Happy Day! The Orange Box goes on sale today. Valve has also announced that it will be available for download on Steam. The Orange Box includes Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode One, HL2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Also anyone who already has HL2 and HL2: Episode One can conveniently gift them to a friend through Steam.
Check it out here.
As one of the first mmorpg racing games to come to the US; Project Torque announced their open beta yesterday. Including a contest in which Aeria Games will choose 32 players at the highest levels to compete in a all out battle royal. The prizes will range from $1000 to Logitech gaming equipment.
Click here to check out the official site.
Yahoo games looks forward into the land of upcoming mmorpgs. There are a many that will try but only few will actually loosen the two year grasp that World of Warcraft has had on the mmorpg world. Take a look at who Yahoo Games think may have a chance here.
Producer Starr Long has announced that the headstart date has been pushed back to 10/30/07 and the commercial service start date to 11/2/07. They were concerned that they will need a little more time to iron out some issues with balance, stability, continent of Ligo, and the crafting system. Check out the full story here.
There are many cool features of Assassin’s Creed but today I am going to discuss two. I will be working on some other features a little later so keep your eyes pealed.
Detail - Ubisoft’s attention to detail starts in the storyline. The game takes place in the Holy Land in the year 1191 A.D. The story involves the 3rd Crusade of King Richard and all the major targets’ names were actually names of personalities in the that crusade and all died in 1191. The development team worked with historians to model the places in the game to match up with historic accounts of what the Holy Land actually looked like in 1191. I think that the Assassin’s Creed developers and producer, Jade Raymond, have done a great job in providing alluring subject material and a emphasis to detail that is sure to allure any user for hours on in.
Freedom - The level of freedom that Assassin’s Creed brings to the table is a breath of fresh air for most console players. You will be able to grab onto pieces of the environment that sticks out more than 2 inches so exploring the city, scouting targets, and mapping getaways can be done from rooftop. The variety of ways a mission can be carried out is only limited by the user’s mind. With a new crowd simulation technology Assassin’s Creed allows you to interact with the city folk on a new level. You can use social stealth to blend in with a crowd to make a escape or to setup a kill. You can push the crowd around or send them into a panic for a diversion. The crowd adds a nice dynamic to the game that sets it apart from other games. There is also a pick pocketing aspect to the game that makes gathering information more fun. Below I have posted a few screenshots just in case you haven’t seen the game yet.
Play as the Orc Warlord Gotai as his army invades the Griffin Empire. Recruit troops, start new cities, and wage war with new abilities like Blood Rage and War Cry. I will probably revisit these features in later posts. Enjoy the demo.
To check out the playable demo at Fileplanet click here.
Codemasters have launched a new server, Evengarda, for its PVP mmorpg game, Archlord. This will give the chance for current and new players to start fresh all from the same level to race for the title of Archlord. Should be interesting to see the amount of competition on this new server. Codemasters are also holding a month long treasure hunt on this server to celebrate the launch. Silver, gold, and platinum chests will be scattered throughout the land of Chantra for the players to find. Good luck to those playing on this server and save a few chests for me.
The game that has turned gamers into rock guitar masters is finally coming to PC. This is definitely exciting for all you garage band gamers out there. It will ship with a USB compatible controller for those who like the look and feel of a guitar. You can also play the game with a keyboard. Some of us may not particularly like playing with a keyboard but Guitar Hero III has been testing with a A, S, D, F, and Caps Lock with the mouse being the strumming function setup and say that it works just fine. However, they do say that these keys may be subject to change through testing if a better setup is discovered. Guitar Hero III will also support online play and allow Mac users to take on PC users in a Rock Showdown.
I think Aspyr did a good thing filling in this niche of the gaming market and expect to see more innovation from this company in the future. In short Guitar Hero coming to PC is a great move for those who don’t want to buy a console just to play a few games.
The new Assassin’s Creed Trailer is out and it’s interesting to say the least. I have been very excited to see this game come along the way it has. Not only are the graphics very nice and detailed but the features and sandbox style of environment gives this game a bang that other games lack. With that said enjoy the latest trailer.
SABOTEUR is set in the time of World War II. I know what your thinking. Jeez, not another WWII shooter. Don’t worry you little heart about that; SABOTEUR is a stealth action game from 3rd person view and might I add has masterful visual design. The role you play in SABOTEUR is very different than most WWII games we have seen since most of them just cast you as a soldier giving no real life or connection to your character.
You play as a Irishmen named Sean that is seeking to get revenge on a group of Nazis that killed his friends. The fact that he is not a soldier is felt through the raw and rough around the edge style of doing things. So since Sean is not a soldier you would expect not to play like one; this is somewhat refreshing that a developer took this into account. However, if you think Sean is a wuss just because he is not a soldier then you are wrong…dead wrong. Also Sean may help the Allies from time to time if their objectives and his match up but don’t think that Sean actually give a crap about that because he doesn’t. Sean is out for revenge!
One of the more interesting concepts to the game is the “Will to Fight” factor. When Nazis occupy certain areas of the environment the gameplay in that area is in black and white then as you loosen or destroy the Nazi occupation it slowly turns to color to reflect the life of the environment. This type of color mechanic gives the game a nice cinematic look to it. Also, SABOTEUR keeps the gameplay interesting with the different ways to stealth such as blending in crowds, improvising situations, and misdirection. This game is definitely on my watch list and is scheduled for release sometime in 2008. Keep your eyes on this one.
There is also a good interview with the guys from Pandemic Studios on Gamespot that is worth watching. Click here to watch interview.
