Strategy

While the fantasy-themed sports-strategy game Blood Bowl has been available via download for US gamers since it's official release last June, we suspect not a lot of folks knew that they could grab this unusual mix of genres from developer Cyanide Studio. That may change, however, with the announcement today that the game will be made available for download on Thanksgiving (appropriate for a game based loosely on American football) via the much higher profile Steam service

The Steam version will include all of the content of the previous edition and will add the new Dark Elves faction to the game's eight other playable sides (owners of the previous version can download a free update that adds the new faction). Steam is also offering a 10 percent pre-order discount to the game before it goes live. If you are looking for a very different game experience, Blood Bowl might be up your alley.

This is the playable demo for Massive Assault Network 2, an online turn-based strategy game that looks like a 3D real-time strategy game. Continue reading after the jump for system requirements. Visit the official website for more information and to purchase the full game.

"Massive Assault Network 2 is an online strategy game featuring sci-fi conflicts on distant planets. The game is based on the legendary Massive Assault series from which it inherits original 'Secret Allies' concept, streamlined turn-based gameplay, perfectly-balanced units, state-of-the- art interface and endless replayability."

Download Massive Assault Network 2 Demo (174 MB)

Not too many retail stores have PC games on sale during Black Friday but an exception is Best Buy. Their full Black Friday 2010 newspaper ad for the biggest shopping day of the year (that's November 27 in case you didn't know) has been posted on the bfads.net web site and it shows quite a number of PC game titles on sale for just $4.99 each.

Most of these games are older of course and many of you reading this might already own some of them but for $4.99 they do make great holiday gifts for you non-PC gaming friends. Here's the full list:

World of Warcraft
Far Cry 2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl
Assassin's Creed
Civilization IV
Bioshock
Hoyle Slots (yeah, that one threw us too).

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

Dragon Age: Origins is out there amidst consumers, garnering both critical and commercial recognition for its dark atmosphere, excellent story, and entertaining combat. However, there's more to the Dragon Age series besides Origins. EA2D, makers of the excellent Mirror's Edge 2D, decided to take the 2D browser approach to the Dragon Age franchise. The end result is Dragon Age: Journeys, a spin-off game that manages to be good on its own while still providing you with bonuses in the main game itself. Those that love strategy and role-playing games should definitely try it out.

You thought we were done with PC game download sales on Thursday, didn't you? As it turns out there are a few more price cuts that we found out about after we posted up the news yesterday.:

• Steam has just launched the indie puzzle game QuantZ and is giving folks a 50 percent discount for its first week, bringing the price down to just $4.99.
• GoG.com is selling the two games in its library from the now defunct Elixir Studios, Republic The Revolution and Evil Genius, in a bundle for just $9.98 until Monday.
• Impulse users can get a 50 percent discount on the Galactic Civilizations II Expansion Bundle (featuring Dark Avatar and Twilight of the Arnor) for 50 percent off with the coupon code CGEXPANSION.
• The indie action-puzzle game Grappling Hook's price was just reduced to $14.95.

GameTap's latest title for its subscriber-download PC game site is Republic: The Revolution, the interesting but flawed 2003 release from the now defunct Elixir Studios. The game is a complex (in fact way too complex) simulation that has you trying to take control of a fictional Eastern European country. Also added this week to GameTap is the casual game title Hot Dish.

GameTap has also once again freed up one of its subscriber-only games and allowed anyone to play it free for two weeks. This time is Battlestations Midway, the 2007 released WWII themed action strategy game from Eidos. The game will be free to play until November 26.

It's a game that many of you might have never heard of yet it has been one of the most influential PC game titles in history. Archon, created by Free Fall Associates in the early 1980s, mixed fantasy battles with chess-like strategy elements to create a game that developers have since taken elements of and put into their own games.

Last year the new game developer React Games announced it had gotten the rights to the Archon franchise and after a release for the iPhone earlier this year they are close to releasing their version of the game for the PC which will include both the classic game and a new version with lots of new features. Big Download got a chance to chat with the company's founder Chad Lee to find out more about the game which is currently in beta testing. People can get the beta version now by pre-ordering the game at the Archon Classic web site.

This is the playable demo for King's Bounty: Armored Princess, an adventure strategy game and follow-up to King's Bounty: The Legend. System requirements are shown after the jump.

