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Important men, Torchlights, and things get weird at the Mortal Kombat booth.

Unlike last time, Halo: Reach’s Legendary special edition bundle doesn’t come with a helmet fit for a feline. Instead, it will ship with a 10-pound, 10-inch-tall McFarlane Toys diorama of Noble Team–and that’s in addition to exclusive online unlocks, a physical diary, and a smattering of documents that explores the game’s fiction. But if that’s not enough to get you to smack 150 dollars down on a retailer’s counter with confidence, Bungie is probably hoping a bonus in-game campaign commentary track might do the trick.

Bungie busted out the news of the track on its official website earlier last week, and even dropped a few specifics about. According to the studio, around two hours of spoiler-filled audio were recorded for the track, most of it dealing with “unrevealed aspects” of Reach’s production. The game’s creative director Marcus Lehto, audio director Marty O’Donnell, cinematics and story lead Lee Wilson, and effects lead Steve Scott will be featured. 
 
And for you commentary hounds out there, apparently all these guys were recorded while chilling in the same room at the same time, unlike some of the lousier DVD commentaries you may have heard.
 

Also, if you were wondering, the seemingly short run time of the track is the end result of Bungie’s “judicious editing” that is being said to deliver audio only during the game’s “most impactful moments.” This is also purportedly Bungie’s “final word” on the series, which makes sense considering this is in fact the studio’s final Halo game.
 
The full blurb from the website:

Go inside Bungie and get direct access to the team that created the franchise as they play through their last and most ambitious entry in series, Halo: Reach. To celebrate the event – and to commemorate those fans who picked up the Legendary Edition of Halo: Reach – Creative Director, Marcus Lehto, Audio Director and Composer, Marty O’Donnell, Cinematics and Story Lead, Lee Wilson, and Effects Lead, Steve Scott sit down together to deliver two full hours of exclusive, behind-the-scenes campaign commentary covering unrevealed aspects of Halo: Reach’s production. From concept to cutting room floor, this last look back is the final word on Halo: Reach’s development, straight from the team that built the game.

The Halo: Reach Legendary edition is currently sold-out on GameStop.com, but it’s still available in stores, as well as some online retailers like Amazon.com. As is usual with these bundles, Halo: Reach LE is a limited-release thing, so, if in-game commentary or a wicked diorama are things you’d like to have, you’d probably be doing yourself a favor by pre-ordering the bundle sooner than later.

We recuperate from an amazing weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo and reflect on our time with Duke Nukem Forever, Portal 2 co-op, Mortal Kombat, Torchlight II, a menagerie of awesome and inventive indie games, and much more!

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We highly recommend that you watch this trailer, meatbag.

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Two chummy robots work their way through heinous puzzles in Portal 2's co-op mode.

Activision is injecting some Hollywood talent into Call of Duty: Black Ops. The publisher has announced, according to a GI.biz report, that notable thespians Ed Harris and Gary Oldman will each voice a character in the shooter. Activision has also revealed that Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Jumper scriptwriter David S. Goyer is the man behind the game’s script.

Oldman will reprise his role the pipes of Viktor Reznov, a character he also voiced in World at War. Harris will speak through CIA agent Jason Hudson’s digital mouth in the game.

In the film world, Harris’ most touching role was that of Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel in The Rock, a heartfelt flick packed with raw emotion and VX gas. Oldman, on the other hand, is still most recognized for his role as the disfigured pedophile Mason Verger in Hannibal.  
 

 
In a statement, Treyarch head honcho Mark Lamia said the two actors “complement Call of Duty: Black Ops’ ambitious and immersive single-player experience.” He added that the duo have helped Treyarch “push the boundaries” of its storytelling “beyond anything [it has] ever attempted before in the franchise.”

Here’s to hoping that means Jason Hudson will be tricked into cutting his own face off.  

Forthcoming Borderlands DLC Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution won’t boost the game’s level cap like the previous bit of content, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, did, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to enjoy new levels and main game rebalancing after that Claptrap-centric DLC hits later this September. Gearbox has plans to release a cap raise for all via a free patch for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game this fall, the studio revealed during its recent PAX panel (via Joystiq).

The reason why the Clatprap DLC won’t include this patch is simple: Gearbox doesn’t want to bone users who haven’t purchased every scrap of additional content for the RPG. According to studio head Randy Pitchford at the panel, ”you’d have to buy every previous DLC” for the main game balance tweaks and level upgrade to work–if it were to be included exclusively in Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution.

 Red means evil, FYI.

That’s a neat way to avoid a mess and score some points with the less faithful Borderlands flock, but is the raise going to be significant? If you consider eight levels levels significant, then yes, it will be indeed. Gearbox has decided to give users the ability to reach level 69–a classy boost over the 61 General Knoxx DLC gave its owners. But if you want to take it to 69, dude, you’re going to need to own that DLC. Players that don’t have that third DLC release will be able to take it up to level 58.

Gearbox expects this patch to hit around October 12, the same date Borderlands Game of the Year edition is slated to hit store shelves. This special edition will ship with the four previous bits of DLC and will include a “comprehensive” foldout map of the game’s universe. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the GOTY package will be sold for $60, while the PC version will be sold for $50.

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Jeff and his mustache thank you for being a lovely audience.

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So, is superdope one word or two?

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See for yourself the junk-grabbingly good time we had at this year's PAX panel.