PC Game News

NetDragon, a Chinese developer, has announced a licensing agreement with Electronic Arts on the development of "Dungeon Keepers Online." At this time there is no word on whether the game will be released outside of China.

"As part of this agreement, NetDragon will develop the game and obtains the exclusive license to operate and distribute Dungeon Keeper Online throughout the Greater China region, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

"We are delighted to enter into an agreement with EA in the development of our first 3D MMORPG. Our partnership with this internationally renowned game developer is proof of our capabilities in game operations and development as well as a reflection of our market reputation," said Mr. Liu Dejian, Chairman and Executive Director of NetDragon. "Capitalizing our strength to create a strong gaming experience, powerful operating platform and unmatched expertise within China’s online game market, we are confident that Dungeon Keeper Online will not only become successful in the Greater China region but also achieve remarkable results overseas."

Jon Niermann, President of EA Asia Pacific said, "The partnership marks a significant milestone for EA as it will enhance our intellectual property and extend our product reach throughout the Greater China region. It will also further enhance our intellectual property with differentiated, high-quality games, particularly in the field of MMORPGs."

Dungeon Keeper(TM) is a PC strategy game released by EA in July 1997."

If you’re a fan of Valve’s Half-Life games. Black Mesa is arguably the most anticipated Half-Life 2 mod in existence and after its new trailer, it’s hard not to see why.

Now using the engine that drove the Orange Box games, boy does BM look like the one of the greatest things we’ll get to play in our lives. Sorry for the pressure, BM team, but it’s hard not go a ballistic with sensationalistic prose after your latest trailer.

It looks like such a professional production and my greatest fear, that the voice acting would totally undo the game’s atmosphere, is basically gone. Granted, only a couple voice clips are in the trailer, but there are a bunch more at their site to completely remove that layer of skepticism.

All we have to do is wait for another infinity years. Sure, it says 2009, but I’m going add 12 more years just to be safe.

The mascot of Stonewall Jackson Senior High in Manasas, VA is the Raider. While I was going to school there I had no idea why they’d chosen the name they’d chosen, but a month or so ago (when Tilted Mill announced Mosby’s Confederacy) I had a nice little ‘a-ha!’ moment. The Raider, as it turned out, wasn’t as arbitrary a choice as I’d supposed. John Singleton Mosby, best known as a Colonel in the Confederate army in the Civil War, had bushwacked, evaded, stole from, assassinated and generally terrorized a much-larger Union force all over northern Virginia, at the then-backwoods doorstep of the Union’s capital. Faquier and Loudoun counties, the center of his activity, were only a few miles away from where I lived at the time. As it turned out, the planners guilty of building my high school were paying tribute to Mosby and his band. And now Tilted Mill has paid a special tribute of their own to the renowned Confederate guerilla, in their recently-released Mosby’s Confederacy.

I haven’t had much time to play but as it turns out the gist of the game isn’t that difficult to nail down. The action plays out in two places- on a strategic map where you, as Mosby, can raise support, build arms caches, and plan your next mission. Missions are done in real-time on a 3d map with soldiers you’ve recruited and equipped, and they involve rustling horses, seizing munitions dumps, kidnapping Union officers or simply slaughtering Union troops.

The problem with this game isn’t the concept, which is cool as hell and totally novel. There need to be more games about guerillas, I think we can all agree. The problem is the execution. This game was only announced a couple of months ago, and the longest possible time Tilted Mill could have conceivably been working on it isn’t above four months. Is that time enough to turn around a robust game? No, not really. And, surprise surprise, even though Mosby’s is only $20, it’s barely worth the purchase price. The maps are barren, enemy troops have poor AI, graphics are bad, and, most damningly, the tactical options you as a commander have access to are severely limited. I think, in retrospect, that a lot of these same complaints can be applied to Tilted Mill’s Hinterland, the other game they’ve released so far on this breakneck production schedule. There simply needs to be more in the game- more of everything. More tactics, more varied terrain, more missions and more trees (seriously, a lot more trees).

