Metro 2033 is about to get a bit harder thanks to the Ranger Pack DLC. The pack will allow you to enable ranger mode which makes ammo much scarcer. To balance that out, weapons are much deadlier, but that goes for you AND your enemies. Want to make things even more crazy? Turn on Ranger Hardcore mode and the HUD is completely removed. The DLC also adds two new weapons the Heavy Automatic Shotgun, and the Volt Driver. If you’re willing to step into the game’s ranger mode you can also unlock 250 gamerscore worth of achievements that are only available in the ranger pack. So, you’re psyched! How much does it cost? Free on the PC, and 240 MS points on the Xbox 360. That’s 3 real US monies! Look for the DLC this Tuesday August 3rd.

Today, you can begin using 80 MS points ($1) to buy one of two avatar shirts that, when purchased, cast a vote to determine the fate of Carmine from Gears of War. One shirt says “Save Carmine” while the other says “Carmine Must Die.” The total number of each shirt sold will be tabulated and the more popular slogan will determine Carmine’s fate in the third installment of Gears of War.

Proceeds will go to Child’s Play, a charity that helps put video games into the hands of sick children in hospitals around the world. It’s a great cause and, come on, what are you going to use those last 80 points for anyways?

via Joystiq

Guillermo del Toro is working with an unnamed major video game producer to help put his unique artistic touch on an unknown number of games. Guillermo has expressed his love for games in the past and I, for one, am excited to see him step into a new realm. Let’s hope that whichever game company he’s working for utilizes his skills for delivering a narrative and developing visually captivating worlds. So to sum it up, del Toro is working for some company on multiple games about stuff.

via Joystiq

Well………that was fast. (put on sunglasses……..YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!) HAWX 2 the sequel to HAWX 1 which is under the Tom Clancy’s banner of games will FLY into stores on September 7th. Just around the corner really. That is unless you own a Wii, the Wii version wont be out until November 7th. Sorry wagglers!

Joystiq was kind enough to embed this trailer for Map Pack 5 for Battlefied: Bad Company 2. It’s available exclusively to VIP members. VIP members are of course anyone who bought the game new. However, if you are borrowing a friends copy or bought it used you can buy a VIP membership for $15 or 1200 MS points.

There is a lot of snow, and bullets. You’ll see.

Dragon Age is getting even MORE DLC on August 10th. Geez….there must be like 500 people working at BioWare with all the DLC they’ve been pumping out. Oh, you probably want to know about the DLC. Well you can import your character or create a brand new high level character for the adventure, there are golems, and it’s supposed to be REALLY hard. So….if you enjoyed Dragon Age, hopefully you will enjoy this. It’s 5 bucks, or you know 400 magic points.

Valve’s developers have listened to your rage and made some improvements to help enhance the multiplayer experience of Left 4 Dead 2. The main changes are:

• Points for killing or incapacitating a survivor with the Charger have been increased
• Exploits to weaken the Tank have been addressed
• Bullets that have gone through an infected will no longer cause friendly fire

What do you think? Are these changes enough to get you to put Left 4 Dead 2 back into your gaming rotation?

via Kotaku

MAG is getting patched up to version 1.07 PROBABLY next week and it’s a doozy.

• A new “Happy Hour” Double XP bonus that’s applied to the first hour of any player’s gameplay session in a 24-hour period.
• Suppression will join Sabotage as a “Faction Neutral” gameplay mode, allowing any PMC to battle each other on any Suppression map.
• Faster download and patching code that allows us to update MAG with more content and bigger file sizes in a speedier way.
• Redesigned versions of the Flores Basin (Raven) and Alyeska Terminus (Valor) Domination maps that include new obstacles and repaired exploits.
• New lighting effects for more attractive and realistic environments.
• Various fixes to address bugs or glitches to improve MAG’s overall performance.

Personally I’m a big fan of the Happy Hour as it adds incentive to get you to play once a day. MAG is really trying to sell itself as an MMO, and making it so that players want to play once a day I think goes a long way towards that goal. I love the game but haven’t played in a couple months I think you’ll start seeing me in games of MAG more often starting with this patch.

Following in the footsteps of many other MMOs EverQuest II will now feature a free to play version. EverQuest II Extended will not replace EverQuest II but run alongside it. If you enjoy paying $14.99 a month to play EQ II you can continue to do so, but if you want to get your feet wet in EverQuest II then feel free to play the Extended version. So do you have to go buy a copy of EverQuest II to get started with the free version? No, EverQuest II Extended will stream to you over the web. Now of course things aren’t just cut and dry and you don’t get all the features of EverQuest II by playing for free. You can upgrade your free membership to Silver, Gold, or Platinum status by spending….you guessed it, real money.

For 1000 station cash($10)you can upgrade your free membership to Silver. This will get you access to more bag slots, more quest slots, more spells, etc. Gold memberships are $14.99 a month and pretty much gets you access to everything a normal paying subscriber to EverQuest II would get. No big deal there, BUT for $200 a year you can get Platinum and this is where I assume the Extended branding comes in. Every month you get 500 station cash and even more access to EverQuest II then gold members. You get more character slots and the ability to fully level your characters. Yes, if you want to level up past certain points you have to pay money for it. I know it’s confusing. Luckily Sony Online Entertainment has made this handy chart for you to look over before you make your decision to play EverQuest II Extended. Just know this, if you get way into EverQuest II, playing EverQuest II could end up costing you more in the long run than playing just regular EverQuest II.