Features

Boot Disk: Earth 2150

Posted Feb 9th 2010 9:00PM by James Murff
Filed under: Features, RTS, Strategy

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

The strategy genre has always been a rather convoluted one, especially has time has gone on. Even the sub-genres are complex, with real-time strategy having so many offshots (squad real-time strategy, real-time tactics, business simulations etc) that each is considered their own genre as well. Then there are games like Earth 2150. These games epitomize everything we know about the real-time strategy genre, such as base building and resource management, but then throw a curveball by introducing unit design, multiple planes of warfare, and large-scale campaigns. There's a demo to try out, and you really should give it a play, because it's one of the better RTS games despite its age.

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Freeware Friday: Desktop Dungeons

Posted Feb 5th 2010 9:00PM by James Murff
Filed under: Features, Indie, RPG

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

Much like last week's game, Desktop Dungeons is a streamlined rogue-like. It strays a little further into rogue-like territory with level gaining and such, but like Tiny Crawl, it's a very simple game that just about anyone can understand and get into. However, underneath the layer of simple controls and basics, Desktop Dungeons has a complexity and depth that make it surprisingly engaging and addictive. In fact, we could almost compare it to the title Strange Adventures in Infinite Space. Short, simple to understand, and difficult to master are all characteristics of both games, and this makes Desktop Dungeons a great game if you want to relax for a few minutes over a coffee break with some monster slaughtering. Beware, though, as you might lose track of time and get reprimanded for spending too much time dungeon crawling!

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Review: Dragon Age: Origins Return to Ostagar DLC

Posted Feb 5th 2010 4:00PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Expansions, Features, RPG, Opinion, Dragon Age: Origins

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The newest downloadable content expansion for Dragon Age: Origins takes players back to the scene of the crime, so to speak. Return to Ostagar starts with a clue that leads back to the battlefield where King Cailan and Duncan were betrayed and fell to the Darkspawn horde, kicking off the main Dragon Age storyline. Searching through the Darkspawn filled area reveals secrets Cailan had tucked away while providing a chance to retrieve special items thought lost, like the king's armor and the weapons Duncan had on him. Beyond that, it extends the story of that key event and provides closure, especially if players revisit the area accompanied by Alistair and Wynne, who both took part in the Battle of Ostagar, and offer personal thoughts and commentary while exploring.

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Gallery: Dragon Age Origins: Return to Ostagar

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All You Need To Know: Bad Company 2

Posted Feb 4th 2010 9:00PM by James Murff
Filed under: Features, FPS, Multiplayer

Games that are coming out soon have a lot of unknowns that the average person might not know. Who is this character inspired by? Is all the talk of volumetric fog or cel-shaded graphics really worthwhile? Do the game mechanics really seem solid, or are they lackluster? In All You Need To Know we provide information to help you fully appreciate what these upcoming games have to offer.

Feed your head after the jump.

Check out our collection of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 related downloads here on Big Download!

Gallery: Battlefield Bad Company 2 Screenshots

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Interview: Stardock's head talks about Sins of a Solar Empire: Diplomacy

Posted Feb 4th 2010 6:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Features, Interviews, Strategy

Die hard fans Ironclad Games' 2008 sleeper PC game hit Sins of a Solar Empire have already gotten a small mini-expansion to the space strategy game Entrenchment. Next week those fans will get a second mini-expansion in Diplomacy while folks who have never played the original game can get it and the two mini-expansions together in the new retail collection Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity.

Stardock is handling the publishing duties for the mini-expansion and new collection and Big Download got Stardock's CEO Brad Wardell to chat briefly about what fans can expect from Diplomacy. We also tried to get him to talk about future Sins of a Solar Empire plans but as you will read later, he's not yet talking about it.

Gallery: Sins Of A Solar Empire: Diplomacy

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Boot Disk: Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Posted Feb 2nd 2010 6:00PM by James Murff
Filed under: Features, FPS, Multiplayer

C:\BootDisk\RTCW

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

Wolfenstein 3D is a fun arcade-like shooter that is considered one of the fathers of the modern first-person shooter. Roaming around a castle with an arsenal of weapons killing nazis and mecha-Hitler can't be bad, after all. That's the kind of ridiculousness you expect in a videogame! In 2001, however, id decided that it was about time to revisit their ancient classic and give it an update. Whether it's remake, re-imagining, sequel, or prequel, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is that remake and it's one of the better shooters of the early 2000s. The graphics still look alright, the level design is inspired, and the multiplayer component ridiculously good, so diving into the world of Nazi butchery after all these years isn't that bad of an idea.