Tilted Mill is to be lauded for even trying to break the mold with these games, and doubly so because they’re doing it as independent developers. They’re paving the way for others, I hope. But they need to leave these games a bit more time to grow into fully-fledged products. I’m going to be a lot warier of their next release, I think.

Wolfire Games has announced the release of an Alpha version of "Overgrowth," an upcoming action adventure sequel to Lugaru, to customers that pre-order the game.

"While Overgrowth will inherit Lugaru’s tried and true fighting system, it will also be exploiting every cutting edge feature that Wolfire’s new Phoenix Engine has to offer.  The alpha includes the beginnings of Overgrowth’s map editor and showcases the game’s terrain with advanced effects like, multi-sampled HDR framebuffer objects, dynamic blurred cube maps for ambient lighting, object and tangent space normal maps and atmospheric haze (just to name a few).

Even though Wolfire is just a small independent games company, Overgrowth’s graphics seem to be on par with AAA titles.  Screenshots of the Phoenix Engine are available on the Wolfire Blog and updates are coming fast."

Focus Home Interactive and Frogwares have released screenshots from "Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper," giving viewers a look at the upcoming adventure sequel.

"Recognized as one of the best adventure games and applauded by the press around the world, Sherlock Holmes is back with probably the series’ most terrifying investigation. The player will launch into the hunt for the most dangerous serial killer in England’s history: Jack the Ripper.

1888, London, Whitechapel district, a horrible series of crimes takes place in this East End district, atrociously mutilated women are found dead. The police has a hard time finding a serious lead and the murders continue, creating a real psychosis. Sherlock Holmes sets out to find clues in the dark, gloomy streets of Whitechapel searching for the macabre trail of the one that the press calls Jack the Ripper. During the terrifying adventure, Sherlock will attempt to shed some light on the mystery that shrouds the identity and motive of the one who hides behind the terrifying nickname.

Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper will offer players two different 3D view modes, a third person view in the pure adventure game point & click style and a first person view. The player will be able to play in one or the other modes or even combine them for greater immersion in this terrifying adventure. Other novelty, the player will also be able to use an original system for piecing together crimes in order to test hypotheses as the investigation progresses to find the terrifying serial killer’s bloody trail."

If you didn’t catch the announcement yesterday, GoGamer will be running a sale from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Today they released the list of games that will be on sale.

Under $50

• Zboard MERC Stealth Gaming Keyboard – $44.90
• Frag FX Controller for PS3 – $44.90
• Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel – $41.90
• Ultima Online 9th Anniversary Collection for PC – $42.90
• Sacred 2 Collector’s Edition for PC – $42.90
• GTA IV Special Edition for Xbox 360- $44.90
• Call of Duty: World at War (I) for Xbox 360 – $45.90
• Fallout 3 for Xbox 360- $49.90
• Guitar Hero: World Tour (I) for Xbox 360 – $42.90
• Gears of War 2 for Xbox 360 – $49.90
• Fallout 3 for PS3 – $42.90

Under $40

• Razer Piranha Gaming Headset – $34.90
• TekNmotion PulseWave/Pulsar PC Gaming Headphones – $34.90
• Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 for PC – $33.90
• Left 4 Dead for PC – $34.90
• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning for PC – $32.90
• Spore for PC – $34.90
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Mac – $33.90
• GTA IV for Xbox 360 – $34.90
• FarCry 2 for Xbox 360 – $37.90
• Guitar Hero: World Tour for Wii – $35.90
• Guitar Hero: On Tour for Nintendo DS – $34.90
• Fallout 3 for PC – $30.00

 
Under $30

• Razer Diamondback 3G Gaming Mouse Flaming Red – $29.90
• Microsoft Reclusa Gaming Keyboard – $29.90
• Saitek Aviator Joystick – $29.90
• Microsoft Wireless Keyboard Optical Desktop Pro – $22.90
• FarCry 2 (I) for PC – $29.90
• X3: Terran Conflict (I) for PC – $29.90
• Guild Wars Trilogy for PC – $29.90
• X-Plane 9 for PC – $27.90
• FIFA Soccer 2009 for PC – $24.90          
• Crysis Warhead for PC – $21.90
• The Sims 2 for Mac – $29.90
• Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 for Mac – $29.90
• Legendary for Xbox 360 – $24.90

