; a total of around 164 cards on top of the starting deck of 56, of which 140 or so were unique. The community against which to wield these cards seems to be fairly bustling, meaning you rarely wait more than 15 or 20 seconds for a duel. This is just as well, because the open beta campaign fought against the AI is limited to a handful of introductory missions, making online duelling the only way to earn in-game currency.

Deck building is initially confusing due to a sparse interface and lack of guidance or feedback, but once mastered it proves to be a rewarding time sink and invites frequent revisits to tinker with your line-up in between duels. Meanwhile, duels can feel a little overwhelming as you get to grips with different effects and mechanics, but you can take a closer look at any of the cards on the battlefield or discard piles. This helps reveal why your seemingly flawless master plan to conquer your opponent fell apart just as you were about to deliver the crushing blow or why a card you were sure was invincible fell to a low-level runt.

There have been some complaints from the community about the balance of the game, with one faction in particular accused of being overpowered from the start. However, prolonged play suggests that while some factions are indeed easier to get to grips with, others have the edge in longer duels. It is likely a case of Ubisoft tweaking the starting contents of certain decks to redress the balance in the early stages of the game, which is exactly what beta testing is intended to uncover.

Might & Magic Duel of Champions is a satisfying card battler whose depth belies its free to play status and it appears entirely possible to play the game without spending much, if any, real world cash. That said, the mark of well-designed game of this ilk is not how adequately its initial glut of cards perform, but how satisfying it is to open those virtual, shiny foil packets to reveal the potentially precious contents inside. In that respect, Duel of Champions has the power to transport us all back to school, to those days of coveting the cards of our friends and opponents; it’s just a shame we can’t play swapsies.

Stace Harman is a freelance contributor to IGN and is convinced that zombies will one day inherent the Earth. You can follow him on Twitter.

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Sony Announces PSN Day 1 Digital Program

Sony has announced PSN Day 1 Digital, a program that offers titles for download on PlayStation Network the same day they’re available at retail. The program will launch on October 2nd, but players can pre-order games before they become available and PlayStation Plus members will get a 10% discount.

The following games have been announced for the program so far:

• Resident Evil 6 (October 2 - $59.99)
• NBA 2K13 (October 2 - $59.99/$53.99 for Plus members, with pre-order)*
• Dishonored (October 9 - $59.99/$53.99 for Plus members, with pre-order)*
• Doom 3: BFG Edition (October 16 - $39.99/$35.99 for Plus members, with pre-order)*
• 007 Legends (October 16 - $59.99, 10% off week one for Plus members)
• Medal Of Honor Warfighter (October 23 - $59.99)
• Need For Speed: Most Wanted (October 30 - $59.99/$53.99 for Plus members, with pre-order)*
• Assassin’s Creed III (October 30 - $59.99)*

* = Available for pre-order

“Our upcoming PSN Day 1 Digital lineup in October is exceptional and demonstrates our commitment to delivering the best games to the devoted PlayStation community as soon as they’re available,” said SCEA digital platforms senior director Jack Buser. “Additionally, with our new PlayStation 3 models on the horizon offering up to 500GB of storage, there’s never been a better time to experience PS3 games digitally through PSN.”

This strategy has been in place since day one on Vita, and Sony just recently made Borderlands 2 available on PSN day 1. In that case, the game wasn’t available at midnight, launching later in the day instead when the PlayStation Store was updated.

There’s no word on if midnight releases will be a part of PlayStation’s digital pre-order future, but read what we want in a PlayStation Store redesign for that feature and more that we’d like to see Sony add.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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F1 2012 Review

Yearly sports titles tend to face an uphill battle. While the likes of EA’s FIFA and Madden could easily get by on roster changes alone, most other games really need to prove their mettle to get punters to pony up their hard earned cash again. Yet for its third outing with the Formula One license, that’s just what Codemasters have done with F1 2012, delivering numerous small-but-notable improvements over the last two years’ offerings.

