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East India Company launch trailer

East India Company is an upcoming real-time-strategy game brought to you by Paradox Interactive, the same folks who made King’s Bounty: The Legend and Mount & Blade. The game takes you through a history lesson, as you conquer the East Indies as the role of Governor Director.

The game is developed by Nitro Games and will be hitting North American stores tomorrow, followed by an August 14th release in Europe for the PC.

Halo Wars leaderboards wiped due to Xbox Live issue

Robot Entertainment has recently updated the Halo Wars website notifying us that the majority of data stored on the game’s online leaderboards have been lost.

Below is an excerpt from their posting:

An Xbox LIVE technical issue wiped all Halo Wars Xbox LIVE Leaderboards earlier today. This includes all singleplayer, multiplayer and Trueskill™ leaderboards, as well as all matchmaking data. At this time it’s unknown if the data can be restored, resulting in the Halo Wars Leaderboards being reset to original Launch Day status. The Xbox LIVE team is investigating the cause, and they will provide an update to the situation as soon as possible.

So you mean to tell me that they didn’t have backups of this data? What if this had happened with Halo 3?

Dawn of War 2 ‘There is Only War’ patch tomorrow

The new Dawn of War II patch ‘There is Only War’, which has been in beta testing recently, now has a definite release date. Relic Entertainment posted on the official community site that the patch will be available starting tomorrow.

The developers also released a very extensive changelog, listing all of the improvements the patch has to offer. This changelog details numerous bug fixes and balance changes. These improvements differ from what you’ve seen in the beta, so it’s well worth a look.

Make the jump for the full changelog.

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Fat Princess out this Thursday

After an unfortunate delay, we finally have the news that Fat Princess will be hitting the PlayStation Network this Thursday, according to the official PlayStation Blog. This is a simultaneous worldwide release, so North American, European, and Asian markets will all get the game at the same time. The Japanese version, however, is still being worked out.

A nice little interview with developers Chris Millar and Craig Leigh from Titan Studios can be viewed after the jump.

Fat Princess will retail for $14.99.

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EA releases Command & Conquer 4 debut trailer

The wait between Command & Conquer: Generals and its successor, Command & Conquer 3, was about 5 years. EA seems to be avoiding a repeat as they have just released the debut trailer for Command & Conquer 4.

RTS fans, don’t expect any actual gameplay footage as the trailer features exclusivly what looks to be just cinematics. However, if you’re following the plot of the franchise you’ll be intrigued to hear that Nod head-honcho Kane makes an appearance in said trailer.

EA has no set release date for Command & Conquer 4 but they hope to have it hit the market sometime in 2010. Will the game have what it takes to oust Blizzard’s forthcoming Starcraft II? We’ll have to wait and find out.

Stormrise review — A complicated mess

The RTS games have been pretty much the same over the years, the same controls, same interface types etc. But it’s only been the same because it works, and the small changes that have refined RTS games over the years have made things better not worse. Just look at Supreme Commander for instance, and the map features it introduced when it was released back in 2007.

However, one cannot say the same about Stomrise, an RTS in a post-apocalyptic setting. The developers, Creative Assembly — makers of the successful Total War franchise — have tried to create something new, most noticeably the camera system and controls. A new control scheme called “Whip Select” was designed for the consoles, however, Creative Assembly tried to carry the controls over to the PC version of the game (which we are reviewing). Bad idea. Very bad idea.

You see, PC is the natural home for RTS games. Sure, some have tried to make console RTS games for ages, but they’ve never matched the PC counterparts — the controls were always slow and never really worked as well as a mouse and keyboard (mostly mouse). If someone would take the sluggish console controls and use them on the PC, some would say it was insanity. Others would simply cry “blasphemy!”. This is exactly what Stormrise brings to the PC, sluggish controls that were meant for the consoles. And a lot of other bad things.

Wait, let’s back up a bit. Here’s the story: A series of firestorms wage over the world and destroys most of it. Some people hid underground and went into a cryogenic hibernation, thinking they’ll just pop back in when things cool down. While others stayed above surface and were exposed to the storms, and eventually mutated and became powerful beings called “Sal”. Yes, “Sal”. This of course sets up the two main factions of the game, which duel it out.

Now back to how much Stormrise sucks: first, it’s not really an RTS, as you don’t have a bird’s eye view, you don’t build a base, and you don’t control a lot of units. You control a group of soldiers through a series of battles, but your view is limited to being a camera just above the units, which in and of itself, is not really RTS. One could even argue that the game would have worked better as a third person shooter with some decent squad features. As for the controls, which I mentioned earlier, well, not only were they designed for a console game, but they also happen to suck on the console game. So when you port something like that over to the PC, it’s so bad that it’s almost funny. For the RTS fanatic though, it’s outright insulting. On top of that, you have a horrible camera system that is worsened by the rather tight level design, where your units don’t have much room to move, especially the bigger ones. This usually forces the camera to get stuck behind a wall or place where you can’t see anything.

