A dash of DLC developments appears on today's list for Mass Effect 3, Assassin's Creed 3, and Max Payne 3. Also appearing are NCsoft's official word on the community movements against City of Heroes' impending closure and Hi-Rez's narrower design focus for Global Agenda 2. In the wise words of Claptrap: read on, minions!


Patch 4 for Mass Effect 3 hits this week with tons of tweaks and balance adjustments to weapons and squashed bugs galore. "Fixed an exploit where players were able to use rockets from other weapons." Wait, that wasn't my pistol's actual alternate fire mode?
I cannot tell a lie -- now off with his head: The "Tyranny of King Washington" DLC for Assassin's Creed 3 pits tree-hopping axeman Connor against the titular Founding Father in an alternate reality take on history. Buying the $30 Season Pass ensures access to all three planned episodic packs.
The "Hostage Negotiation" pack for Max Payne 3 adds four new multiplayer maps for spear-diving gunmen themed around seedy nightclubs ramshackle favelas. Grab it later this fall for $10.
NCsoft acknowledges the outpouring of support for keeping City of Heroes' servers online, but in a brief post on its official website, the publisher hit everyone's one weakness by saying it's "exhausted all options" that were ultimately "not successful."
Hi-Rez announces Global Agenda 2 will be more oriented for PVP based on player feedback and the success of Tribes: Ascend.

This week's best deals  ►  Total War, EVE Online, Dragon Age
Steam has routed your excuses for not trying out the Total War franchise with Rome Gold, Empire, Medieval II, Napoleon, Shogun 2, and Fall of the Samurai all for $32. Amazon will throw you pod-first into the ruthless galaxy of EVE Online for a fiver. GameStop is looking to hook you up with over 100 hours of Dragon Age goodness for $10.

Steam  ►  Total War Franchise, Modern Warfare 3, Hearts of Iron III
Modern Warfare 3 is half price and the multiplayer is free to play this weekend. This is in addition to basically everything that says "Total War" on it being discounted 25% or more.


75% off Total War Master Collection - $31.98 Individual Total War titles are also 25% off or more.
50% off Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - $29.99
75% off Hearts of Iron 3 Collection - $7.49
75% off The Binding of Isaac - $1.24, Wrath of the Lamb DLC is also 75% off - 74 cents
50% off Age of Empires Online Steam Starter Pack - $9.99
More Steam Deals



Amazon  ►  EVE Online, Sleeping Dogs, XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Get your start in Spreadsheet Commando EVE Online for only $5. You can also pre-order XCOM for 10% off.


75% off EVE Online: Inferno - $4.99
10% off XCOM: Enemy Unknown - $44.99
40% off Sleeping Dogs - $29.99
87% off the Viva Big Bundle of Games (Featuring Grand Ages Rome and Crazy Machines) - $9.99
26% off Assassin's Creed 2 - $14.83
More Amazon Deals



Green Man Gaming  ►  Alpha Protocol, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, XCOM
Green Man is offering up Obsidian's spy-themed story RPG Alpha Protocol and an armload of Sonic the Hedgehog titles - including the quintessential Sonic 3 and Knuckles - at half off. They've also got two voucher deals running: GMG20-27J4Z-8NXHO for 20% off any download, and GMGSD-W3R94-DZBAZ for 30% off Sleeping Dogs.


10% off XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Pre-order) - $44.99
50% off Alpha Protocol - $9.98
50% off Condemned: Criminal Origins - $7.49
50% off Sonic 3 and Knuckles - $2.49
50% off Renegade Ops - $7.49
More GMG Deals



GOG  ►  Square Enix Squad
How does this sound: Thief 1, 2, and 3, Deus Ex GOTY and Deus Ex Invisible War, Hitman 1 and 2, Tomb Raider 1, 2, and 3... all for $38.30. You can also add the Legacy of Kain series, Conflict: Desert Storm, Anachronox, and Pandemonium! to the deal to increase your percentage savings.

Also, it's not on sale, but the Carmageddon Max Pack is now available for $9.99.

Get Games  ►  Hitman Absolution, Guild Wars 2 (EU), Far Cry series
Get Games is selling the Professional Edition of Hitman Absolution (pre-order) for the same price as the normal edition, which is cheaper than we've seen it anywhere else.


25% off Hitman Absolution Professional Edition (Pre-order) - $44.99
10% off Carrier Command: Gaea Mission - $44.99
15% off Guild Wars 2 - $46.75 (Europe only)
75% off Far Cry 1 and 2 - $6.25
60% off Lord of the Rings: War in the North - $19.99
75% off Overlord II - $2.49
More deals from Get Games



GameStop   ►   War of the Roses, Dragon Age, Battlefield 3
The problem with pre-ordering War of the Roses on Steam is that it gives you the House of Lancaster armor set. Toss aside those pretenders and support the noble House of York with GameStop for only 30 bucks. You can also get ALL THE DRAGON AGE! (Excluding DA2 DLC) that there is to play for 10.


