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Improve your KOTOR II framerate
Light side or dark side, one thing all Jedi have in common, no doubt, is a desire to increase their system performance in the latest Knights of the Old Republic title. Here's a tweak guide for you KOTOR II junkies. Some of it will be fairly obvious to a lot of people, but there's other bits in there which may not be quite so obvious. So have it, increase performance, and dispense light/dark justice as you see fit. You'll be doing it faster.
Star Wars: Empire at War screenshots on 3D Gamers
3D Gamers has a slew of new Star Wars: Empire at War pics. The images are mostly space combat scenes, which is fine with us. The idea of having a well-done Star Wars RTS amongst the stars is pretty damn appealing. From what we gather, the way the controls will work, is you'll be able to control different classes of ships as they battle on different spatial planes. Since space has no up or down, it's a real challenge to make it work (though the Homeworld series did an admirable job of handling it).
Star Wars: Empire at War preview on Gamespy
Head on over to Gamespy for a basic overview of what you can expect from Star Wars: Empitre at War. The article doesn't have anything new in it, but it does clarify some of the details. The real-time strategy game, being developed by Petroglyph, is shaping up nicely. It looks like they're serious about shaking up the RTS format a bit, with consistent forces from one level to the next, and practically zero resource gathering. Though, what is the problem with resource gathering? People treat it like stuttering framerate in first-person shooters. Isn't it part of the fun to protect your gatherers? You don't hear anyone complaining about having to gather ammo in an FPS.
Star Wars: Empire at War details emerge
Gamespot has grabbed some details on the upcoming real-time strategy game, Star Wars: Empire at War. The game will take place between Episode III and Episode IV of the serial, and will include many familiar ships and settings. You can fight in the boots of the rebellion or the Empire, depending on what kind of game you want to play. If you want stealth and cunning, then the rebels will be your side. They have older (and less) resources at their disposal. But they're good at slipping around for guerrilla warfare. The Empire has the galaxy at its disposal, but is more like a clumsy giant than a well-oiled machine. There's also an interview with a couple of the team members available to wrap the coverage up. The keyword of the clip is "persistence". As in, the persistence of this game from level to level will transform the way we view RTS games. We'll see, by the end of this year.
Star Wars: Empire at War preview puts it all together
We've only been getting bits and piece of information on the upcoming Star Wars real-time strategy game, Star Wars: Empire at War. Now someone has finally put together a solid look at what's being worked on. There are still lofty promises being made, but it sounds like they have their head screwed on straight. Smart pathfinding, solid formations, limited resource management; it all sounds great to us. The only thing that sounds like it could be a challenge is the dynamic storytelling. The preview steps through a couple of scenarios that are meant to show how the gameplay will differ from other RTS games.
Star Wars Empire at War scans to fill your screen
Voodoo Extreme has linked to some huge magazine scans of the upcoming real-time strategy game, Star Wars: Empire at War. The pics are from PCZones UK, so they must be a little pissed right about now. The links include the images, as well as the article itself. In it, you'll find a number of promises that the game will be better than Force Commander, the last Star Wars RTS title (hint: it wasn't good). Indeed, the article paints a clear picture of some excellent scenarios. The developers have done RTS before, so maybe this time around, Lucas will get it right.
Knights of the Old Republic II on IGN continues
IGN follows up on yesterday's look at Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. This time, they get into the game's events. Not in too much deatil, of course. But there are some very intriguing details, including a suggestion that the Dark Side is not necessarily the "evil" side of the Force. That's something that comics and books have touched upon over the years, but it should be interesting to see it played out in a game. There aren't "spoilers" per se, but if you're a purist you may want to hold off on reading this.
Knights of the Old Republic 2 team lines up
Get ready for the next uber-title, Knights of the Old Republic 2. The game looked mighty good at the preview session we got with Lucas a couple of months ago, and word is that the game will deliver. We sure hope so. IGN gives us a run-down of the players: Vernita Green Kreia Bao-Dur Atton The piece gives some intriguing notes on the characters, which we look forward to testing out when we consume the game, to the detriment of our social lives. Atton seems like he might be a diamond in the rough.
Knights of the Old Republic sequel goes gold
I never personally got into it, but a large number of people loved the first "Knights of the Old Republic" game. So much so they still talk fondly of the game now, on about their seventeenth time playing through it. The choices offered, of light or dark paths, still lead to morality discussions. And people say video games have no worth? The sequel, subtitled "The Sith Lords", due December 6th, has gone gold. Xbox only at this time. (BOO!) It's another item for you lucky Xbox owners to add to your want list for Santa, or whoever. Expect more feats, more force, and more hot droid on droid action!
Knights of the Old Republic 2 website is live
The Knights of the Old Republic 2 website is up and it's a ponderous one. If you don't know what the hell I could mean by that, just go check it out. Man, this is some somber stuff. Lucas's game sites tend to be a little heavy on the sound/visuals sometimes, but this one works well. It's a little sparse at the moment, with only 3 wallpapers to grab. Give them time. They'll have more goodies available soon, as usual. Some great concept art dots the site, too (see below).
