CaptainD's PC Gaming Blog

First Thoughts - New Star Soccer 2010

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:13:00 +0000

After a quick playtest, New Star Soccer 2010 definitely seems to have a smoother game engine than NSS4 - the matches look more like the real thing, with far fewer predictable patterns observable in the way things happen. So far all looks good, though it's still a game that will really challenge you before you get much success (though I did actually manage to score on my debut this time!)

Go Solihull Moors!

Related links:

Press Release - New Star Soccer 2010 Out Now!

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Can't have too many LEGO games, I always say...

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:19:00 +0000

Definitely one to look forward to!

Haven't played the first LEGO Indiana Jones yet? See my review!

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Press Release - New Star Soccer 2010 Out Now!

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Oxford, UK – November 6, 2009 – New Star Soccer 2010 is available now for PC and Mac from www.newstarsoccer.com. The award winning series has been improved in every department and features better gameplay, a faster database, online leaderboards, twitter integration and much more. Existing NSS4 customers can update for free whilst new players can save 50% by signing up to the New Star Newsletter at www.newstarsoccer.com.

About New Star Soccer 2010
NSS2010 is a football game where you must train hard, play well and live the life of an up and coming sports star. The road to success is never easy but you can achieve fame and fortune if you have what it takes! With over 90 leagues, 3,000 clubs and 30,000 players from around the globe NSS2010 puts you right in the heart of a real football world.

Trial versions will be available for PC and Mac from www.newstarsoccer.com. Please contact Simon Read for a review license.

About New Star Games Ltd.
Based in Oxford, UK, New Star Games are a small independent company with a passion for sport. Please visit www.newstargames.com for more information.

Related links:

New Star Soccer 4 Review

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Wait a minute...

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:40:00 +0000

... haven't we seen this sort of advertising before for an online game? The name "Kingory" sort of rings a bell too... and the wording of the advert...

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Free game from TellTale Games

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:37:00 +0000

To celebrate Wallace & Gromit's 20th year anniversary, TellTale Games are giving away one of the episodes from season one of Wallace & Gromit: Grand Adventures. The episode is Muzzled, which I reviewed here. (If you don't want to read the full review, basically I said it was fun but too short.)

If you want to download the game visit this page, complete a couple of questions and download away.

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Neverwinter Nights - Hordes of the Underdark

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:44:00 +0000

It's taken me a long time to get into this particular expansion pack for NeverWinter Nights, but finally I'm hooked. For the first few hours I have to admit I've trawled through it mainly to see if anything more interesting happens - due to the nature of the storyline it seems to be merely a dungeon crawl at first. If you persevere though, the story gets more interesting and you are rewarded with some interesting characters and good puzzles to be solved along the way - along with plenty of creatures to battle of course. Basically the plot is that an underground dungeon of creatures captured by a mad wizard is being used as the invasion route by even more deadly foes further beneath the surface of the city - the Drow, dark elves ruled by a power-mad queen. All good stuff...

I think I still prefer Neverwinter Nights - Shadows of Undrentide, but this one at least is worth playing. It's quite tough at first but definitely a good one for levelling up your character - don't forget to save often though, there are some tough enemies out there and sometimes they appear without much warning!

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Mini-Game Trailer for an upcoming AGS Game

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:07:00 +0000

Yup... it's Guitar Hero written in AGS!

The game's called ShattenReyze and it's most definitely one to look out for! Check out the game's Production Thread.

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Completed - Tales of Monkey Island Episode 4

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:25:00 +0000

The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood was another good episode, perhaps not quite as funny as it might have been, but plenty of humour nonetheless and loads of swashbuckling action for scurvy seadogs. There were a lot of plot twists, some of which caught me completely by surprise. The puzzles seemed relatively easy for the most part, like Episode 3 I think it only took me about three and a half hours to complete, but they were a very enjoyable three and a half hours!

Definitely looking forward to the season finale - Episode 5: Rise of the Pirate God!

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Star Trek Newton: Episode 1 released

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:35:00 +0000

I'd been keeping my eyes open for the release of this game, a Star Trek inspired AGS game. Will post comments / review soon, but if you're aching to set those phasers to stun and check out your Tricorder, here's the download link.

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Mechanarium

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:36:00 +0000

Happened across this recent release today... a point and click adventure / puzzle game with an innovative interface, a novel approach and breathtaking graphics.

Play the demo online

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Tales of Monkey Island Episode 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:06:00 +0000

TellTale Games have announced that the season finale [correction - 4th of 5 episodes - sorry got it confused with the length of Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures season one!] of Tales of Monkey Island will be released on 30th October. Here are some screen shots to whet your appetite, and here's the official short synopsis:

The fourth chapter finds Guybrush double-crossed by the pirate hunter Morgan LeFlay and returned to Flotsam Island against his will. Facing an angry mob of poxed pirates with a long list of grievances, Guybrush must defend himself in court against a smooth-talking prosecutor and absolve himself of the false accusations in order to continue his quest to rid the Caribbean of the insidious pox of LeChuck!