War of the Roses House of York Deluxe Edition (Pre-order) - $29.99
80% off Dragon Age Bundle - $9.99, includes Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition and Dragon Age 2
75% off Battlefield 3 - $9.99
50% off Spore Ultimate Digital Collection - $14.99
More GameStop deals



GameFly   ►  Modern Warfare, Prototype, Singularity
You could grab the entire Prototype franchise for under 40 bucks, or the entire Modern Warfare franchise for $60 from GameFly this week.

50% off Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - $9.99
50% off Modern Warfare 2 - $9.99
50% off Modern Warfare 3 - $29.99
75% off Prototype - $4.99
33% off Prototype 2 - $33.49
75% off Singularity - $7.49
More GameFly Deals




Best Buy   ►  Max Payne 3
Finally, Best Buy has Max Payne 3 for 66% off, at $20.

Let us know in the comments if you find any more great deals!

Disclaimer: We offer no guarantees regarding the validity of these sales, their restrictions, or the quality of service provided by these distributors. We cannot vet every deal: we only list what we see advertised at the time of writing. Buy at your own risk!

This week's best deals  ►  FTL, Max Payne 3, and more
FTL: Faster Than Light released at 10% off on both Steam and GOG, GameStop opened its trunk in the parking lot to reveal deals on Max Payne 3, Killing Floor, and Amnesia, and Guild Wars 2 is 25% off at Get Games for European customers. That's just the beginning of our weekly savings spelunking expedition, so come along with me for more unnecessary analogies. And weekend deals.


25% off Guild Wars 2 at Get Games - $41.24 (Europe only)
50% off Max Payne 3 at GameStop - $29.99
50% off Killing Floor - $9.99 at GameStop
15% off Battlefield 3 at Amazon - $33.81
10% off FTL: Faster Than Light at GOG - $8.99 (Also on Steam)
30% off Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD on Steam - $6.99
25% off PC downloads at Green Man Gaming with the voucher code GMG25-1BW0K-K1A3G



Steam  ►  Sam & Max, Oddworld, and more
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD released today at a 30% discount, and Steam has also put together an Oddboxx bundle with all of the Oddworld games for 10.49. Also, Train Simulator 2013.


30% off Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD - $6.99
75% off Deus Ex: Human Revolution - $7.49
70% off Sam and Max Complete Pack - $14.99
10% off FTL: Faster Than Light - $8.99
33% off Vessel - $9.99
10% off Train Simulator 2013 - $26.99!
More Steam deals



Green Man Gaming   ►  25% off everything

Use the voucher code GMG25-1BW0K-K1A3G to receive 25% off a digital download by Monday September 17th at 4 a.m. PDT. Plus, tons of Saints Row: The Third DLC is on sale! Fun fact: if you mush all the DLC together, you get Saints Row: The Fourth, the illegitimate, possibly inbred son of Saints Row: The Third. He eats K-Y Jelly.

Get Games  ►  Guild Wars 2
You can still get Sleeping Dogs for 25% off and Borderlands for 50% off. New this week, Guild Wars 2 25% off codes are back in stock. There's also the usual selection of pre-order and other discounts.


25% off Guild Wars 2 - $41.24 (Europe only)
25% off Guild Wars 2: Digital Deluxe Edition - $56.24
25% off Sleeping Dogs - $37.49
50% off Borderlands - $9.99
More deals from Get Games


GameStop   ► Max Payne 3, Killing Floor, Amnesia
GameStop continues to cross off every price it can, but digging through its pages of sales this week revealed some pretty darn good stuff. Here are some of my favorites:


75% off Age of Empires III: Complete Collection - $9.99
50% off Max Payne 3 - $29.99
50% off Killing Floor - $9.99
75% off Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad - $4.99
75% off Mirror's Edge - $4.99
50% off Amnesia: The Dark Descent - $9.99
67% off Hard Reset - $9.99
More GameStop deals


GOG  ►  Diamonds of D&D
Aside from 10% off FTL: Faster Than Light, GOG has its usual themed sale. This weekend, it's all D&D deals...wait, what's this?! *Spit take.* Something new for GOG: the discounts scale with the number of games you buy. At one game, you'll get 30% off, buy two and get 33% off each, and so on up to all nine games for 65% off each. *Cleans up spit.*

Links to the individual games are below, but if you want the scaling deal, you have to go to the hub.


