The Humble organisers aren't afraid of side-projects, but now that they've had their fill of stand-up comics and corporate overlords, they're returning back to the very source of their humility. The ninth Humble Indie Bundle has just gone live, and, in a move that shouldn't surprise anyone, it stars Polytron's gorgeous platformer Fez. You'll also find FTL, Mark of the Ninja, Trine 2, Brutal Legend and Eets Munchies.



Here's the basic breakdown:


Trine 2: The Complete Story
Mark of the Ninja
Eets Munchies (beta)
Brütal Legend*


*You're right, pedantic indie fan, Brütal Legend on consoles was published by EA. But Double Fine self-published for the PC version, so let's just go with it.

In addition to that, beating the average gets you Fez and FTL: Faster Than Light. The bundle also straight up admits that more games will be added soon, presumably because they've pulled that trick so often that it's no longer a surprise. If you beat the average at any point, you're guaranteed to get the added games as soon as they're revealed.

Also: pay-what-you-want, charity, contribution sliders, Steam keys, soundtracks. Look, there have been nine of these at this point, so you know what to expect. Details, as always, are available straight from the Humble store.

(And, since you're probably wondering: Eets Munchies is a "reimagining" of Klei Entertainment's first game, Eets. Look upon its trailer, and remember that this is the same studio that went on to make Shank.)

This week's best deals  ►  Mass Effect 3, Trine 2, and 25% off at GMG
The tastiest specials on this week's menu include Mass Effect 3 Digital Deluxe for $20 during Amazon's big Labor Day sale, 75% off the Trine Complete Collection on Steam, and a new Green Man Gaming voucher code for deals on whatever you want deals on.


60% off Mass Effect 3 Digital Deluxe Edition on Amazon - $19.99
67% off Max Payne 3 and LA Noire bundle on Amazon - $29.99
75% off Trine Complete Collection on Steam - $8.74
50% off Resonance on GOG - $4.99
25% off any PC download at Green Man Gaming with code: GMG25-1BW0K-K1A3G
30% off Sleeping Dogs at Green Man Gaming with code: SDOGS-E1V8A-9R1HX



Steam  ►  Trine and Crysis
Everything Trine is on sale at Steam, including the new Trine 2: Goblin Menace DLC. There's also Crysis, but when isn't it on sale?

75% off Trine Complete Collection - $8.74
75% off Crysis Collection - $17.49
33% off Vessel - $9.99
50% off Age of Empires Online DLC: Steam Starter Pack - $9.99 (Friday only)
More Steam deals



Amazon  ►  Labor Day sale
Amazon's big Labor Day sale ends Sunday, so you don't have much longer to get, say, Mass Effect 3 Digital Deluxe Edition for $20.

60% off Mass Effect 3 Digital Deluxe Edition - $19.99
50% off Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition - $14.99
50% off Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - $29.99
75% off Crysis 2 - Maximum Edition - $9.99
54% off Deus Ex: Human Revolution - $13.81
60% off Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - $15.99
68% off Mount & Blade - $4.77
60% off Psychonauts - $3.99
50% off Stacking - $7.49
75% off Assassin's Creed bundle - $19.99
67% off Grand Theft Auto IV and Max Payne 3 bundle - $29.99
78% off Spec Ops: The Line and BioShock 1 & 2 bundle - $19.99
67% off Max Payne 3 and LA Noire bundle - $29.99
90% off Square Enix Ultimate Collection - $9.50
More Amazon PC game downloads


Green Man Gaming   ► 25% off everything

There are a couple of new voucher codes at GMG. Ending Monday, use GMG25-1BW0K-K1A3G to get 25% off any PC game download or SDOGS-E1V8A-9R1HX for 30% off Sleeping Dogs specifically.

You can't stack them for 55% off Sleeping Dogs, but you could buy Stacking for 25% off. Actually, you can't. It isn't in GMG's catalog. It is 50% off at Amazon, but that doesn't stop my joke from being ruined.

GOG  ►  Point-and-Click Mix
Point your browser to GOG's adventure-themed weekend deals and click on games like Machinarium, Resonance, and Botanicula. Wow. Did I go too far that time?

50% off Machinarium: Collector's Edition - $4.99
50% off Resonance - $4.99
50% off Gemini Rue - $4.99
50% off Blackwell Bundle - $7.49
50% off The Whispered World - $7.49
50% off Botanicula - $4.99


Get Games  ►  Total War
Nothing huge to report from Get Games. Sleeping Dogs is back up to 25% off, and the perennially on sale Total War series is on sale.


