Summer is a time when the gaming industry falls into a lull.
Little substantive news is released, and the pack of news hounds must satiate themselves on and endless stream of screenshots and movies hinting at the latest revolution in game play. Few games are released during this time as well, which forces the game reviewer to look at Mods for a change.
Rather than put up a “Gone Fishin’” sign until a major release arrives, it is high time to sort some of the wheat from the screenshot chaff. So let’s get too it!
Hey, Look at My Website!
Website launches are ubiquitous in today’s gaming world. Often, the website is launched well before anything is available to show for the developer’s effort, and before there is anything really to say about the game. They sure are pretty though. Think of them as more permanent versions of E3’s Booth Babes.
That said several new game sites have launched which are worth taking a look at.
Armed Assault
(
http://www.armedassault.com/)
Operation Flashpoint was a major breakthrough for military simulations. Featuring realistic weapons, vehicles, settings, and missions, it’s not too much to say that
OFP is the standard by which other games are judged.
Bohemia Interactive, the coders behind the original game, are in the process of completing what many are calling “Operation Flashpoint 1.5”.
The website and forums were launched in May, but screenshots and the E3 card have just been added. Bookmark this site!
Quake Wars: Enemy Territory
(
http://www.enemyterritory.com/)
The game trailer was given this new home, the Enemy Territory website, after getting the obligatory File Planet/File Shack exclusive download treatment for a few weeks.
Shortly after the website’s launch, Splash Damage, the game’s lead developer, posted job opportunities for game play developers, animators, and level designers, among others, for this game. That’s not an auspicious start.
Still, Splash Damage, ID, and Activision aren’t exactly new at this game. And the trailer sure is rocking.
Hammer & Sickle
(
http://www.nival.com/hs/)
Nival Interactive has added a lot of content to the Hammer & Sickle website: screenshots, weapons stats, forums, etc... Billing the game as a “Tactical RPG” based in the Silent Storm setting, the game’s highlights include open mission structure, a mix of turn based play and RPG elements, and a completely updated engine.
SiN Episodes
(
http://www.sinepisodes.com/index.php?news)
Ritual Entertainment launched the website for the continuation of the SiN franchise. Featuring the original game’s characters, the game will be available as a series of episodes via the Steam platform.
Should be interesting to watch, as it will be the first commerical use of the platform for game distribution by a 3rd party.
March of the Independents
Increasingly, niche games are finding homes and publishers, as independent titles. The methods of distribution are different from title to title, but the end result is the same: the release of an awaited game type to a small, but vocal fan base.
Some of the more interesting releases are:
Lock On Modern Air Combat: Flaming Cliffs
http://www.lockon.ru/index.php?lang=en&end_pos=148&scr=
Lock on Modern Air Combat struck a good balance between the hardcore flight Sim of Falcon 4.0, and the more arcade-like offerings from Novalogic: realistic flight that you didn’t need actual flight school to understand, and thrilling, engaging, missions.
The big problem, however, was the lack of missions. After you were done with the campaigns, there wasn’t much else to do with the game.
Until now. Flaming Cliffs, from Eagle Dynamics, is an “Unofficial Add On” which picks up where the original game ended, and adds three new campaigns, one new jet, and new textures, graphics, etc.
If you have the original, hop on over to
SimHQ and read Cat’s excellent review, and then make the purchase!
War World
http://www.warworld.net/index.htm
Mech fans haven’t had much to rejoice about lately. MechWarrior is moribund, without a new title in the works, and its sister title, MechAssault is Xbox only.
Then War World was released. The back-story doesn’t really matter: its typical arena combat mush. Who cares, so long as you have a 3 story Mech with any of 50 different weapons at your disposal?
This week, Third Wave, the game’s developer, released the trial demo. You get to play 1 of the 100 single player levels, and a time limited shot at multiplayer combat.
If Mech Combat is your thing, the 120mb download is quick and painless.
Funny, You Look Nothing Like Your Toon!
For our World of Warcraft aficionados, here is a little something for you. Ever wonder what Circe, on whichever server she plays, looks like? Now you can find out: Faces of World of Warcraft!
http://www.facesofwow.com/gallery/th...bum=topn&cat=0
World of Warcraft users are posting their pictures and their Toons on this gallery to answer just that sort of question. The comments on user’s photos range from the moronic to the psychotic, but it is an interesting sociological study nevertheless.
Well that’s a lot of linkage for one week.
Follow the links for the pretty pictures, boys and girls, and until next time, let's be careful out there.