Under $20

• TekNmotion 4 Piece CD/DVD Storage Case Combo – $19.90
• Saitek Eclipse Keyboard Red – $19.90
• Eye Toy- Kinetic w/Camera for PS2 – $19.90
• Razer Mantis Speed Gaming Mouse Mat – $12.90         
• Stalker: Clear Sky for PC – $19.90
• World of Warcraft Battlechest for PC/Mac – $19.90 (Limit 10 per customer) (Friday and Saturday Only)
• Mercenaries 2 for PC – $17.90
• Spiderman Web of Shadows for PC – $14.90
• Tomb Raider Anniversary for PS2 – $12.90
• Fracture (I) for Xbox 360 – $14.90
• Guitar Hero: Aerosmith for PS2 – $14.90

Under $10

• Microsoft Digital l-Media Pro Keyboard – $9.90
• Alvin & The Chipmunks for Wii – $9.90 (Limit 1 per customer)
• Unreal Tournament 3 for PC – $9.90
• TekNmotion Yapster Headphones Black – $7.90
• Microsoft LifeCam VX-1000 – $7.90
• Saitek PP26 Cyborg Rumble Pad – $7.90
• Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess for PC – $9.90
• Lineage 2: 4th Anniversary Edition for PC – $9.90
• Frontlines Fuel of War for Xbox 360 – $9.90
• Blazing Angels for Xbox 360- $9.90
• Alone in the Dark for PC- $5.90
• F.E.A.R. Director’s Edition for PC – $5.00
• Alone in the Dark for PS2 – $6.90

Under $5

• TekNmotion 48 CD/DVD Wallet Black On Black – $1.00  
• Empire Earth III for PC – $4.90
• The Sims: Pet Story for PC – $3.90
• Soldier of Fortune Payback for PC -$3.90
• Prey for PC – $3.90
• Lord of the Rings Online Limited Edition for PC – $2.90
• SpiderMan: Friend or Foe for PC – $2.90
• Just Cause for PC – $2.90
• Stanglehold for PC – $2.90
• Battlestations: Midway – $2.90
• BlackSite Area 51 for PC – $1.90
• Thrillville for PC – $1.00

Valve has announced that THQ will be running a sale on Steam this weekend that will get you a dozen games for $99.99.

"The THQ Collector’s Pack, which includes one dozen titles from top franchises such as Company of Heroes, Titan’s Quest, and Dawn of War, is now available via Steam for just $99.99 — an amazing savings of more than $100. In addition to the THQ Pack, Titan Quest Gold (the complete Titan Quest collection) is available at a 50% savings through Monday, December 1. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com"

A new patch for "Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods" has been released, bringing the recently released add-on to version 1.06.

The 73MB patch can be downloaded from AtomicGamer, FileFront, FileShack, Gamer’s Hell, Strategy Informer, or Worthplaying.

The most important changes:

   1. Some potential Main-quest blockers fixed
   2. Pathfinding and quest issues fixed
   3. Missing texts
   4. Gameplay elements have been improved
   5. Graphical and performance improvements (including stability issues)

Rockstar has released a new "Grand Theft Auto IV" editor tutorial video, giving viewers a look at the upcoming editor that will be available with the PC version of the game.

"Niko Bellic is an Eastern European immigrant in his mid-thirties, who has come to Liberty City to pursue the "American Dream". Niko was persuaded to move to Liberty City by his cousin Roman, who claimed in multiple e-mails to Niko that he was living a fabulous life, with two women, four hot tubs and fifteen sports cars; but he was in fact telling lies to hide his own failures.