Everything starts with the young drivers test in a meticulously recreated Yas Marina Stadium and racetrack in Abu Dhabi. Taking you through everything from vehicle handling, acceleration, and breaking to the more advanced elements of the sports such as KERS and DRS, a mixture of hands on time and short instructional videos prove invaluable to those either unfamiliar with the sport or new to its digital recreations. Depending on your inherent skill, the young drivers test will take about 40 minutes to 1 hour to complete but this solid foundation in gameplay mechanics will prove time well spent. Even returning F1 players should appreciate this refresher course in basic training, as there are plenty of nuanced differences to pick up on that reflect the changes the FIA has introduced to the motorsport since F1 2011 hit shelves.

It’s just one small aspect of the game’s commitment to authenticity. Obviously, a number of recognisable drivers were practically a given – Raikonnen, Button, Hamilton, et al – but appearances by real-world team members, such as Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner and race commentary from former F1 driver Anthony Davidson, helps craft a truly immersive experience. From the training mode onward, F1 2012 does a fantastic job of placing you in the mindset of an up-and-coming driver. Emails from agents and teammates advise you of race specifics or analyse your performance afterwards, helping put your head in the game. The tension, the weight of expectation of your colleagues, almost feels palpable, all creating a determination on your part to improve.

“

Improvement is something you’ll have to work hard for though, and rarely does a game make you fight so hard for a fraction of a second’s performance on a lap time. The overall difficulty could be placed somewhere between the brutal F1 2011 and the challenging F1 2010.

Improvement is something you’ll have to work hard for though, and rarely does a game make you fight so hard for a fraction of a second’s performance on a lap time. The overall difficulty could be placed somewhere between the brutal F1 2011 and the challenging F1 2010 – not easy then. With even minute deviations from the track resulting in time penalties or outright disqualification, learning to control the cars properly will be your number one priority. Given just how specific the game’s demands are though, there’s temptation to become over-reliant on Codemaster’s trademarked Flashback feature; zooming backwards to take one more pass at an awkward hairpin or avoid a collision. As such, it can become difficult to gauge any sense of genuinely improved performance.

Throughout the game, vehicle handling proves simultaneously precise and punishing. Veering onto the grass causes the green stuff to accumulate on your wheels, adding a perceptible slide and minimises traction, while deploying KERS (strip back the complexity of the rules and it’s a horsepower-boosting equivalent to a speed power-up in lesser titles) affects your braking times and accuracy as a side-effect of its eye-watering forward momentum.

Thankfully, with a range of braking assists, traction control and a racing guideline available, F1 2012 remains accessible for newcomers who want something perhaps closer to a typical racing game but still serving as an entry point to the sport. Ramp the difficulty up though, and every turn of the car, every gear change, and even aspects of pit time are your responsibility. That responsibility is even felt prior to races, with your car’s customisations – best tires, engine optimisations, fuel types – largely determining victory before you’ve even hit the tarmac. It’s more to learn and can feel frustrating if you just want to jump into a game, but the results really pay off once you know what you’re doing.

Moving into the main game content, the Proving Grounds area feels closest to an Arcade mode and is likely to be where more casual players spend a lot of their time. Champions Mode offers a selection of six challenges seeing you outwit and out-race some of the biggest names in the sport, and is immediately more accessible than the career or even the quick play modes. The difficulty curve on these is blistering though, and as you put yourself through races spotlighting Formula One’s finest, you'll find yourself having to put every speck of training you've gathered from elsewhere in the game to its utmost use. Proving Grounds is also where you will find the Time attack and Time Trial modes, the former seeing you attempting to set speed records on some of the world’s top racetracks, the latter testing your racing skills against the demands of international race teams.

“

The difficulty curve on these is blistering though, and as you put yourself through races spotlighting Formula One’s finest, you'll find yourself having to put every speck of training you've gathered from elsewhere in the game to its utmost use.

While these more casual modes allow you free reign to select racing team and cars, the full Career Mode instead sees you racing up the league tables, beginning with a lower tier team before your successes earn you promotion after promotion. Impress the global press and industry observers and you’ll attract contract offers from more prestigious teams, your choices of which to accept affecting progression. It’s a lengthy outing, though the new Season Challenge mode allows a more relaxed approach, still putting you through the paces of a competitive chain of races but proving less of a time demand than your full career.

In addition to expected online multiplayer, split-screen and LAN options make welcome appearances. With no noticeable decline in frame rates or overall visual quality in split screen, the chance for some deliciously tense competition with your real-world mates is one to be relished.

