Archived News:
The official Warlords Battlecry II site has been updated with new patches to upgrade the English, German and French editions of the fantasy isometric RTS by SSG to version 1.03. This release offers some three dozen bug fixes as listed on the patch page, and the English patch requires a 4.1 MB download while the other languages clock in at 3.1 MB.
Announcing Stalingrad on PC.IGN.com is the first word on a new first-person shooter in development for PC and Xbox at French company 4X Studio, which is already working on Iron Storm. The game puts the player in the role of a highly skilled sniper (a gameplay element that's also prominent in Iron Storm), and the story has a few more details on the gameplay you can expect, as well as the first three screenshots and a concept image.
Funcom has released a new patch for Anarchy Online, bringing their far-future MMORPG to version 14.0. There is a 10.6 MB manual download or you can use the auto-updater, and this release introduces the new team mission system along with numerous improvements, bug fixes and other changes as listed in the Build Notes. Also, Mythic squashed some bugs remaining from yesterday's update in a new version 1.49B patch. Similarly, yesterday's beta update of Black Moon Chronicles is also being patched up. Finally, a new EverQuest update went live applying a generous dose of changes to Verant's fantasy MMORPG.
- Mobile Forces
A brief but hands-on Mobile Forces preview on ActionTrip is accompanied by 16 new screenshots of the multiplayer first-person shooter that is nearing completion at Rage Software, and another batch of Mobile Forces screenshots is up at PCShooter.
- Gore
German site Daddelnews has posted five new, high-res screenshots of Gore, showing new scenes in the upcoming first-person shooter by 4D Rulers.
- Die Hard
GameSpot has captured 22 new Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza screenshots from the now-gold first-person shooter by Piranha Games that's based on the 1988 Bruce Willis movie.
- Purge
There are six new, high-res Purge Online screenshots at XGR, revealing more from the multiplayer role-playing FPS in the works at Freeform Interactive.
- Arx Fatalis
RPGDot serves up five new Arx Fatalis screenshots to illustrate an update on what has changed in Arkane Studios' first-person RPG since the release of the demo.
- Neverwinter Nights
Ten new Neverwinter Nights screenshots are online at Games Radar, showing more from the 3D role-playing game being crafted at BioWare.
- Battlecruiser XP1
GameScreenshots has added 19 new Battlecruiser XP1 screenshots to their gallery for the space sim expansion in the works at 3000AD.
- Port Royale
German developer Ascaron has released a set of new Port Royale screenshots, showing off their strategy game under construction.
Fansite Starfleet Universe has conducted an interview on Star Trek Starfleet Command III, quizzing Activision assistant producer Dan Hagerty about the upcoming space strategy game by Taldren (thanks GameSpyDaily). After a personal introduction, Dan talks about his interest in the SFC series, setting this third installment in The Next Generation universe, Activision's future plans for the franchise, Interplay's co-operation in the transition, a variety of gameplay topics, and more.
HomeLan Fed serves up the first eight screenshots of Aliens Vs. Predator 2: Primal Hunt, the newly announced expansion pack by Third Law Interactive to Monolith's tri-species first-person shooter (see below). The images offer scenes from all three species' viewpoints.
There's an I of the Dragon
Q&A on RPG Vault talking with Slava Pismenny, director of Primal
Software, about their upcoming fantasy RPG that features the twist of playing as
a dragon. The article offers a quick rundown of the game and its story, the
reasons for making a dragon-based game, the size of the gameworld, the number of
playable dragons, character development, combat, the lack of weapons, the role
of magic, allies and opponents, NPCs, quests, the game engine, sound,
multiplayer support, and more.
The latest AOW2: Behind the Magic is online at PC.IGN.com, and this fourth installment once again takes a closer look at some of the wizards in Triumph Studios' upcoming turn-based strategy game, Age of Wonders II: the Wizard's Throne. Today's showcase introduces Nekron, Tempest and Serena, as usual with a brief description and a concept image for each.
AvPNews sends along this
press release announcing development on Aliens versus Predator 2: Primal
Hunt, an AvP2 expansion pack in the works at Third Law Interactive, familiar
with AvP2's LithTech architecture from their experience with it creating KISS
Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child. Here is a bit from the release detailing
features on the pack, which is to be available in June:
- Nine new single player levels (3 per species)
- Intense multi-player combat – includes 4 new levels
- Includes all patches/updates and additional maps issued by Monolith since
the release of AvP2.
- New species-specific weapons and combat styles
- Human - Dual Pistols, Turret Gun, Deployable Sentry Gun
- Predator - Energy Flechette, Self-Destruct (only in multiplayer)
- Two new creatures indigenous to the planet.
- New environment – never-before-seen Predator ruins
- Ties in with original story of Aliens versus Predator 2 and provides
closure to some open-ended questions
ARUSH Entertainment sends word of a new movie trailer for Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, showing the 3D platform game by Sunstorm in action. The movie comes as a 19.2 MB download in self-running Bink format and sports a minute and a half of gameplay footage complete with Duke's typical voice-overs. Five new screenshots are also online.
Computer and Video Games has posted an interview on XIII, the partially cel-shaded first-person shooter in the works at Ubi Soft Montreal. Producer Julien Bares is at hand to talk about the decision to create something other than a realistic shooter, differences and similarities between the PC and console versions, using a comic license that's not well-known outside Belgium and France, a feature called Sixth Sense and how it affects gameplay, release estimates for the various versions of the game, and the proverbial more.