I won’t go into detailed gameplay mechanics here, because, honestly, it’s pointless. With controls that are so bad, and with a constant frame rate stuttering, even on a high end PC — the game only runs on Vista and DirectX 10 graphics cards, by the way — and the overall buggy release, it doesn’t really matter what else the game has to offer, it’s still ruined. Oh, and it doesn’t have much to offer, in case you’re wondering.

The Good:
Decent voice acting

The Bad:
Horrible controls
Bad camera
Missing a lot of RTS elements
Buggy
Frame rate issues
Boring story
Downright unplayable at times
Vista/DX10 only

Overall score: 1/10

‘There is Only War’ beta now offline, more fixes and balance changes in launch

The “There is Only War” beta period for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II officially ended yesterday night. Although the beta was scheduled to end on the 14th, Relic Entertainment decided to extend the beta to keep it playable for a bit longer, even though no more feedback would be accepted.

The developers mention that the beta was a success, receiving an “overwhelming amount of community feedback and support.” That being said, the retail launch of the patch will be rolling out soon, except this time with even more bug fixes and balance changes unseen in the beta.

“There is Only War” includes eight unreleased multiplayer maps, balance changes, bug fixes, and a map editor.

Read (Dawn of War 2 Community Site)

50% off all Paradox Interactive games this week

For this week only, Steam will be offering a 50% off deal on every single Paradox Interactive game in their library. The Swedish video game developer and publisher is known for its historical real-time-strategy games, such as the upcoming East India Company.

Among some of the titles currently on sale include King’s Bounty: The Legend, Mount & Blade, and the first two Heart of Iron games. The sale ends on July 26th so if you’re in the mood for a fun history lesson, be sure to check out these gems.

Read (Steam)

Plants vs. Zombies review — casual at its best

PopCap, developers and publishers of some of the most fun and addictive games today — especially when we’re talking about casual games — have released something that is destined as an instant cult classic. This time, they’ve given a new spin on the “Tower Defense” concept, where Zombies are on their way to invade your home, and all you have is a piece of lawn and some plants to defend your house. And what plants they are!

The gameplay is simple: place different types of plants — each with their strength and weaknesses — on the lawn (and back lawn, mind you) and try to stop the invading zombies. However, there are different zombies as well, for instance, some can pole vault over your defenses, while others can dig underground as well. Some can even raise dead zombies from the ground, so it’s always a challenge, and forces the player to mix it up. At the start of each game, you pick your seeds for the plants you want — but you have to chose wisely, as there are only a limited amount of slots, meaning a limited amount of plants you can use on a given level. As you progress, new plants are made available, each with their own special offensive and defensive capabilities, and there are 48 different plants in all.

Despite it being a cheap casual game, there are 50 levels in the game, and as you complete the levels, you get new features unlocked. As far as the enemies go, there are 26 types of zombies, which will give you plenty of challenge. On top of this, there are different modes as well, all in all, there’s more playing time to be had here than in most AAA titles. Granted, the few first levels in the game, actually, quite a few levels in the beginning are fairly easy, and some players might misunderstand the game as being too casual at this point. But keep playing, the challenging levels lie ahead, and they’re even more fun than the easy ones.

Technically, the game feels and looks like an advanced Flash game, but there’s nothing wrong with that, especially since Plants vs. Zombies is only priced at $10. The visuals are cute and suit the nature of the game, the sound effects are fun and the music is very moody and suitable for the game. However, as cute as the graphics are, they are not advanced by any means. For instance, you cannot get a higher resolution beyond 800×600, which is kind of a shame, really. But other than that, the game is smooth and bug free.

All in all, Plants Vs. Zombies is PopCap at its best. If you thought Peggle was addictive, this is a whole new level, and it’s gonna keep you playing for a long time. Definitely recommended to casual and hardcore gamers (who could probably use a little break from all the serious fragging — I sure could).

The Good:
Great fun
Lots of replay value
Cheap ($10)
Easy to get into

The Bad:
First half isn’t challenging
Only 800×600 resolution

Overall score: 9/10

Stalin vs. Martians review — even die hard commies should avoid

Stalin vs Martians, is one of the most innovative game titles to date. No, not the game, just the title, yes, the title of the game, “Stalin vs Martians”. It stands out quite nicely among the PR created stuff like “Prototype”, “InFamous” and “Velvet Assassin”. As for the game, Stalin Vs Martians, it’s useless and utterly ridiculous.

In Stalin Vs. Martians, henceforth to be known as SvM, you take control over the Red Army (back when there still was a Red Army, in 1942), and you fight an invading force of Martians. That’s right, Hitler and the Germans are on hold, Stalingrad is second priority, as you, Stalin himself, commands units against the invading green-skinned, baddies from Mars. Actually, there is no story in the game. How the Martians got there, why they’re fighting the Reds instead of the Nazis, all of that is absent from the game, you’re simply ordered by the game to fight Martians. Why? Who knows. And with a game like this, who cares, really?

The game is a standard real time strategy game, no, actually, it’s not, it lacks some of the most basic RTS features. This is done in order to “preserve simplicity”, according to the developer. Or a press release. Either way, the RTS element sucks, because, well, the units don’t care what you order them to do. Command them to attack, and they just stand around there. If it was the real Red Army, they would have been executed — all of my units would have been executed — because they failed to follow my orders. You play as Stalin, after all. But the units could care less. Even when the basic stuff works, the gameplay is utterly boring and repetitive.