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Press Release - New Star Soccer 2010

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:33:00 +0000

Yes, you heard it here first! New Star Soccer 2010 will be released on November 6th 2009 for Windows. Existing NSS4 customers can *UPDATE FOR FREE* whilst new players can get a 50% discount! Keep reading to find out the exciting new features...
________________________________________
Improved Gameplay
Player intelligence is vastly improved and there are enhancements in all areas of the game. Passing, heading, tackling, shooting... Everything feels much tighter and more fun to play.

________________________________________
New Match Camera
The new match camera gives you a much better view of the action and there is even a new 'isometric' angle that you can choose. Do you remember the original FIFA game?
________________________________________
Faster Database
Improvements to the database means much quicker processing times allowing you to get on with your gaming rather than waiting for the results to be calculated! The database has also been updated for the 2009-10 football season.
________________________________________
Tweaks and Twitter
An enormous amount of work has gone into improving all areas of the game. It has a new look interface, the manager AI has been tweaked, the loans and transfers system has been improved - you can even update twitter when your player gets a new achievement! It's quite simply the best New Star Soccer game ever!
________________________________________
Update and voucher details...
If you have already purchased New Star Soccer 4 then you can update to 2010 for free on Friday November 6th. New customers can use the coupon code IWANTNSS2010 and save 50% when purchasing the game. (The coupon is valid from today so you can purchase NSS4 now then update to NSS2010 next week!)

New Star Games Website

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Runes of Magic

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:18:00 +0000

I've seen this advertised quite a bit recently and so I thought I'd give it a try - however the client you have to download to play the game is detected by AVG as malware. I'm not going to allow the program to install unless I've been able to verify that it's actually okay (AVG has been known to be slightly over-cautious before - Spellforce, for instance). If anyone has any solid information on this, please leave a comment.

I'm also planning to try out Tales of Pirates, Dogs of the Sea, Last Chaos and 4Story sometime... any views on those ones?

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Game Reviews coming up soon...

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:43:00 +0000

Just taking a quick look through my Games To Review shelf (yes I have one of those... sort of), I have the following waiting to be played, commented on and reviewed:

Final Fantasy VII
Stronghold 2 Deluxe
American Conquest
MotoGP 07
Worms Forst: Under Seige
Armed and Dangerous
Peace Maker
X2: The Threat
Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor
Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Sid Meier's Alpha Centuri Complete

There are one or two others, but I'll probably get to those later. I've already mentioned a couple on this blog in the past, but never quite got round to fully playtesting them. If any particular title piques your interest, just leave a comment here and I'll try to bump that game up to the top of the list.

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Neverwinter Nights - Shadows of Undrentide

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Just over halfway through (I think) my first expansion pack for NeverWinter Nights - "Shadows of Undrentide". It's a good addition to the original NWN game, with a decent story and some new game features, music etc. I've just finished the library section where you have to relive and rewrite some of the books to get what you need - I know that sounds a little odd but basically it's one of the most amazing sequences I can remember playing in any game. Great stuff.

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Voucher Alerts

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:50:00 +0000

CaptainD’s PC Gaming Blog pleased to announce as an official partner Voucher Alerts, the UK's leading voucher codes website.

If you regularly buy PC and video games online, Voucher Alerts can help save you money with discounts for all the leading UK online stores. Included in the 2500+ shops listed on Voucher Alerts, you can find great voucher codes for all the top video game retailers including Play.com, GAME, HMV, The Hut, Zavvi, Gameseek, Gamestation and more.

You can find a full list of video games discounts for all your favourite stores here.

Signup for exclusive Voucher Alerts and you will be instantly emailed when discount vouchers are available for your favourite online stores. Simply pick what stores you want to be notified for and you will receive custom emails with the latest voucher codes. As many vouchers are only short term, this is the perfect way to make sure you never miss a deal!

Voucher Alerts is a free voucher code service and there is no fee to pay to receive the vouchers. You can also find exclusive prices on the latest games and exclusive special offers from all your favourite stores.

Even more great video games offers can be found on the discount codes blog.

Weekly updates on the best voucher deals for PC gaming are also on their way... watch this space.

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Tales of Monkey Island 4 - Guess Who's Making An Appearance?

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:30:00 +0000

It's just been announced that none other than Stan, the wildly gesticulating salesman and a much-loved character from the previous Monkey Island games, will appear in episode 4 of Tales of Monkey Island. Here's a sneak peek at his character graphic...