Star Wars: Battlefront patch is available
Hot on the heels of the official release comes a patch for Star Wars: Battlefront. The game has surprised a few of us old-timer online gamers, who assumed it would be a rehash of other troop games. But the title has its fair share of originality, and manages to capture the Star Wars atmosphere, without becoming too vanilla. A full review is forthcoming, but you can see where I'm going. The patch deals with a few bugs: * Improves NAT negotiation for online games which may help improve multiplayer performance. * Minor fix to server browser screen. * Corrects an issue with connecting via GameSpy Arcade. * Corrects an issue with losing connection to the host after Task-Switching. * Added planet names at Planet Loading Screen.
Lucas Part 3: Knights of the Old Republic II preview
Fans of the first Knights of the Old Republic will be thrilled. The sequel captures quite a bit of the feel of the original, with deep RPG gameplay, team action and an intriguing story. This time around you go up against a Sith of the most disgusting kind. He's held together by sheer (Dark) force of will. His body is made up of ribbons of flesh and most of his extremities are painfully exposed. Suffice it to say, he's a worthy follow-up to the baddies of the past.
Lucas gives Joystiq hands-on with Battlefront and Mercenaries
Once in awhile Lucas crosses the Mississippi and joins us in the big bad city. New York has its share of hotels that have hosted the Lucas press events. I've gone to the last couple and seen some real winners. And some real duds. But the one thing you can say about Lucas is that they keep on trying. For years they had a drought of bad product. The Star Wars franchise was being treated like some second-tier IP, especially around the time of Episode 1. But as they saw their sales (and reputation) plummet they got their act together, and now they're providing consistently good material. This current line-up offers something for fans of Star Wars, sure; but more importantly it offers a lot for fans of fun games. This time around I was shown Knight of the Old Republic II, Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars: Republic Commandos, Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Light Speed, and (perhaps the most intriguing of them all) Mercenaries. Today's round up will give you my impression of Battlefront and Mercenaries.
Star Wars Battlefront review may disappoint some
IGN has posted a review of Star Wars Battlefront. The Battlefield 1942-in-space has had a lot of us Star Wars fans hungry for some head-to-head warring. If the review is to be believed, the title is not going to rise to the top as we'd hoped. The overall polish is below standards, the AI is rocky, and the game is "too easy". Take it for what it is...a review. But it's always more fun to see a gamer excited about an anticipated game like Battlefront The IGN reviewer gives the game a 7.5, but there doesn't seem to be very much in the actual review to back up a score that high. I'll reserve judgment until some more reviews (and maybe a patch or two) comes out.
Star Wars Battlefront interview begins the countdown to release
One week before its release, Star Wars Battlefront is getting a thorough once-over from the game press. Avault presents a fine interview with Greg Borrud, Executive Producer at Pandemic Studios, the game's creator. The interview touches on everything fro AI to tactical balancing to the unannounced map editor (we have our fingers crossed that they offer one, considering all the mini-films it would inspire). Pandemic Studios had a hand in the Battlezone series, a couple of the most underrated games in PC history. Our hopes are high, our expectations are low. We are ready to play.
KOTOR II in December
LucasArts has made the official annoucement. The sequel to last year's award-winning Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic will be making its Xbox debut in December-the PC version won't be out until February. Said Prodcuer Mike Gallo, "We recently completed a very important milestone which confirmed we can confidently do this." KOTOR II adds even more strength to Xbox's impressive Fall/Winter lineup.
KOTOR II trailer unleashed
Fresh off of rumors that KOTOR II will see a 2004 release, LucasArts has revealed the first official trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to arguably the best game of '03. It's no teaser either, weighing in at a hefty 17MB-hope you all have got high-speed. Head over to Gamespy for the download, or for you more literary types, there's a detailed shot-by-shot breakdown. Enjoy.
KOTOR II before year's end?
The latest promotional trailer for LucasArt's KOTOR II (you know, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II) ends with some encouraging words: WINTER 2004. We've been hearing February (2005) for some time now, but if Obsidian is close to a finished product, it would make sense-from a marketing standpoint-to get the game out this year, as to avoid competition with BioWare's Jade Empire (also due out in February). However, the game's website is still reading, "Availability: Winter", which could mean either date. Hopefully, we'll get an official announcement in the coming weeks. We'll certainly keep you posted.
Lucas is keeping things fresh
Lucas' PR people are working overtime these days. Hot on the heels of their announcement of a new GBA game (Star Wars: Apprentice of the Force), they've now held a press conference just to make sure we don't forget them. They presented three of their upcoming titles. Star Wars: Republic Commando, KOTR 2 and, of course, Star Wars: Battlefront, all get revised looks from the nasty press corps. The Gamespot page that we link to here includes updated impressions of the games, as well as new clips to peruse. Many, many clips. Some would say too many.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: the Sith Lords gets undressed for E3
We missed this good read, for which we apologize. The official diary of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: the Sith Lords has been posted on Lucas' site. It gives us some insight into the days leading up to E3, revealing that the demo barely got done in time. The diary never gets very technical, but it manages to give us a great peek into the hard work that goes into making, and marketing a game. E3 puts a lot of pressure on developers every year, and this diary gives us a taste of it. We'll just sit back and play the games, thank you very much. Let someone else make them.
