Aspyr-Media
Latest
SpellForce 2 expansion announced
JoWood Productions (publisher of Arx Fatalis and Gothic 3) and developer Phenomic have announced Dragon Storm, the first expansion to the recently released SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars. Scheduled for a late 2006 release in Europe, Dragon Storm combines the well-received, RPG-strategy gameplay of its predecessor with intense dragon battles. SpellForce 2's North American distributor Aspyr Media has not confirmed a stateside release for the expansion pack at this time.
Quake Wars pushed back to 2007
The Strogg invasion originally planned for this holiday season has been postponed. Activision has confirmed that Enemy Territory: Quake Wars will not be shipping in 2006, which supports a comment made earlier this week by Splash Damage lead designer Paul Wedgewood. In a GameSpy developer diary, Wedgewood wrote, "Unfortunately, sometimes effort isn't all you need -- sometimes you just need more time. To ensure the quality we want, we've decided to push the release out of 2006 to allow for extended testing, feedback and game balancing." We were impressed with the Quake Wars LAN demo at this year's E3, so it should be pretty solid by the time it ships.
Metareview - SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars
With all of the attention given to Rise of Legends and Heroes of Might and Magic V over the past month, another strategy title quietly made its way to store shelves. Aspyr's SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars is the latest attempt to mash up the role-playing and RTS genres, and with their expansive maps and attention to detail, German developer Phenomic should give Atari's Dragonshard some healthy competition. IGN (84/100) is impressed by SpellForce 2's sheer amount of gameplay: "One thing this game has in spades is replayability. Not only is the single player story campaign very long and involved but there's also a free-mode which amounts to a second campaign. There isn't as complete a story as in the normal campaign, but there are a lot of new quests across 31 maps and all of these maps can be played alone or with two friends along for the ride." GameSpot (82/100) applauds the ease of use: "Command and control of all these different units is easy thanks to the slick interface. While you can use regular real-time strategy conventions to create unit groups, SpellForce 2 goes a bit further by letting you easily designate targets for various groups or telling a hero to unload a particular spell or skill on a specific target with just a couple of mouse clicks." Yahoo! Games (80/100) feels the mix of RPG elements is just right: "Unlike most role-playing games, Spellforce 2 doesn't limit your hero's advancement with a class system. So you can explore both the combat and magic skill trees as you wish -- hybrid characters are entirely feasible. Although the system is nowhere near as deep as, say, Diablo's, it is considerably more complex than most other RTS games can boast."
Hands on with Quake Wars: Enemy Territory
Activision had a huge LAN set up on their floor space showing off Quake Wars: Enemy Territory that let attendees get a taste of the multiplayer mayhem. Players assume the role of either the devious Strogg or the GDF. The campaign we played involved the Strogg going on the defensive and the GDF attempting to re-take the region that they've been contaminating.
Metareview - Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
It's been over five years since Funcom released The Longest Journey, one of the most enduring adventure titles in gaming history. At the time, Ragnar Tørnquist's narrative style and his world-hopping 3D heroine, April Ryan, breathed new life into a genre filled with Myst clones. However, Tørnquist's emphasis on dialog (lots of dialog!) was a bit draining for many gamers, and stood as Journey's only major criticism. Those who toughed it out were left with a memorable experience.In Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, we return to the worlds of Stark and Arcadia where the balance of technology and magic is once again in danger. New main character Zoë Castillo exhibits all the charm of her predecessor, and the game's presentation quality doesn't disappoint. But if you combine that with Dreamfall's relatively short experience, its seemingly unnecessary gameplay elements, and some overly simplified puzzles, you're left with a genuine mixed bag.
Quake 4 Universal Binary shipping
Quake 4, a game that could literally destroy my productivity in one swooping install, is now shipping as a Universal Binary for Mac OS X. Getting back to its first-person storyline roots, this latest installment picks up after the events of Quake 2, in which you are part of an elite marine force whose mission is to stop an Earth invasion and blow a ton of stuff up. Check out Aspyr Media's Quake 4 product page for more storyline details and system specs, as a PowerPC G4/G5 at 1.67 is required (which we've mentioned before), but they recommend a G5 or Intel-based Mac.Quake 4 is priced at $49.99 and is available from Amazon.[via Macworld]
New Enemy Territory: Quake Wars details
The creators of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory are hard at work on their next project, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, based on the upcoming Quake 4 game. The online tactical shooter will take advantage of both the Doom III engine and a new "megatexture" technology developed by John Carmack. With this new technology, the Splash Damage team will be able to render environmental terrain all the way out to the horizon and also assign different physical properties to the various types of terrain. For example, asphalt will be louder to walk on but offer better traction for land vehicles, while sand will make your footsteps quieter but at the same time will bog down vehicles. And don't expect every map to be located in the desert. Quake Wars is set to take place across Earth, so we should see some temperate and jungle environments in the mix. We'll keep you posted.
E3: Enemy Territory - Quake Wars is a sight to behold
Every developer makes their in-development game look better to the public than it actually is. The Killzone 2 discussion going on in the community right now is that the "gameplay" footage is questionable. Is the hardware really able to deliver that kind of gaming quality? If not, is it it false advertising? My bottom line is that all three consolers had a chance to put their best foot forward and Sony's stride was stronger. Even compared to MS' best cutscenes, Killzone is a killer. But there are other titles wowing the crowd now. Enemy Territory is one of them. The game clip is, once again, playing on an obscenely beautiful screen the size of my apartment. It stops you in your tracks in a room where everyone is trying to get you to stop in your tracks. The Quake spin-off is being developed by Splash Damage, using id's MegaTexture engine. It's a tactical shooter with 40 vehicles and enough character classes to kill your buds seven ways to Sunday. Details are a little sketchy right now. We all know that means it's early in development. Of course, that didn't keep them from releasing one of the true must-see clips of E3 2005.