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Press Release - Major Milestone, AI War 2.0 Released

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:38:00 +0000

Arcen Games is very pleased to announce the release of AI War: Fleet Command version 2.0, which marks the culmination of our long-running post-release overhaul. To see just how epic this journey has been, take a look at this: AI War 2.0 vs. 1.0, A Retrospective. The cumulative post-release notes, included near the end, are literally novella-length (46,573 words). That's how much has changed in the since our initial release

The updates to the game since the last official version (1.301) include:

- New local high scoreboards for everyone, and online high scoreboards through Steam.
- 129 Achievements, which can be logged locally and/or through Steam.
- Player ships can now be assigned preferred target types, which greatly increases tactical control.
- A number of co-op-related interface improvements: see allied resources, more informative gifting lists, etc.
- Several new visual effects: smoke trails and sparking for damaged ships, etc.
- Much improved (or entirely replaced) graphics for over 50 different ships.
- Ships now accelerate and decelerate when moving, making them much more graceful.
- New Collision Priorities make placement of larger/fixed ships in a group of smaller mobile ships much easier.
- Players can now select multiple AI Modifiers at once in the lobby. Turrets have been rebalanced and made more distinct and interesting.
- Custom planet name lists can now be used for those who don't like the random names.
- Networking improvmeents.
- Many other bugfixes and balance tweaks.

AI War Comes To Steam and Direct2Drive!
Direct2Drive and Steam join Impulse and GamersGate in offering AI War-- be sure to check them out! The Steam version includes online leaderboards and Steam achievements (other versions are all local-only for those features). If you've previously purchased your copy of AI War from another platform and would like to activate it on Steam to get those features, you will be able to do so in the near future. In celebration of the release of 2.0, AI War is also going to be 25% off at Steam through Oct. 27th -- and look for similar sales at other partners very soon.

What Comes Next For Arcen?
AI War 2.0 has been a five months in the making, and now, at last, we're ready to move on to new SKUs. However, Arcen will continue putting out monthly free DLC for AI War for as long as there is fan interest, or 2-5 years at the least. In each month's free DLC, players can expect at least one new unit, AI behavior, or other similar feature -- as well as a variety of bugfixes, balance tweaks, and other minor player-suggested tweaks. These DLC releases are going to be much smaller in scale than our recent gargantuan releases, but still packed with value far and away beyond what we're aware of any other RTS game offering.

In addition to the free DLC, we've already started work on the first expansion to AI War, The Zenith Remnant. This expansion will be a paid extension to the game, as with any other RTS expansion, and it will be focused on adding huge numbers of new ships, new ship classes, new AI types, new galaxy map styles, and a new third party faction that players can interact with, the Zenith Aliens. We're going to be utilizing an open development process that mirrors that of our 1.0 to 2.0 transformation, so that players who preorder the expansion (starting in just a few weeks) can play the alpha and beta versions, offer feedback, and help to shape the expansion as it develops over the next couple of months. It's an unusual approach for a game developer, to be sure, but it has worked so well for us so far that we felt it would be foolish to cut our customers out of the expansion.

Beyond this first expansion to AI War, we have a casual puzzle game called Feedback that is just past the prototype stage (and already addictive), along with two other titles planned for 2010 (assuming no schedule slippage). As was the case with AI War 2.0, we remain committed to quality above speed, though we are quite fast as a company, in part due to our open development process, and in part due to our iterative design methods. Lots of exciting things on the horizon!

First Thoughts - AI War

Interview with Chris Park of Arcen Games

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Mastertronic Downloads Service

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:44:00 +0000

Budget game maestros Mastertronic have recently enlarged their download-only list of games, which offer a good range of quality games at attractive prices. Click here to see their full range.

Not sure if I'll get the game or not, but the description for F16 Aggressor made me smile:

F-16 sets a new standard in flight simulation. The reproduction of the combat pilot experience is complete and phenomenal, accurate to the last detail...

It has already been strenuously tested by the US Air Force and Navy, neither of whom could suggest any changes or additions. In fact, both insisted that one or two military features be taken out on the grounds of national security.

Basically, if F-16 were any more accurate, we'd have to shoot you.

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Press Release - Two Worlds II - New Screenshots

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:38:00 +0000

Found this in my in-box today about an interesting-looking RPG:

Two Worlds II: New Screens

+++ Four new screenshots from Antaloor showcase the swamp +++

Las Vegas, October 19th 2009 – It’s time again to return to the world of Antaloor. Fulfill your carnal curiosity by checking out four brand new screens directly from the RPG masterpiece, “Two Worlds II.” The game’s developers, Reality Pump, have created a revolutionary new engine called GRACE, and these screen shots give testimony to the engine’s capabilities.

