In March, RTS players the world over will divide. Some will take up blades and form regiments with great historical accuracy, walking into battle in some very pretty armour. Yes, Shogun 2 will be epic. Tremendous as it is, some will share my personal preference for close combat with giant hammers that crackle with energy. In space. Take a look at the above video of Dawn of War II: Retribution to see why war in the 41st Millennium is truly the war of real men! (and Orks. And Eldar and Tyranids - let's not be racist!)

If Rich's climb up the StarCraft II league ladder inspired you to climb to similar great heights, it's time to start looking at how the professionals do it. Take a look at Husky's video from this week where he gives a good overview of Terran and Zerg tactics on the Shakuras Plateau map.

But when it comes to impressive gaming feats this week, nothing manages to topple the astonishing achievement of engineering student Terry Garrett, who despite being blind, has managed to complete both Abe's Odyssey and Abe's Exodus. Catch his interview here, where you can also see how completely flawlessly he plays.

The big reveal this week was without a doubt the first footage of Skyrim. Whilst many have 'oohed' and 'aahed' over the dual-wielding combat and the stunning vistas, what took me aback most was just how ferocious Bethesda have made the dragons. With these mythical beats being the backbone to Skyrim's story, Bethesda can't afford to get them wrong. Thankfully, it looks like we could be seeing a new age of dragon technology here (exceptionally poor pun intended).

Staying with new gameplay reveals, some new creepy monster-filled footage from Bluehole Studio's MMO Tera have been released. Tera claims to be an action-orientated MMO, but there's little bloodshed to be seen in this latest clip. Still the monsters look ugly, and who doesn't want to beat down an ugly brute?



We finally got a look at some in-game footage from Battlefield 3 this week, and it looks glorious. Explosions, bullets, soldiers cowering for cover and some lovely lighting effects made this look like one hell of a ride. It's been commented that the trailer looks a little Call of Duty-ish, but with DICE confirming 64-players on PC and the return of jets and prone, this feels like it could be the purest Battlefield game for several years.

In the run up to it's March 22 release, Crysis 2 is pumping out the trailers, and here we have a new story-based video explaining the campaign from Prophet's point of view. Less explosive than previous trailers, here we are provided into an insight into the controversy behind the Nano-suit.

For those who like their action open-world and OTT, rejoice that Prototype 2 will involve swinging helicopters by the tail boom and smashing them into tiny pieces.

The highly-anticipated Minecraft documentary hit the web this week, and it a real must-watch for anyone with an interest in the game itself and indie development.

Finally - and on a slight aside note - here's a little something to make you proud of being a PC gamer, and not one of those Nintendo Wii lovers. Take a look at Ubisoft's latest stunning title for the system: We Dare. It's a 'sexy, quirky, party game that offers a large variety of hilarious, innovative and physical, sometimes kinky, challenges' apparently. It's also rated 12 by PEGI, so it's sexy fun for all the family!

Blind gamer, Terry Garrett has learned to complete Abe's Exoddus, navigating the game using nothing but sound and lots of quicksaves. You can hear an interview with him below, along with a video of him playing the game.

The 23 year old is a student at Colorado University, and learned to play games using sound when he went blind at the age of 10. His first step when playing a new game is for a sighted person to describe the menus, and whether the game is in 2D or 3D before heading to GameFaqs and walkthroughs for an overview of how the game works. Garrett says that Abe's Exoddus was one of the few games where a walkthrough was unnecessary, thanks to its dense soundscape that has an audio cue for every action. There's an interview with him on the Oddworld Inhabitants site. See him playing through the game below.

The Oddworld Oddboxx was released just before Christmas, but was troubled by severe bugs and compatability problems. The port of Stranger's Wrath was in particularly bad shape, but has just received a massive patch, hopefully fixing many of the problems the game had at launch. Munch's Oddysee has also received some much needed attention. You'll find the full list of fixes below.

Stranger's Wrath was first released on the original Xbox, and is widely regarded as one of the best games on that platform. Hopefully the following fixes will let PC gamers enjoy it in the state it was originally intended. The patch notes were announced on the Oddworld Inhabitants site. You'll find the full list reproduced below.

Fixes

Fixed performance issues.
Fixed save game permissions issues. Save games and config file are now saved in “Program Files” to “\Documents\Oddworld\Stranger’s Wrath”.
Fixed controls “sticking” issues.
Fixed tutorial text – Camera mode switch button text.
Fixed turorial text – Camera reset button text.
Fixed broken achievement “Mine your business”
Fixed incorrect texts being displayed in controls Layout screens.
Fixed 5.1 and 7.1 audio.
Fixed Mouse lag.
Fixed issue with only 1 of 3 dialogue lines working in Jail house.
Fixed first person view on nVidia boards.Additions and Changes1. Added screen resolution selection to launcher.
Added v-sync option to launcher.
Added joystick selection to launcher.
Added customisable controls (See next section).
Added support for third party “generic” joypads.
Added widescreen suppport.
Re-authored Keyboard “layout” screen in options.
Removed automatic joypad detection.

 
Munch's Oddysee has also received its first few fixes, with more planned soon:

Fix crash issues
Fix sound issues
Broken achievement fixes

 
The updates will be applied automatically through Steam.

Two new entries into the weird and wonderful Oddworld series will be coming to Steam before the end of the year. The games will be bundled into the Oddboxx, which contains Abe's Oddysee, Abe's Exoddus and two more Oddworld games that have never before been released on PC.

The first two Oddworld games have you playing as the gangly Mudokon creatures Abe and Munch, who take it upon themselves to rescue fellow captives from imprisonment and certain death at the hands of a sadistic corporation. The aim was to lead Abe's endearing but terminally stupid friends to safety, dodging robo-sentries and whirling deathtraps along the way. One of the highlights of the games was the extraordinary and imaginative world that Abe and friends inhabited, filled with dark and menacing industrial landscapes and laced with a dark sense of humour.



The third and fourth games, Munch's Oddysee and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath will also be part of the bundle. They were only ever previously available on the Xbox, making this a great opportunity for PC gamers to catch up with the Oddworld series. Munch's Oddysee is set in a similar scenario to the first two games, with the new character Munch teaming up with Abe to save even more Mudokon from corporate enslavement. Stranger's Wrath moves the action to a more open Wild West locale, and has you playing as a bounty hunter questing for the riches he needs to save his own life. Stranger's Wrath takes the series in a more shooty direction, but puts an Oddworld twist on gun slinging. The ammo you use is made up of living creatures that have to be caught before you can unleash them on your enemies.

There are no pricing details just yet, and no solid release date, but the bundle will be out before the end of the year. For more information head over to the Oddbox Inhabitants site. Demos of Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus are available on Steam.