25% off Sleeping Dogs - $37.49
50% off Borderlands - $9.99
75% off Empire: Total War - $4.99
75% off Napoleon: Total War - $4.99
75% off Total War Shogun 2 - $9.99
70% off Total War Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai - $8.99
More deals from Get Games


GameStop   ► Saints Row and Might & Magic
GameStop's silly long list of deals is largely populated by Saints Row The Third's expansive DLC library and Might & Magic.

GamersGate  ► A bin of bargains

Why can't I hold all these deals? At least GamersGate has gone from 10 pages of scattershot discounts to just two, but there's still a lot to cover. Here's the short version: it has same Trine bundle deal as Steam, 75% off Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY, and tons of kings, crusades, and iron hearts.

GameFly   ► Bulletstorm and Stronghold 3
GameFly is pretty light on sales this weekend, so I'll just use this space to think about the idea of a real bullet storm. It would be terrible. All those bullets plummeting from angry thunder-shots above. Clearly, we can never allow the gods to acquire firearms.

75% off Bulletstorm - $5.00
50% off Stronghold 3 Gold - $19.99


Let us know in the comments if you find any more great deals, and if you feel like sharing: what are you playing this weekend? I'll continue thieving in Guild Wars 2 on the Tarnished Coast server, though I am disappointed that the Thief class steals abilities instead of what I really want: money. I want to be the richest low-level scoundrel on the server, dammit.

Rather than trickle them out, we've mashed three of today's DLC announcements into one hefty round-up post. Here are the details on extra content for Dishonored, Trine 2, and DC Universe Online.

Arkane Studio's Executive Producer Julien Roby says Dishonored's planned DLC includes new characters and continents. Roby tells PC PowerPlay that Corvo's stealthy missions among the streets of Dunwall represent just the beginning of branching storylines featuring new, playable characters slitting throats and possessing fish in different areas of Dishonored's sprawling world.

"We wanted to build the world around the missions so that it was believable, but it has a lot of elements that we don’t actually use in the game," he said. "So we definitely want to explore more of these things." Dunwall's Victorian flair already imparts heaps of personality into Dishonored's atmosphere, so additional city styles (possibly with Dunwall and Half-Life 2 designer Victor Antonov behind the brush) raises my assassin mask's steampowered eyebrows in interest.

Trine 2's Goblin Menace expansion releases on Steam at 15% off. Frozenbyte's puzzle-platformer gets six new skills and six goblin-infested levels, ready to drown Amadeus the Wizard, Pontius the Knight, and Zoya the Thief in explosions of color. Steam also chopped the prices of previous Trine games by 75% to herald Goblin Menace's release, so if you haven't jumped into the excellent co-op shenanigans, now's the time.

Sony Online discusses new sorcerous Legends PVP characters Doctor Fate and Felix Faust in DC Universe Online's upcoming Hand of Fate DLC. In a series of sample mock-up matches in the video below, Creative Director Jens Andersen and Systems Designer David Stricker contrast Fate's defensive skillset with Faust's aggressiveness. Both characters will accompany Hand of Fate's six new operations and more...er, utilitarian utility belts when the DLC releases "soon."

Trine 2's luscious backdrops might be the best thing about it. Each one feels carefully posed, as though its creators have spent hours snipping away at it delicately like a Bonsai tree. Snowy mountain tops, burning castles and glowing deserts will feature in the upcoming, unnamed, unpriced expansion pack. It'll contain six new levels, new enemies to fight and a new "hardcore" difficulty level.

Frozenbyte are calling it an "AAAA" expansion, saying "we prefer to steer away from the “DLC” concept. So many negative associations with that these days." Except now I associate their expansion with a tiny battery, which probably isn't what they were going for. Keep an eye on the Trine 2 site for more details.

http://youtu.be/XxPg1YeXE2E

Ridiculously pretty co-op platformer, Trine 2 will be hitting Steam tomorrow. The standard edition will cost £11.99 / $14.99 , and there's also a digital special edition. It comes with a digital art book and the soundtrack and will set you back £17.99 / $24.99 USD. If you pre-order them now, you'll get two bonus Team Fortress 2 items, a wizard hat and a spiky "War Head" helmet to "protect your thought-horde from dragons, sorcery, and other make-believe dangers."

Trine 2 can be played solo, but if it's anything like the original, it'll be much, much more fun in co-op. The three playable archetypes, wizard, warrior and thief have different specialities, and must muddle through the fights and physics puzzles with hastily improvised solutions, many of which would involve the warrior throwing the wizard around while the thief casually grapples past all danger. A new online co-op more will make it easier to play with friends as well. It looks stunning, too. Just check out these Trine 2 screenshots. You'll find a picture of the bonus TF2 items just below.