Visually, the improvements in F1 2012 are harder to spot – 2011 already looked amazing. Most notable is a refined weather system, where rain can, and frequently will, sweep across a track during weekend-long events. Storm clouds are visible from a distance, and the look of the track as it gets soaked is perceptible. Best of all, this forces a gameplay change, as you’ll need to switch out tires to continue at optimum efficiency. Racetracks new and old – the main attraction being the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, hosting this year’s US Grand Prix – are authentically modelled, each delivering a unique atmosphere and, as with last year’s entry, there’s a brilliant soundtrack to accompany you.

Essentially, if you enjoyed F1 2011, there’s more than enough here to keep your attention: everything that was great last year returns, with enough tweaks and improvements to warrant a return. Newcomers will find F1 2012 a shock to the system compared to more conventional racing games, but the ample tools provided to get into the sport provide a gratifying experience with just a little bit of commitment on the player’s part.

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Titanic: Limited 3D Edition Blu-ray Review

Despite a slew of solid genre titles to his name, and the general audience attraction to disaster pictures, James Cameron's Titanic was, on many levels, a gamble – almost as ambitious and daring as the ship on which the film is based upon.

At a staggering estimated cost of more than $200 million, Titanic could have easily been a box office stinker, winding up at the bottom of the box office ocean along with the underrated flop Waterworld. But luck, it seems, was on James Cameron's side, and Titanic became a worldwide international phenomenon, with its grating theme song, “My Heart Will Go On,” highlighting proms the world over (I went to that prom). My grandparents, who hadn't seen a movie in the theater since Jaws went to see Titanic in the theaters...twice. That's a cinematic draw of unseen proportions.

Titanic is an extraordinary film – a jaw-dropping feat of outstanding and Oscar-winning art direction, costume design and cinematography. The film captures the essence and decadence of the era, as well as the spirit and raw allure of the ship herself. Coupled with nearly seamless visual effects, James Cameron's Titanic feels like a wholly real creation.

The story itself, while a bit melodramatic and overly romantic – sometimes focusing way too much on the love story between Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslett) – is often quite powerful, blending real-life figures with classic fictional hero and villain archetypes.

While the first half of Titanic can drag a bit after the first few viewings, it's really in the film's second half where things get interesting. The film transforms from an almost too-sweet romance to a wildly intense and, of course, brutally tragic survival picture, as Cameron's Titanic is ripped and torn to sheds, its decadence and beauty sunk to the bottom of the merciless sea.

Titanic is an outstanding motion picture, an achievement of big-budget filmmaking that will continue to amaze for decades to come. While some might argue that the story has grown dated over the years, it's hard to deny the quality of the film's pitch-perfect action set pieces, raw emotion and the brilliance of the production itself. Titanic isn't just a great film, it's a magnificent historical record of one of the most unfortunate disasters in the annals of human history.

Titanic comes to Blu-ray courtesy of Paramount Home Media Distribution. There are two Blu-ray releases for the film – a four-disc Limited 3D Edition, featuring a Blu-ray 3D presentation (spread across two discs), a 2D Blu-ray, a Digital Copy and a bonus Blu-ray loaded with hours of extras. There's also a four-disc standard edition which includes a Blu-ray, two-disc DVD, bonus Blu-ray and Digital Copy. For this review, we'll be looking at the four-disc Limited 3D Edition.

Titanic is presented on Blu-ray 3D in 1080p/MVC (reframed from 2.39:1 to 1.78:1), spread across two BD3D discs. The presentation is nothing short of absolutely fantastic. Post-converted 3D titles are often a mixed bag, with mediocre effects and images that rarely pop. Part of the problem is simply the lack of foresight. The photography process for 2D cinema is quite a bit different than with native 3D productions, and more often than not the conversion process is either cheap or doesn't gel with the 2D cinematography. Thankfully, that's not the case with this release. Titanic looks and feels like it was shot in 3D, with staggering depth and an immersive visual appearance. Much of this is thanks to the film's intensely detailed architecture, which converts well to the 3D format. You'll honestly think Cameron shot this one in native 3D. In fact, it really feels like he did compose his shots with 3D in mind.

