Following the demise of Flagship Studios, the creator of Hellgate: London, industry veteran Bill Roper has joined Cryptic Studios.

He will now serve as Design Director on Champions Online, the studio’s upcoming MMO superhero title.

"Bill brings a ton of creative energy to the Cryptic office and we’re thrilled to have him join our team,” said Cryptic Studios CEO John Needham. “His years of gaming and online experience are huge assets to all of our projects, and Bill will assist us in furthering our studio’s vision to create innovative, exciting MMO gameplay.”

Freshly inciting fear for all-around creepy girl Alma, Monolith has unleashed a new FEAR 2 Project Origin trailer, showing cinematic in-game footage focusing on the main antagonist.

The game is due out February 2009 on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

THQ today announced Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor, a new standalone chapter in the popular RTS franchise from Relic Entertainment. The game will offer three new campaigns, as well as new units, multiplayer modes and a “direct-fire” feature that allows more tactical control during battle.

In development at series creator Relic Entertainment, the game will be fully compatible with its predecessor and utilized the developer’s in-house Essence engine.

It is expected to be out during spring 2009.

Marking its development status, EA today announced that the open beta for BattleForge, an upcoming MMO, will begin on November 7. In development at Phenomic, the game has players trade virtual cards to build their army and waste their enemies.

”After three years in development, we are very excited to open the game to a mass audience and see how people play. It’s going to be a great process watching players experience the revolutionary concept of creating their own armies and teaming up on a massive scale in RTS,” said Volker Wertich, Creative Director.

BattleForge features both single-player and cooperative scenarios as well as PvP ranked duels. Coop battles can be played in terms of two or four; players can also take part in 12 player battles. It is due out early next year on PC.

To promote the release of Legendary: The Box, Spark Unlimited announced today the release of a 96-page graphic novel adaptation of the game. Written by comic book veteran Mark Waid and penciled by Top Cow Production artist Martin Montiel, readers are given an insight into Charles Deckard, the protagonist of the game.

The comic book will focus on the backstory of Deckard, detailing how he comes to learn and be involved with Pandora’s Box, which unleashes monsters on the world once opened.

“Our primary focus at Spark is all about making Legendary an epic gameplay experience,” said Craig Allen, CEO of Spark Unlimited. “However, there was a lot more of the story we wanted to tell and so we reached out to Mark Waid and invited him to create a unique expression of Legendary’s characters and narrative as a graphic novel.”

The graphic novel is a somewhat expensive pickup, retailing at “all fine comic retailers” for $14.99.

MMO fans take note, as the 2009 MMO Calendar is now officially on sale. The calendar includes images from various popular games, including upcoming titles like The Agency and DC Universe Online.

If you aren’t interested yet, they are also running a contest where customers will be entered to win prizes for each game. This includes boxed copies, premium accounts, passes, beta accounts and more.

In even more compilation news, JoWood sent word that its RPG Collection is due out later this month, combining Gothic 3, SpellForce 2 and Dungeon Lords in one box. It will be priced at 29.99 Euros.

Gothic 3 is the latest entry in the popular action-RPG series, having players take on the role of a human fighting against Orcs. SpellForce 2 is a RTS/RPG hybrid, having players lead armies and solve quests and overcome obstacles as in classical RPGs. Meanwhile, Dungeon Lords is a RPG and fighter combo, offering fast-paced, action-packed combat along with tactical elements.

Just in time for Halloween, Paradox Interactive has announced the Penumbra Collection, a compilation title that combines Penumbra: Overture and Penumbra: Black Plague together with the puzzle-oriented expansion pack Requiem. It is expected sometime during the first quarter of 2009.

Penumbra is a survival horror series that emphasizes problem solving and psychological thrills. It uses the first-person perspective and is powered by a custom-designed 3D engine developed by Frictional Games, its developer.

MTV Games and Harmonix send word that AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack is now available in Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores across the States. The game, an offshoot of Rock Band, features 18 live recordings from the popular hard rock band’s live performance at Castle Donnington.

The tracks are below:

"Thunderstruck"
"Shoot to Thrill"
"Back in Black"
"Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be"
"Heatseeker"
"Fire Your Guns"
"Jailbreak"
"The Jack"
"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
"Money Talks"
"Hell’s Bells"
"High Voltage"
"Whole Lotta Rosie"
"You Shook Me All Night Long"
"T.N.T."
"Let There Be Rock”
"Highway To Hell”
"For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”

All these songs can also be played in Rock Band and its sequel by entering a special export authentication code for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.

The game is available on PS3 and Xbox 360 for $40, PS2 and Wii for $30.

Two new WiiWare titles are now live on the Virtual Console service for the Nintendo Wii as part of this week’s Wii-kly update.

The games are Alien Crash Returns and Home Sweet Home for 800 and 1000 points, respectively. Here’s the deal:

ALIEN CRUSH RETURNS (Hudson Entertainment)
ALIEN CRUSH RETURNS is the ultimate incarnation of the popular TurboGrafx pinball classic, Alien Crush. Boasting innovative game and control features, this is one Wii experience that you don’t want to miss. With all the ball-blazing simplicity and flipper action thrills of standard pinball, ALIEN CRUSH RETURNS has all the visual and digital elements that you’ve come to expect in a video game, including grotesque, eye-stunning playfields as well as unique Action Ball gimmicks that redefine the fun and excitement of pinball. You can even nudge the machine with your Wii Remote controller. What’s more, you can connect via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection to enjoy a variety of features such as four-player head-to-head action, high score competitions and Extra Stage downloads.

Home Sweet Home (Big Blue Bubble Inc.)
Picture this scene… You move into your new home, and every room is perfect. Every room, except one. Here is the blank canvas for your vision, but you lack the know-how. Who do you call? The Home Sweet Home team! Home Sweet Home will give you the chance to unleash your hidden talents as an interior designer. You choose the furniture, patterns and colors to create a masterpiece that will blow your client away. With simple controls, a fun graphical style and an easy-to-use interface, Home Sweet Home allows you to nurture your creative side. Remember, a house is not a home until it is a Home Sweet Home.

In anticipation of the game’s release on November 18 on PC and Xbox 360, Valve has released the introduction trailer for its cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead.

The four-minute video was produced entirely using the game’s engine; it was created by the same team that produced the popular Team Fortress 2 “Meet the…” videos.