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Feature: Star Trek Online Stories We Want To See

Posted Feb 2nd 2010 5:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Features, MMO, Star Trek Online

Today is the official launch date for Star Trek Online and that means Trekkers all over the nation are now either playing or wanting to play the long awaited MMO from developer Cryptic Studios and publisher Atari. The game is set several decades after the events of Star Trek Nemesis but is still firmly within Trek canon.

That means all of the events of the five Trek TV shows (The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise) and the first 10 Trek movies can be referenced in the game (the new Trek movie takes place in an alternate timeline). With all that history and wealth of stories to reference we got to wondering which Trek characters, aliens and storylines we would like to see return in the game.

If you want more info on Star Trek Online before you decide to buy the game head over to our sister site Massively where they have a launch day round up of articles they have posted about the game.

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Gallery: Star Trek Onlne Stories We Want To See

Gallery: Star Trek Online Screenshots

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Feature: The Top 10 PC Game News Stories For January 2010

Posted Feb 1st 2010 6:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Features, Starcraft II, Star Wars: The Old Republic

It's a new year and the first month of January 2010 was a busy one for PC gaming news. Part of the reason was the annual Consumer Electronics Show where there were a few interesting announcements that concerned PC gaming. However there were also plenty of other news items in the past 31 days that will affect us in the coming year.

In fact our normal top 10 list was so full of things we could report that we managed to stick in a couple of extra items as honorable mentions. If this list is any indication 2010 will be a very busy year for news in our industry.

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Gallery: The Top 10 PC Game News Stories For January 2010

10. Grand Theft Auto IV expansions finally announced for the PC

9. Hellgate London coming back to the US

7. GoG.com to add Activision-owned games to library

6. Star Wars: The Old Republic gets target launch date

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Review: Mass Effect 2

Posted Feb 1st 2010 5:00PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Features, RPG, Opinion, Mass Effect Series

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If you like tons of big sci-fi action, Mass Effect 2 doesn't disappoint. The game starts with a huge surprise, then continues two years after the events of the first game. Players again take the role of Shepard, who must save the galaxy from a force that threatens to wipe out all life in the galaxy starting with the human race. To this end, the player must assemble a new crew aboard a Mark 2 Normandy spacecraft. The Alliance plays a very small role in the sequel, and Shepard can't use the status of Spectre much to his benefit anymore. However, being a renowned hero has its perks, the least of which being a lot of room to bend or break the rules for the sake of the mission. Funding now comes from a mysterious organization called Cerberus, which was hinted at in the previous game, and the task is deceptively simple: Gather together a crew of the best fighters from across the galaxy and prepare for a suicide mission. The amount of preparation depends completely on the player.

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Gallery: Mass Effect 2 Screenshots

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Interview: Gas Powered's Chris Taylor chats about Supreme Commander 2

Posted Jan 31st 2010 5:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Features, Interviews, RTS, Supreme Commander 2

In 2007 Gas Powered Games released Supreme Commander, an epic sci-fi RTS game with huge battles, massive units and big nuclear explosions. In just over a month, Gas Powered returns to that universe for Supreme Commander 2, the sequel that will be published this time by Square Enix. Big Download got a chat to ask some questions to Gas Powered's head Chris Taylor to get more info on this long awaited strategy sequel.

First, the original Supreme Commander game was famed for its massive units and lots of stuff going "boom", Is it fair to say that those elements are sticking around for the sequel?

Without a doubt. Big explosions are a key element to a good RTS game, and they are definitely here to stay in Supreme Commander 2!

What can you tell us about the factions for the sequel and how the single player campaign links to the original?

We've woven the new campaign story into the existing history and fiction to continue the story, but we have leapt 25 years into the future, and are telling a very different kind of story... a story that focuses on the people, and the personal struggles they go through when caught up in a war of galactic scale.