The 2D presentation is equally terrific. Presented in 2.39:1, encoded in 1080p/AVC, Titanic has held up quite well over the years, and this Blu-ray restores the film to its original cinematic luster, topping any previously released home video or HDTV broadcast by leaps and bounds. If I had one complaint, it's that I wish Paramount would have opted for a two-disc 2D release as well, offering the absolute minimal compression for both versions of the film. Still, this is an exquisite presentation that brings out the very best Blu-ray has to offer.

Audio for both versions of the film are mixed in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. For a short while, it seemed as though Paramount was fully embracing 7.1 lossless audio for most of their films, including catalog titles, but a few recent releases (including this and Indiana Jones) feature only 5.1 mixes. While the track itself is hardly anything to complain about, it's an odd choice to not embrace all that current technology has to offer, especially with the 3D version of the film. Immersion is key.

But don't fret, the 5.1 DTS-HD track is quite terrific, layered with clean, pristine dialogue, thunderous bass and aggressive surrounds that paint a vivid picture of the RMS Titanic. With no crackles or distortions of any kind, and plenty of atmosphere in every single scene, there's little fault to this track whatsoever.

In terms of extras, this release really outdoes itself. Fans who previously owned the three-disc special edition DVD can take solace in knowing that each and every goodie from that release has been ported over. This includes the three outstanding audio commentaries, one from James Cameron, one from the cast and crew, and one from Titanic historians. There's also nearly an hour of deleted scenes, presented in 1080p for the first time.

In addition to those goodies, the set comes stocked with more than 60 featurettes, parodies, galleries, animatics and more (presented in SD). While most of the featurettes are brief, the combined total of the bonus features here is close to 90 minutes. The set also includes trailers, teasers and a music video for “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion.

To sweeten the pot even further, the disc also includes two all-new documentaries that, when combined, run more than two-and-a-half hours (presented in HD). “Reflections on Titanic” is a tremendous hour-long account of the making of James Cameron's epic. For those who feel the featurettes are a bit too brief, this documentary should make up for that. There's also “Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron,” a 96-minute documentary that takes a more investigative approach to the Titanic legend. Pair it with Disney's Ghosts of the Abyss for a fascinating, in-depth look at the Titanic then-and-now.

Read our review of Ghosts of the Abyss on Blu-ray here.

Unfortunately, the only missing piece here is the long-rumored four-hour cut of Titanic. That said, Paramount does provide fans with the original hour of deleted footage, in 1080p no less. So, fan editors, it's up to you to crank out that definitive extended cut. Go!

Titanic is an epic piece of cinema, and it makes for an equally epic slice of Blu-ray history. With an outstanding 3D presentation, a wonderful 2D transfer, and hours upon hours of old and new bonus material, there's no reason to skip out on this release if you're a fan. Either version you choose, the Limited 3D Edition or the standard edition, you're going to get a demo-worthy special edition.

"Music to drown by. Now I know I'm in first class." Become a friend of R.L. Shaffer on Twitter, Facebook or MyIGN for quotes, rants, reviews, news and more!

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Ubisoft's Uplay May Sell Third-Party Games

Ubisoft has revealed it may add titles from other publishers to its Uplay app in the future.

Speaking with MCV, the company's Stephanie Perotti revealed that whilst Uplay currently only offers the company's own PC titles, this may all change in the future in a bid to challenge EA's Origin service and Valve's Steam.

"We remain open to opportunities," she said. "Right now, we’re starting the service with our own games, but as we go forward, we plan to potentially add other titles."

Though Uplay first launched in 2009 as an achievement tracking service that allowed players to use points to unlock DLC and extras in Ubisoft's other titles, it was only with last month's revamp that it became possible to download games directly. That update also saw the addition of friends lists and chat systems, bringing it in line with what's on offer in Steam and Origin.

Perotti added that this is just the beginning though, and promised further changes were on the way to re-incorporate the best bits of the old design with the new digital distribution platform.

"The plan for UPlay goes beyond digital distribution," said Perotti.

"We continue to evolve the service across all platforms, including PC, console and mobile. The more Ubisoft games you play, the more rewards you can get, as well as several online services that players would expect."

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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