GamesWorkshop
Latest
Daily iPhone App: Warhammer Quest combines Rodeo Games' talent with the Warhammer setting
Warhammer Quest was originally announced way back in August last year, and now it's finally arrived on the iOS App Store, for a price of US$4.99. The game is indeed based on the old board game (set in the great and goofy British Warhammer universe), but it's also made by Rodeo Games, most famous for creating the popular Hunters series on iOS. Rodeo knows how to make turn-based strategy both interesting and easy to control on the iOS touchscreen, and that's exactly what they've done here, essentially translating their top-down, grid layout strategy title into the Warhammer universe. In Warhammer Quest, you pilot a crew of various fantasy-based heroes (warrior, mage, archer and shieldbearer are the core classes, though a few more are available via in-app purchase) through dungeons, clobbering orcs, goblins and any other baddies who happen to step in your way. Each hero has their own set of movement stats and abilities, and you pick up items and extra loot as you play, earning more and more options in battle. Just like the Hunters series, the interface is clean and clear, and it's very easy to navigate your heroes around the dungeon. It's not quite as easy to use spells and abilities (most of them are, strangely, buried in an interface rather than easily accessible), but still, the setup makes sense once you play with it a bit. There's an excellent meta-game as well, where you can travel to a town to train up your heroes and experience various random, lore-supported events. There are also lots of side quests to follow, offering all of the challenge and content that you'd like. There's even an expansion already ready to go via IAP, and I'm guessing (given what we've seen with the Hunters series so far), that we'll see lots more content for this game in the future. If you're a Warhammer fan, this is a must-buy, and if you like turn-based strategy at all, this is a prime example of a talented developer working side-by-side with a great property. This game is definitely worth $4.99, though Hunters seems to go on sale with some regularity, so you may want to wait and see if the price drops if you're willing to be patient. Given the size of the game and the quality of the content, however, Warhammer Quest is easily recommended.
Two great board games headed to iOS: Talisman Prologue and Eclipse
There's some great news today about two different -- both excellent -- physical board games headed to digital versions on the App Store. First up, the game Eclipse has been submitted to the App Store as a digital app. This is a great galaxy-spanning civilization builder, and the physical component has dozens and dozens of little miniatures and pieces to play with, so it'll be nice to have an iPad-based version around. The price hasn't yet been revealed, and it's unclear just how soon the game will be out, but if Apple doesn't have any problems with the submission, we should see it later on this week. In other board-game-to-digital-app news, we'll see a version of Games Workshop's Talisman, called Talisman Prologue, on the App Store later on this week as well. Prologue will be single player only, but it will use the game card-drawing mechanics of the physical game, and the short preview trailer that developer Thumbstar Games has released makes it look like an excellent time. There's no word on price for this one either, but we'll know soon enough: The game is set to be out in the US this Thursday.
Vigil Games details Warhammer 40K MMO
While what we know about the game is barely knee-high to a gretchin, PC Gamer magazine recently had the opportunity to speak with a pair of folks behind Vigil Games' upcoming Warhammer 40,000 MMO, specifically general manager David Adams and studio creative director Joe Madureira. Both shed a few details on what we can expect while we wait patiently to kill rats aboard space hulks for the emperor. Says Adams, the game will be "much more intense" and combat-focused than the traditional fantasy MMOs upon which we've cut our teeth, giving us all the more reason to want to trade up our broadsword for a storm bolter. However, the dev notes that the MMO "will be an RPG," adding that "Relic has the RTS angle covered with the awesome Dawn of War series - we are making an RPG." Other interesting tidbits from the article include note that the game will include all of the tabletop game's "important" races, customizable characters, a variety of solo, party-based, and PvP missions, and the possibility of in-game vehicles as well. We can't wait to see how the tabletop war game makes the leap to MMO, but as it stands, in the grim darkness of the far future ... there is only waiting.[Via Massively]
Cyanide confirms Blood Bowl for Xbox 360, PSP, DS
Having opened a new studio in Montreal earlier this year and released the Diablo-clone Loki, French developer Cyanide has what we call 'a lot of irons in the fire.' The studio also announced today that it has waded waist-deep into the murky waters of middleware development, creating its own "dynamic 3D animation engine," which Cyanide interestingly describes as a tool that "integrates physical and biomechanical laws under the control of a powerful artificial intelligence system." Skynet, can you hear us?While the company hopes to license the engine to other "small and medium sized" game developers, Cyanide is not above eating its own dog food, and will utilize the technology in its own projects, the first of which will be a title based on Games Workshop's fantasy tabletop game Blood Bowl. First announced briefly last year, the real news here is that the game, which is an unofficial follow up to the unlicensed PC title Chaos League, has been confirmed as in development for the Xbox 360, PSP, and Nintendo DS, as well as the PC. Few details are known at present beyond that the studio calls the project a "faithful representation" of the tabletop game, and adds that Blood Bowl should be released sometime in late 2008. In the absence of a new Mutant League Football, we will take what we can get.