Roman is the only person Niko knows in Liberty City to begin with, and is one of his major connections in the first part of the game. Niko is a tough character, whereas Roman is friendly. Roman is heavily in debt and a lot of people are after him. He desperately needs Niko’s support, hence the reason he deceived Niko into traveling to Liberty City. They are constantly bickering. It is later revealed that Niko has also been avoiding other, as yet undisclosed, problems at home."

The list of new PC game releases, DVD releases, and movies opening the week of November 24th, 2008.

PC Games:

• Band Manager
• Chronicles of Mystery: Scorpio Ritual
• Gothic 3 Collector’s Edition

Movies Opening This Week:

• Australia
• Four Christmases
• Milk (limited)
• Transporter 3

DVD Releases:t

• 2008 Philadelphia Phillies: The Official World Series Film
• 24: Redemption
• A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All
• A Man Named Pearl
• Beverly Hills 90210 – The Sixth Season
• Daryl Hall & John Oates- Live at the Troubadour
• David Lynch The Lime Green Set
• Fred Claus
• Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. – The Final Season
• Hall & Oates: Live at the Troubadour [Blu-ray]
• Hancock
• Larry The Cable Guy’s Star Studded Christmas Extravaganza
• Live at Monterey [Blu-ray]
• Meet Dave
• Ricky Martin Live: Black and White Tour [Blu-ray]
• RUSH: Snakes and Arrows Live [Blu-ray]
• Space Chimps [Blu-ray]
• The Kingdom [Blu-ray]
• The Mod Squad – The Second Season, Vol. 1 
• The Town That Banned Christmas
• TNA: Kurt Angle: Champion
• Visual Karma 

GoGamer has announced that its Black Friday sale will begin Thanksgiving night and will continue through Cyber Monday, December 1st.

"Known for their amazing 48 Hour Madness sales, GoGamer.com plans on offering these amazing deals starting this Thanksgiving night and running through what is known as Cyber Monday, December 1st.

Included in the sale will be products for every budget ranging from $40 to $1. This includes several recently released AAA game titles and quality accessories. GoGamer is happy to bring some Holiday cheer to gamers and American families this Christmas season.

The full list of products on sale will be announced Wednesday November 26th. Supplies will be limited. Shoppers are encouraged to act fast and visit GoGamer.com Thursday evening and take advantage of this amazing special promotion before supplies run out."

Awesome, this is the announcement you’ve been waiting for Fallout 3 owners and modders. Bethesda’s going to release G.E.C.K., Fallout 3’s official editor, this December. New content, new worlds, massive gameplay overhauls; expect them all. If there’s anything to worry about, there’s the chance that the editor won’t work and function like The Elder Scrolls Construction Set, which means it might take awhile for experienced Oblivion modders to adapt to G.E.C.K. Whatever the case, this is great news. Oh and some DLC news, too, but considering most of Oblivion’s lasted little more than 20 minutes, don’t expect too much from them.

"Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company, today announced plans to make both its editor and downloadable content available for its award-winning game, Fallout® 3 in the coming weeks. The official editor for Fallout 3, called the G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation Kit), will be available for free download in December and will allow Games for Windows® users to create and add their own content to the game. In addition, the first official downloadable content, Operation: Anchorage, will be available exclusively for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows® in January, and more downloadable content coming in February and March.

“We’ve always seen the original world of Fallout 3 as a foundation for even more content. Some created by us, and a lot more created by users,” said Todd Howard, game director for Fallout 3. “It’s fun to create your own character, but it can be equally fun to create your own adventures. We can’t wait to see what the community does with the G.E.C.K.”

The release of the G.E.C.K. provides the community with tools that will allow players to expand the game any way they wish. Users can create, modify, and edit any data for use with Fallout 3, from building landscapes, towns, and locations to writing dialogue, creating characters, weapons, creatures, and more.