30% - 65% off Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga - $6.99 - $3.49
30% - 65% off Baldur's Gate 2 Complete - $6.99 - $3.49
30% - 65% off Neverwinter Nights: Diamond Edition - $6.99 - $3.49
30% - 65% off Icewind Dale 2 Complete - $6.99 - $3.49
30% - 65% off Icewind Dale Complete - $6.99 - $3.49
30% - 65% off The Temple of Elemental Evil - $4.19 - $3.49
30% - 65% off Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard - $6.99 - $3.49
30% - 65% off Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone - $6.99 - $3.49
30% - 65% off Planescape: Torment - $6.99 - $3.49


Amazon  ►  The Over-The-Top TopWare Bundle
Regular Amazon is way less fun than Labor Day Amazon -- it's pretty much back to the same 'ol, with games like Modern Warfare 2 and Civilization V on sale again. There is a new bundle sale, at least: the Over-The-Top TopWare Bundle includes 13 games. You probably don't want all 13.


85% off The Over-The-Top TopWare Bundle - $14.99
50% off Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - $9.99
15% off Battlefield 3 - $33.81
50% off Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X 2 - $9.99
21% off Sid Meier's Civilization V - $23.82
51% off Deus Ex: Human Revolution - $14.68
60% off Mount & Blade - $6.03
More Amazon PC game downloads


GamersGate  ► A horde of romance

It's the same deal as last week: a giant, colorful patchwork of box art and red discount stickers. Only a few deals stick out at me. 50% off BioShock? Sure. 20% off To The Moon (Friday only)? Not bad. Miss Chic Romantic for only $7.48? Sounds goo- hey, wait a minute.

GameFly   ► L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire is the highlight of GameFly's sparse list this weekend.

75% off L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition - $7.49
75% off L.A. Noire - $4.99
More GameFly deals


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? It's all FTL: Faster Than Light for me. Well, not all, but lots of it.

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.

Rockstar have released an update for Max Payne 3, introducing the Multiplayer Card feature, improved load times and anti-cheat measures.

The Multiplayer Card feature displays player stats, while improvements to the party system mean party leaders can now pull their friends out of existing games and into new ones. According to Rockstar this update also "enables Payne Thresholds, which will go live next week across all three platforms following the release of the free Disorganized Crime Pack DLC".

Here's the full list of Max Payne 3 updates:

The new Multiplayer Player Card, which allows you and your friends to track multiplayer stats including current amount of XP, total kills, favorite weapon and more.
New Automated cheat protection and lag protection measures.
Improvements to multiplayer load times
Players can now spawn with dual wield if they have two sidearms and no two-handed weapon equipped
Polish language support has been added
Party leader now has the option of taking entire party with them when they back out of a match
Weapon rank in the Arsenal is now visible on the left side of the screen, not just the right
The Crew menu is now available inside lobbies
XP gained for completing Grinds no longer contributes to rankings in Gang Wars matches
Improvements to the spectator camera in Gang Wars
Gang Wars wager system improved to better show betting results

 

Rockstar Games have announced that the next DLC pack for Max Payne 3 will see the grizzled, alcoholic gunman rendered in noir-ish black and white. The new Disorganized Crime Pack will give an even moodier look to the game, which is hardly sunshine and rainbows as it is.

Visuals aside, the free DLC will leave the single player campaign unchanged while adding the Hoboken Rooftops map, new multipliers for Score Attack mode, Lone Wolf AI (more aggressive enemies) and Headshots Only mode to the game's multiplayer.

The Disorganized Crime Pack will be available on August 28, and will look like this:

Rockstar Games has given us a gym bag of shattered memories and lost dreams... shattered memories being a Zotac Amp Edition GeForce GTX 670, and lost dreams a collection of Max Payne 3 loot: stickers, patches, an ash tray, "pain killers," a gun magazine flask, a t-shirt, and a logo-emblazoned bullet. We love giving you stuff, so here's your chance to dig inside this bag and scrape out the pain (totally great prizes).

How to enter
You'll need to be at least 18 years old and a US resident (sorry guys, lawyers). When you've confirmed your identity, walk straight in (to the comment field of this post), playing it Bogart (and leave a comment), like you've done a hundred times before (but only comment once).

UK readers: Our friends at TechRadar are running a UK-only contest with the very same prize!

Selection and prizes
One grand prize winner will receive the bag of swag and Zotac Amp Edition GeForce GTX 670 (lucky), and one runner-up will be consoled with a large Rockstar t-shirt and a Max Payne 3 bullet keychain. Both winners will be selected randomly from the comments in this post. If you win, notification will be e-mailed to the address you used to register for pcgamer.com, so please make sure you still use it.

Deadline
Post your comment by this Sunday (before 12:01 am PDT, Monday, August 6th). And remember: it's not about how good you are. It's chaos and luck and anyone who thinks differently is a fool.

NOTE: No more entries! Winners will be contacted this week. Thanks for entering!