"King's Bounty: Armored Princess is an adventure game with tactical turn-based battles and RPG elements unfolding in a rich fantasy world. The character and their army of companions travel across a huge continent, visiting dozens of different locations all connected to each other. Communicating with NPCs, collecting resources and recruiting an army, the player will control their character in real-time mode, while all battles take place in classic turn-based mode with a strong emphasis on tactical elements."

Download King's Bounty: Armored Princess Demo (467 MB)

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 Starcraft II related downloads here on Big Download!

This is the playable demo for the historical strategy game, For the Glory: A Europa Universalis Game. System requirements are shown after the jump. The full game can be purchased from GamersGate for $19.95.

"Take up the reins of your country, guide domestic and foreign policy, navigate thousands of historical events, engage in various struggles and lead your country to prosperity – all in the name of glory!

For the Glory offers full historical immersion, with a completely new in-depth experience with over 10000 historically accurate events. Take charge of the mighty Habsburg Empire, the aggressive Swedish state, or the seafaring Portuguese. Build up your empire through trade, diplomacy, colonialism and war."

Download For the Glory Demo (140 MB)

Last week the Vancouver-based Smoking Gun Interactive started their teaser campaign for their upcoming debut title in an unusual way. It launched an online comic book with some interactive and viral elements. This week the the comic has added even more pages on the Exoriare.com teaser web site.

The developers, along with its writer Douglas Rushkoff, have created a very complex back story for their game teaser. It's full of conspiracies and stuff like mysterious ships that appear over Los Angeles after someone flips a switch. The alternate reality game that is currently running in the background of all this is very intricate but the big question is what is this leading up to? Hopefully we will find the answer soon.

Steam breaks out some more big PC game sales in the middle of the week. This time the two WWII action-strategy games Battlestations Midway and Battlestations Pacific have both been put on the price chopping block from now until Thursday. The games from developer/publisher Eidos are on sale for 50 percent off their normal price.

Another game in Steam''s library will be having it's price cut until Friday, Paradox Interactive's recent WWII strategy game Hearts of Iron III is getting the treatment. Steam owners can download and purchase the title for just $14.99, a savings of (you guessed it) 50 percent from its normal price.

Last week Sony Online announced that they would be developing Magic: The Gathering - Tactics, a turn-based strategy game based on the Wizards of the Coast gaming franchise. That game is due for a downloadable release in 2010. Now comes word that a PC version of Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers, previously released for Xbox Live Arcade, is coming in the summer of 2010.

The game, developed directly by Wizards of the Coast, is basically a digital version of the long running collectible card game except all of the cards are available in the game itself. You gain access to other cards by playing and defeating other opponents. The PC version will have the same gameplay as the Xbox Live Arcade version but with a "bonus" that at the moment Wizards of the Coasts is not talking about yet.

This is the playable demo for Gratuitous Space Battles. The full game can be purchased for $22.99 and the official trailer can be seen above.

Gratuitous Space Battles is a "strategy / management / simulation game that does away with all the base building and delays and gets straight to the meat and potatoes of science-fiction games: The big space battles fought by huge spaceships with tons of laser beams and things going 'zap!', 'ka-boom!' and 'ka-pow!'. In GSB you put your ships together from modular components, arrange them into fleets, give your ships orders of engagement and then hope they emerge victorious from battle (or at least blow to bits in aesthetically pleasing ways)."

Download Gratuitous Space Battles Demo (46 MB)
Download HD Gratuitous Space Battles Trailer (26 MB)

Smoking Gun Interactive, the Canadian-based developer, was formed in 2007 by former members of Relic Entertainment. Since then the developer has been keeping its first project well under wraps although back in May it announced it had recruited author Douglas Rushkoff to work on the storyline for the game.

Today Smoking Gun launched a new teaser web site that showcased a new online comic book called "X". Written by Rushkoff, the comic has art from Smoking Gun's own Cheoljoo Lee and Younger Yang. It will have new installments on the site every week for the next few weeks. You can check out the first three pages of the comic in the gallery below. As you can see the comic is a bit like a more adult Indiana Jones story with conspiracies and mysteries. There's still no word on when the actual game from Smoking Gun will be revealed.

Update: We don't want to give away exactly where this happens but there's something . . . interesting that you can activate by clicking on a certain section of the online comic.