There is a new preview of Legion on Gamer's Pulse, taking a press build of the isometric strategy game by Slitherine Software for a brief march. The article describes the gameplay of turn-based empire management mixed with real-time combat, offers impressions of the units, graphics engine, combat and more, and comes with five new screenshots.
Soldier of Fortune
II: Double Helix Preview on ActionTrip offering hands-on impressions from
playing with a preview build of the mercenary shooter sequel in the works at
Raven Software. The article describes the graphics in the Quake III engine game,
embarking on your mission, the realistic weapons and gunfire, the immersive
environments, the high polygon-count models, gore and violence, and more.
Accompanying the story are 10 new screenshots.
Korean site Gamezone21 has the first details on Karma: Immortality (in English and Korean), which is described as a multiplayer 3D military action FPS/RPG set in both World War II and a futuristic Immortal War. The game is in the works at Korean developer Dragonfly, and the news story includes more information on the game's engine and other features as well as three dozen screenshots and a movie trailer. Modem users beware: the screenshots and 2.2 MB Windows Media Player movie are embedded in the story, so it takes about 15 MB to load the entire page. There is also a high-res AVI version of the three minute movie trailer that weighs in at a whopping 174 MB (not inlined, thankfully). More details on the game's premise, features and characters can be found on Dragonfly's official Karma: Immortality site, along with plenty of screenshots, concept images, and two further gameplay movies (clocking in at a more reasonable 26.1 and 31.6 MB, respectively).
The Wargamer's
G.I. Combat Q&A catches up with designer Eric Young and producer Phil
O'Connor from Freedom Games to discuss their upcoming real-time tactical
wargame. Topics include the scope of the game, contrasts with other similar
games, the sides available to players, the gameplay perspective, the size of the
engagements, multiplayer support, the ability to issue orders while the game is
paused, and more. Included are half a dozen new screenshots.
HomeLan Fed's Delta Green
Q&A talks with Russell Williams of Flying Lab Software about Delta
Green, their upcoming conspiracy-themed tactical strategy game. Topics
include this titles contrast to Rails across America (their previous effort),
the pen-and-paper RPG upon which this game is based, the storyline, gameplay, environments,
unique gameplay elements, working with LithTech's Jupiter engine, when they
expect the project to be completed, and more. Included is a sole new screenshot.
There are TRIBES:
Fast Attack Q&As on TribalWar.Com talking with the teams behind the
modifications to be included in the upcoming repackaged version of TRIBES II
that will also add a new single-player campaign. In addition to Q&As with
the folks behind the Base++ and Team Rabbit 2 mods, they also catch up with
Sierra's Alex 'Marweas' Rodberg to discuss the game and the decision to include
these mods.
A press release on the RUNE Website
reveals that the Macintosh version of RUNE: Halls of Valhalla is complete, and
that the official RUNE multiplayer add-on should be shipping to stores on April
22. Also, a report on the
Westlake Interactive Website has word that the port of Max Payne has reached
the alpha stage, and Mac Payne should enter beta testing soon.
A report on Computer and Video Games
has more on the recent revelation that Outcast II is on hold, adding news that
the game's hiatus is apparently caused by plans to work on a licensed property
for Infogrames. Also, there are a
bunch of Final Fantasy XI screenshots on Xen Gamers.
Console Reviews
Shrapnel Games sent notice of a new patch for Space Empires IV Gold, upgrading this 4X space strategy game to version 1.67. Word is that "Besides fixing a number of small bugs, the AI has been tweaked and some additional enhancements were added to TCP/IP play to make it easier to play." A full list of changes in the 1.8 MB patch is available on the download page.
The Chaotic Dreams Website
now offers a new beta 4 of the ChaosUT modification for Unreal Tournament. The
new beta adds some new game types, a new shotgun, a sharper sword, easier to
kill proxies, and much more.
- The RUNE Website has word
that a limited number of copies of the RUNE soundtrack are available for
sale, featuring full-length versions of the game's music...
- FilePlanet
(registration required) offers downloads of a movie showing off 13 seconds
of gameplay from the upcoming (as-yet untitled) WW2 RTS game in the works at
1C Maddox Games...
- Space HoRSE
is a newly-completed project looking to revive the classic gameplay of
M.U.L.E. while updating the graphics and things like that. Thanks Zdim...
- Speaking of classic games, FED2k's
Joe Bostic Q&A discusses Dune II, the seminal RTS game that will
turn 10 years old later this year...
When it reigns it pores, or something like that. I was starting to get crazy (or
crazier) trying to figure out what was causing my browser to repeatedly crash,
when notes from readers began tricking in reporting that they too were
experiencing browser crashes, and believed the cause to be an ad from this site.
A little confab with UGO gave the impression that they'd identified and removed
the culprit, but a few more crashes accompanied by a few more notes from readers
indicate they were being overly optimistic here. It's not like these ads are
paying much at this point anyway, so for now, if they are going to further screw
us, they are going to have to take us out to dinner first, and I have yoinked
the ad code temporarily as a radical solution to this problem. Apologies for the
difficulties this has caused.
Link of the Day: Gladys Dwindlebimmers Ralston Gallery of the Unidentifiable.
Thanks SurlyBith.
Story of the Day: Police Dog Severs Suspect's Penis
(thanks Inky). Ouch. Yet another case of life sort of imitating The Simpsons
(this week's episode, no less!).
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