STEAM
It's a sequel hype-up weekend on Steam: Borderlands and its GOTY edition are both 75% off, as is Orcs Must Die! (There's also an Orcs Must Die! 2 demo available now, so have some of that.)


75% off Borderlands: Game of the Year - $7.49
75% off Orcs Must Die! Game of the Year - $3.24
82% off Civilization Collection - $24.99
66% off Ys The Oath in Felghana - $5.09




AMAZON
Amazon is running the same Borderlands deal as Steam, and many of the usuals are on sale as...usual.


75% off Borderlands Game of the Year Edition - $7.49
80% off Burning Hot Bundle - $7.99
72% off Mount & Blade - $4.17
50% off Mount & Blade: Warband - $10.03
61% off Dragon Age 2 - $7.81
25% off Mass Effect 2 - $14.92
71% off Trine - $5.83
50% off Mount & Blade: Warband - $9.95
27% off Dungeon Siege 3 - $14.68
52% off Tropico 4 - $19.17
26% off Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - $14.84
More Amazon PC game downloads


GAMEFLY
GameFly returns to the list this week with 50% off Max Payne 3 and 75% off Mirror's Edge. Nice!


50% off Max Payne 3 - $29.99
75% off Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction - $5.00
75% off Mirror's Edge - $5.00
50% off Nexuiz - $5.00
More GameFly deals


GAMESTOP
Bethesda games are up to 50% off this weekend on GameStop.


33% off The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - $40.19
50% off RAGE - $9.99
50% off Hunted: The Demon's Forge - $9.99
50% off The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition - $9.99
50% off The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY Deluxe Edition - $12.49



GOG
"Awesome Adventure Games" are 50% off on GOG this weekend. The list includes some personal favorites: The 11th Hour, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, and Little Big Adventure (a.k.a Twinsen's Odyssey).

More game deals


Green Man Gaming's Summ...oh wait, Winter Sale
Update: I don't usually add pre-order deals, but it has come to my attention (thanks commenters!) that Green Man is offering Borderlands 2 pre-orders for $40 with the voucher: PARTP-ALCNO-TIESU.


If you find any great deals we missed, the comments are a lovely place to share them.

STEAM
The Summer Sale remains absent, but Valve has confirmed that there will be a sale which will take place during the summer. Just later. For now, how about 50% off Wargame: European Escalation and a bunch of CoD DLC?


50% off Wargame: European Escalation - $19.99
50% off Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Collection 2 - $7.49
50% off Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Collection 1 - $7.49
50% off Call of Duty: Black Ops - Rezurrection Content Pack - $7.49
50% off Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation Content Pack - $7.49
50% off Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation Content Pack - $7.49
50% off Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike Content Pack - $7.49
More Steam deals



AMAZON
Oh, hi Amazon. Didn't see you there. What's that? You've got a big sale going on? 50% off Spec Ops: The Line, you say? Neat. And you've got 33% off Max Payne 3, 75% off Binary Domain, 75% Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai, and big discounts on bundles like the Square Enix Ultimate Collection? Shh, I don't know where I was going with this either Amazon, so let's just relax and enjoy your deals:


50% off Spec Ops: The Line - $24.99
33% off Max Payne 3 - $39.99
75% off Binary Domain - $9.99
50% off Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - $29.99
75% off Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai - $7.49
92% off Square Enix Ultimate Collection - $7.49
81% off Bioshock Dual Pack - $7.49
80% off X-COM: Collection - $2.99
91% off Plentiful Paradox Package - $12.49
43% off Battlefield 3 - $34.45
75% off Dead Space 2 - $4.99
25% off Mass Effect - $15.00
29% off Mass Effect 2 - $14.17
75% off Borderlands - $7.49
50% off Sid Meier's Civilization V - $14.99
75% off PAYDAY The Heist - $4.99
26% off Saints Row: The Third - $36.91
71% off Trine - $5.83
39% off Metro 2033 - $12.26
50% off Mount & Blade: Warband - $9.95
27% off Dungeon Siege 3 - $14.68
50% off Tropico 4 - $19.99
75% off Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - $4.99
More Amazon PC game downloads

 
GOG
GOG's weekend promo theme is Strategy First Global. As usual, all of the games are either $2.99 or $4.99. This week's selection is big, and includes FlatOut, Jagged Alliance 2, Disciples 2 Gold, Apache vs. Havoc, and more.

MORE GAME DEALS
Usually I list out the best from these sites, but A. some of the sales are currently cheaper elsewhere (e.g. Max Payne 3 is 30% off at GamersGate, but 33% off on Amazon) and B. I'm really, really busy today. It's mostly that second thing, so let us know in the comments if I missed anything big this week.


GamersGate deals
GameStop deals
Green Man Gaming deals