Gallery: Supreme Commander 2 Screenshots

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Freeware Friday: Tiny Crawl

Posted Jan 30th 2010 9:00PM by James Murff
Filed under: Features, Indie, RPG

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

One of the oldest game genres is the rogue-like, with games such as Nethack and Angband having an incredible longevity. Nethack itself is almost 26 years old, for example. However, rogue-likes are typically impenetrable to those that haven't spent a considerable amount of time playing them. Tiny Crawl is the answer to this common frustration, and it's a great way for new players to become engrossed in the rogue-like genre. Created for the TIGsource Assemblee competition, it boils rogue-likes down to their absolute core, providing a simple, streamlined, and engaging experience. It's no surprise how finely crafted and tuned Tiny Crawl is, given developer Sparky's work on IGF finalist Star Guard.

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IGF 2010 Finalists: Seamus McNally Grand Prize

Posted Jan 29th 2010 11:00AM by James Murff
Filed under: Features, Indie

With the IGF finalists announced, game makers only have a short while longer to find out the best of the best in indie games from last year. From the best overall game to the one with the most impressive art, there's several different categories for indie game designers to aspire to be the top of. This week we're going to take a look at a few of the games that have made it to the finals.

It's time for the final, and most important, category in the IGF. The Seamus McNally Grand Prize holds the largest cash reward and prestige out of any category, and for good reason. Here are games that epitomize polished perfection, and whoever wins the grand prize is sure to find publishers knocking on their door for an exclusive deal. Every game in the grand prize category this year was in one of the other minor cateogries, which is not particularly shocking, even tif it does not happen all that often. If you look back upon previous years, there's normally one game that makes it to the grand prize that doesn't quite fit anywhere else. This year, that's not the case. These games are the best of the best, and they deserved to be honored.

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IGF 2010 Finalists: Technical Excellence

Posted Jan 28th 2010 11:00AM by James Murff
Filed under: Features, Indie

With the IGF finalists announced, game makers only have a short while longer to find out the best of the best in indie games from last year. From the best overall game to the one with the most impressive art, there's several different categories for indie game designers to aspire to be the top of. This week we're going to take a look at a few of the games that have made it to the finals.

The games which truly exhibit technical excellence in the indie realm are often praised beyond all potential comparison. After all, technical advances here such as HDR lighting aren't the real technical advances. It's things that alter the gameplay in interesting ways while still being smooth and presentable that really excite indie gamers. It's interesting how graphics advances are praised as advances in visuals, not in technical creation, where other things are. Here's five games that just can't fit in any other category at the IGF thanks to their unrelenting technical improvements.

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Interview: CD Projekt's co-founder talks GoG.com, The Witcher 2 and more

Posted Jan 28th 2010 7:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: Features, Interviews

There are quite a few PC game download services to choose from but none of them are quite like GoG.com. For over a year now the service, started by The Witcher creators CD Projekt, have offered gamers a way to buy some of the best PC games ever made in a DRM-free environment and with pricing that makes them extremely easy to afford. Over the past year the service has added more and more games and publishers to the mix and even added games that no other download site can (legally) offer to consumers.

As we first reported earlier this morning CD Projekt has has officially announced that GoG.com will begin to offer older PC games from Activision's library of titles. Those titles now include games from Activision's merger with Vivendi Games to form Activision Blizzard. Before today's announcement, Big Download got a chance to ask some questions to CD Projekt's co-founder Marcin Iwinski about this development and GoG.com's future. We even managed to sneak in a question about CD Projekt's next big game project, The Witcher 2.

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IGF 2010 Finalists: Audio Excellence

Posted Jan 27th 2010 8:00PM by James Murff
Filed under: Features, Indie

With the IGF finalists announced, game makers only have a short while longer to find out the best of the best in indie games from last year. From the best overall game to the one with the most impressive art, there's several different categories for indie game designers to aspire to be the top of. This week we're going to take a look at a few of the games that have made it to the finals.

While some look only at gameplay, and others look at visuals, and yet others still look at technical innovation, there's still the matter of audio. Audio is such a small part, but the impact it can have upon a game is tremendous. With the right music and sound effects, an okay game can be changed into a fantastic one. By contrast, a great game with terrible music and sound effects will be almost unplayable for many, as it pulls you out of the experience greatly. Nobody knows this better than indies, so here's the five finalists for audio excellence in the IGF.

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