Three downloadable content packs will be coming to Xbox 360 and Games for Windows Live starting in January that will add new quests, items, and content to Fallout 3.
• Operation: Anchorage. Enter a military simulation and fight in one of the greatest battles of the Fallout universe – the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from its Chinese Communist invaders. An action-packed battle scheduled for release in January.
• The Pitt. Journey to the industrial raider town called The Pitt, located in the remains of Pittsburgh. Choose your side. Scheduled for release in February.
• Broken Steel. Join the ranks of the Brotherhood of Steel and rid the Capital Wasteland of the Enclave remnants once and for all. Continues the adventure past the main quest. Scheduled for release in March."

Kalypso Media has announced that some of their back catalog and current titles will soon be arriving on Valve’s Steam platform.

The first Kalypso title to be released on Steam will be "Imperium Romanum: Gold Edition". New titles, such as "Ceville" and "Grand Ages: Rome," will be coming to Steam in the coming months.

“We are delighted to be working globally with Valve Corporation as a strategic partner both now and going forward. Kalypso Media view Electronic Software Download as a vital part of our ongoing business strategy and the establishment of this strategic agreement with Valve Corporation is a key step forward. We are looking forward to making our games available to the game playing public on Steam,” said Charlie Barrett, Business Development Director Kalypso Media

For more information visit www.kalypsomedia.com

Shrapnel Games has announced that "War Plan Pacific" has gone gold and is scheduled to be released on December 16th.

"War Plan Pacific is a computer wargame for one or two players about the conflict in the Pacific from 1941 until 1945 waged between Imperial Japan and the United States (and allies). Designed to be playable in under three hours, yet retaining a good deal of historicity, today’s gamers will appreciate the ability to fight an entire war in one sitting.

As supreme commanders of their nation’s war machine, players will use an array of historical naval vessels and air groups in an attempt to achieve victory for their side. It should be noted that victory for both sides is not measured equally, and indeed playing as the Japanese creates different strategies from playing as the Allies, and vice-versa. Victory can also come in the form of a fast path or a measured path, altering strategies even further.

Fans of board wargames will feel right at home with War Plan Pacific, especially for those that recall Avalon Hill’s Victory in the Pacific or who currently enjoy MMP’s Fire in the Sky. Rather than tracking every bean and bullet in the theater, War Plan Pacific uses individual ships of light cruiser size or larger, air groups, amphibious transport groups, and convoys on a point to point map of the Pacific from Singapore to San Francisco. Each turn represents one month of time, and there are three starting situations (one historical, two hypothetical) to game.

Combat takes place on a ‘battle board’ that allows combat to be fought out easily while retaining a tactical flair. CAP, flak, screening, and the dreaded Long Lance torpedo all play a part. War Plan Pacific focuses on air and naval actions, with land combat abstracted to how well invasions succeed.

Beyond the single and multi-player experience gamers will enjoy the fact that War Plan Pacific uses easy-to-edit XML text files for its scenarios. While map and unit graphics cannot be changed, the XML files allow for OOB, ship capabilities, base information, sea distances, and victory conditions all to be modified. Creating new scenarios that explore a range of possibilities, such as an earlier conflict in the Pacific during the ’30s, is sure to excite gamers and keep War Plan Pacific on their hard drives for a long time to come.

War Plan Pacific sells for $39.95 and will be available for Windows computing systems. For more information on this exciting turn-based wargame please visit its official gamepage at:

www.shrapnelgames.com/KE_Studios/WPP/WPP_page.html"

EA has released a "Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3" demo, giving players a chance to try out the latest installment in the series by EA LA.

"Red Alert 3 asks the question "What If?" What if every bizarre research project and technology experiment for the last 70 years had actually borne fruit? What if the Philadelphia Experiment, time travel theory, teleportation, invisibility, Tesla technology, and a hundred other intriguing research projects had all paid off and gone mainstream? What if the Soviet Union survived and thrived; what would it look like 10 years in the future? What if the Japanese Empire had never fallen and instead became the ultimate high-tech military superpower? The end result is an imaginative and playful vision of an alternate future filled with possibility."

The 1.8GB demo can be downloaded from AtomicGamer, FileFront, FileShack, Gamer’s Hell, Strategy Informer, or Worthplaying.