A trip to the swamps will demonstrate the breathtaking experience that Two Worlds II has to offer. The result of Reality Pump’s extensive technical development, the game’s environment has been painstakingly created to fully immerse the player into the Antaloorian universe. For example, the marshy ground sucks at the character’s feet hindering his movement more so then if he was on dry land. Additionally, dynamic sounds have been constructed to further demonstrate the game’s attention to detail. When the hero steps into the marshy ground, he will hear a terrifyingly disgusting squishing noise that will make the player cringe with delight.

Luckily, there are many wooden paths and stakes placed throughout the swamp, which will allow the player to traverse the treacherous terrain with more ease. However, whether you can use the comfortable paths and bridges without paying a toll depends on the disposition of the local residents – and you better believe that “Have a good day!” does not pass their lips on a regular basis. But let’s face it…would you be bubblin’ over with joy if you had to wake up every day to drizzling rain and tendril of swamp mist?

Looks pretty good... check out the official Two Worlds II Website, too.

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Play.com Deal of the Day - Football Manager 2010

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Football Manager 2010 (with Play.com Exclusive Personalised Sleeve)

£29.99 RRP: £39.99 You save: £10.00 Free Delivery

Pre-order: Due for release on 30/10/2009

* Pre-Order Football Manager 2010 from Play.com and receive a unique code to personalise a professionally printed Football Manager 2010 sleeve! Codes and instructions will be sent during the week of release. On receiving your instructions follow the link to the Football Manager 2010 website, input your code and personalise your sleeve... then sit back and wait for your design to be professionally printed and delivered to your door!

* Pre-Order Offer personalisation options:
* Your name printed on the sleeve
* Change the colours of the manager's tie and footballer's kit, including their shirts, shorts and socks
* Choose from red, black, yellow, claret, dark blue, green, light blue or white
* Choose either plain or striped for the style of the footballer's kits
* Game features:
* The introduction of a Tactics Creator makes it easier to instruct the team to play the way the manager wants, alongside the introduction of touchline 'shouts' and quick tactic changes for instantly altering your team's playing style during the match.
* The new Match Analysis tool lets players see where shots, passes, crosses, headers, tackles, fouls and interceptions have been made on the field for all players on the pitch. Managers can view this analysis both live in-game and post match, allowing them to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of both their team and their opponent's.
* The User Interface has undergone a complete navigational overhaul. The side bar navigation of previous years has been replaced by an intuitive tab system at the top of the screen, making Football Manager's famed depth even easier to navigate.
* The brand new Data Editor will allow the addition of new divisions to existing leagues and of entirely new leagues as well as making it easier than ever to keep the game up to date, and do so for free.

Play.com Review

Sports Interactive has spent the last year working closely with consumers and the Football Manager community to implement key improvements to this year's game.

Football Manager 2010 features new tools and changes across the board including some big additions to improve ease of use, navigation and feedback from the game with the introduction of a brand new match tactics system, the debut of a Match Analysis tool, a completely new look and new User Interface among other features.

Following the debut of a 3D Match View in Football Manager 2009, this year's release sees a revamp with improved AI, over 100 new animations for the 3D pitch view, new stadiums, crowds, realistic pitch degradation and better lighting, creating an even more realistic match experience.

Interested? Click Here

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Completed - NeverWinter Nights

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:07:00 +0000

Well, that was some journey - absolutely massive, absorbing game world, a few slightly annoying glitches but overall, a pretty amazing game. Full review soon.

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Dark Orbit - MMORTS set in outer space

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:21:00 +0000

I've seen this game advertised quite a few times so decided that I should eventually have a look at it. Basically it's a real-time strategy space trading / combat game. It seems okay though I can't honestly see myself getting hooked on it - the interface seems very simple but actually takes a little getting used to - the graphics are fine, it sounds good and there is plenty to do - quests, trading, resource collection, jackpot battles, travel the universe - that sort of thing. Crucially for newbies like me it starts off in a safe zone, where only the most mind-numbingly stupid might actually get their ship seriously damaged.

It seems a nice enough game though I probably won't play it much myself. There's a load of extra equipment to buy when you've actually built up enough to pay for it, and the game tracks your progress in several ways - level, XP, honour, etc. There are clans and whatnot as well for fans of that sort of thing. At the beginning you choose to join one of three basic alliances in the game - which seems to basically set how much social interaction you're expecting / want from Dark Orbit - a good idea by the game designers, that.

As you can see from the screenshot, the level of grammar in the chat is about what you'd expect - unfortunately!

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog

Weird bug in Neverwinter Nights

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:19:00 +0000

Well, this is odd... my henchman (henchwoman in fact, and Elvish to boot) seems to be suffering from a strange malady... She;ll stand up if I talk to her, but as soon as the conversation finishes she immediately crumples into a heap on the floor!

Not sure quite how this has happened... if anyone reading this has ever had a similar problem (and perhaps found the solution!), please leave a comment here.

CaptainD - PC Gaming Blog