But once, just for once, for a brief moment lasting no longer than five minutes, something shocking happened: I actually had fun playing the game. Then the game started lagging. Then the frame rate showed periodic, random drops that would make it completely unplayable. And then there’s the bugs.

How a game this buggy got to be released as beyond me. It feels like an alpha build, something that should be tested internally for months, then released as a beta, then tested for several more months, then, hopefully, released. But all of that is an understatement of how buggy the game is.

The developer clearly had a thing in mind with a title like that: don’t take us or our game too seriously, gives us a break. No, I won’t. When the most basic features of your game are lacking, when it’s downright unplayable at times, and when it’s filled with so many bugs that would make any programmer instantly fired, you don’t get a break, no matter how unserious your game is.

Even if you are a fanatic Communist and Stalin fan, I still wouldn’t recommend this game. If you’re insane however, and need to prove your insanity to others, just tell them you’re playing Stalin vs. Martians. In fact, tell them it’s the best game ever.

The Good:
The title

The Bad:
Dated graphics
Repetitive
Buggy
Laggy

C&C 4 needs internet connection to work

Here’s something that is sure to piss a few people off — Community Leader APOC has recently said that you will need to have a constant internet connection to play Command & Conquer 4:

“As of right now, you need to be online all the time to play C&C 4. This is primarily due to our “player progression” feature so everything can be tracked. C&C 4 is not an MMO in the sense of World of Warcraft, but conceptually it has similar principles for being online all the time. While some may be taken aback by this, we’ve been testing this feature internally with all of our world-wide markets.”

He then goes on to point out that this won’t be a big deal as it won’t require high-speed connections and won’t cause any lag in single-player gameplay. Hell, you can even use one an oldschool 56k connection because who needs phone calls, anyways?

ThatVideoGameBlog points out that this seems eerily like a ploy to hide the fact that EA will use a constant internet connection as a way to prevent piracy rather than using DRM.

Dawn of War 2 “There is Only War” live until Sunday

The beta for the Dawn of War 2 update patch “There is Only War” will be coming to an end tomorrow. After this date, Relic will no longer be able to “react to and implement feedback” about the game.

However, it turns out that the beta will still be available to download and play until next Sunday. Maybe Relic decided this would be the best route to compensate for the beta’s initial delay.

“There is Only War” includes eight unreleased multiplayer maps, balance changes, bug fixes, and a map editor. The beta patch is available on Steam if you haven’t already tried it out. It requires the standalone Dawn of War 2 to play.

Read (Dawn of War 2 Community Site)

Halo Wars Title Update 3 patch notes

The third Title Update for Halo Wars is due to be released in the next few weeks, and Bungie has released patch notes for the update. Some of the main issues fixed include balance changes and general bug fixes. The full list follows:

Balance Changes:

• UNSC Warthogs Gauss cannon damage against tanks and other heavily armored vehicles reduced by 25%
• UNSC Warthogs build time increased by 3 seconds to 25 seconds
• Anders research time bonus decreased to 25% from 50%. Her Research cost bonus remains unchanged at 50%
• Covenant and UNSC turrets have 5% increased health and 5% increased damage
• UNSC Elephants have a 20% more health
• Grenade damage type now has 25% additonal damage against Warthogs and other medium armor ground vehicles.
• Recycle basic cost return fixed to be 50% for constructed buildings.
• Locked down bases when unlocked will now release units inside very quickly, which means that when under attack a player can now build a fighting force while locked down and then release them much more quickly than before
• UNSC Leader powers disabled at the start of Reinforcement Matches
• Players no longer receive points for team killing.
• Self Destructing/Recycling buildings now gives points to opponents

Bug Fixes:

• Players should now find it much easier to play System Link games
• Fixed Covenant Shield Generator Exploit
• Invisible Units should now have invisible health bars
• Players will no longer be able to scout opposing bases by using the area-select tool

Read (Official Halo Wars Community Site)

Command and Conquer officially confirmed, new screenshot

Yesterday, Electronic Arts accidentally revealed the new Command and Conquer game, but today it has been made official, along with a beautiful gameplay screen. Coming out next year, Command and Conquer 4 will be bringing the Tiberium saga to a conclusive end.

The game will be taking place after the events of the third game and will finally answer all of the questions for the series, including the fate of Earth, Nod, Tiberium, GDI, and even Kane’s motivations.

The campaign modes will be playable in both single player and cooperative modes. In addition to the epic storyline, the game will also feature a new 5v5 objective-based multiplayer mode. If you’re looking for a trailer, it will be unveiled on July 24th. We will have more information as details are revealed.

Read (Press Release)

EA accidentally announces Command & Conquer 4

EA’s European PR department accidentally Twittered the following message (with a bit of CAPS fever): “EA LOS ANGELES ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF COMMAND & CONQUER 4″. It also linked to an official press released regarding the game, which has since been taken down. Obviously, we’re not surprised, Command & Conquer is one of the great RTS franchises, albeit the last few games (including the Red Alert ones), haven’t lived up to its predecessors.