One of the things that makes Relic such an interesting company to watch isn't that it makes terrific real-time strategy games (though that certainly helps), but that the company isn't afraid to shake things up. Case in point: The sequel to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War radically revised that game's entire strategic matrix. Now that the developer is returning to the Company of Heroes franchise, it shouldn't come as a surprise that once more Relic is looking to shake things up. Tales of Valor is the second Company of Heroes expansion, playable as a stand-alone game. And like Dawn of War II, it moves the game in a very different direction.


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With a few notable exceptions (we're looking at you, Grand Theft Auto!), the games industry usually saves the best for last, piling the best games of the year into the six-week holiday period. It's a free-for-all battle royale on the store shelves, and you're in the middle, Holiday wish-list in hand. 2008 is shaping up to be a terrific year with great titles for all platforms. What should be on your holiday list? We break down the best of the best, platform by platform, and even reveal our own personal picks. Start clicking away and brace yourself for Holiday '08!

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Valve's class-based multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2 won't receive its next major update until next year, marketing VP Doug Lombardi has informed Shacknews.

"Well, it won't be this year," said Lombardi when asked about the next update. "But we're going to keep evolving TF2. Once Left 4 Dead wraps, you'll hear us clamoring more about [the next TF2 update]."

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At a Far Cry 2 multiplayer session this week, hosted by Ubisoft in downtown San Francisco, the scene was more or less one straight out of Xbox LIVE. Participants routinely eschewed the use of novel game mechanics (like the ability to heal fallen teammates after they're shot down) in favor of more running and more gunning. Game modes requiring precision teamwork to win resulted in down-to-the-wire stalemates, a consequence of poor intra-team communication. One journalist sitting at the demo station next to me was even treated to death-cam footage of his killer... well, you can probably guess which lewd gesture finishes that sentence.

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We kick off the Age of Reckoning with a new staff blog.
By GameSpy Staff | Sept. 18, 2008

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is finally upon us, three years, one lengthy beta period, and a four-day "head start" event later. And as GameSpy is wont to do, we're going to dogpile this high-profile MMO. It's been much trumpeted as the most polished, feature-complete MMO since World of Warcraft. It's also been heralded as the game that fight-hungry PvPers will want to call home. And last but not least, it's the first earnest attempt by one of the world's biggest publishers -- created by one of the most renowned development teams in the business -- to carve out a place in the lopsided MMO market.


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