aspyr-media posts

A couple of months back we first reported on Dreamkiller, an upcoming first person shooter from developer Mindware Studios and publisher Aspyr that would be using a modified version of the Painkiller graphics engine. Today, Big Download confirmed with an Aspyr PR rep that the PC version of Dreamkiller will bypass a retail release (at least for now) and will only be made available as a Steam exclusive downloadable game (the Xbox 360 version will still ship to stores).

The PC version will be released for Steam owners on October 12 although at the moment there's no way to pre-order the game from the Steam store. The PC version will have support for Steamworks features like achievements, the Steve Cloud and leaderboards.

A few weeks ago we reported that Aspyr Media would be publishing Death to Spies: Moment of Truth, the sequel to 1C Company's WWII stealth action game. Today, in advanced of the game's release to retail stores in the US, Aspyr has gone ahead and made the full game available for download and purchase via their GameAgent web site.

The $29.99 title, which has you controlling a member of the Soviet Union's spy organization SMERSH (you might recognize the name from early James Bond movies) should be made available via other downloadable sites soon. The retail version will ship to stores on August 18.
Download Death to Spies: Moment of Truth Demo (919 MB)
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LucasArts said they would have some special announcements at their San Diego Comic-Con panel and boy, were they right. Today they revealed that they will be releasing a PC and Mac version of 2008's best selling action game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in a new "Ultimate Sith Edition". This new version will contain all of the content of the original console game plus three all new missions that continue the storyline of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice.

This new version, which will be co-published by Aspyr Media sometime this fall., will also contain new costumes for the game's lead character the Secret Apprentice. It will also have new character models that will give players a chance to control classic Star Wars characters like Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Count Dooku, Jango Fett and C-3PO. You can check out the decriptions of the three new missions, two of which are set in an alternate Star Wars Infinities timeline, after the jump.

[Via email press release]

This fall Aspyr Media is bringing a new first person shooter franchise over to the PC platform. Dreamkiller is the newly revealed game from developer Mindware Studios who previously created the 2007 FPS title Painkiller Overdose (and yes, Painkiller and Dreamkiller do sound kind of similar) This new game is promising to be "fast, frantic and mega-bloodbath first-person shooter", at least according to the official press release.

The game itself takes place in the minds of the patients of psychologist Alice Drake. She doesn't just sit on a couch listening to odd stories. She also enters her patent's dreams and battles their mental demon. The first screenshots from the game show that battling dream demons requires some heavy ordinance. In addition to single player, Dreamkiller is promising some multiplayer modes as well as supernatural powers.

[Via email press release]

1C Company's WWII RTS game Men of War was released just a few months ago but now 1C has just announced that the game is getting a stand alone follow-up. Titled Men of War: Red Tide, the new game in the series is described as an expansion pack but will not require the original game to play.

The new 20 mission single player campaign will have the player take command of the Soviet Marines, also known as the "Black Coats" fighting battles during the Black Sea Campaigns of WWII. The expansion will contain dozens of new or upgraded units. As with the original game Aspyr Media will publish the follow-up in the US

Earlier this year Aspyr Media became the US publisher for several titles from the Russian based 1C Company including Men of War, Cryostasis and Necrovision. Today the two companies announced that Aspyr would bring two more 1C Company PC titles to the US.

One will be Death to Spies: Moment of Truth, a sequel to the WWII stealth action game featuring the main character Semion Strogov, a member of Russia's spy organization SMERSH. The other is XIII Century Gold Edition, a new collection that contains both the 2008 historical RTS game (set in the Middle Ages) and its upcoming sequel XIII Century: Blood of Europe. Both games will ship sometime this summer in retail stores and via digital download and like 1C Company's previous games they will have no DRM set-up.

One of our favorite PC games released in 2008 was Defense Grid: The Awakening, the tower defense title from developer Hidden Path Entertainment. The game's been available via digital download for some time but this week Aspyr Media announced plans to release the game to retail stores.

Just in case you need a reminder, Defense Grid is a sci-fi theme strategy game where you must place defenses around your base to defense aliens who seem to want to attack for some odd reason. The downloadable version contains 20 levels, 15 different kinds of enemies and 10 different types of tower defenses, each with three upgrades. There's no word yet if the retail version, due out this summer, will have any extra content.

While not as well known as Steam, Direct2Drive, GamersGate or Impulse, the Aspyr-run game download service GameAgent is aiming to be a player in the growing PC game download business. Today the company announced that from now until Thursday it is selling all of the game in its current library for 50 percent off their normal prices.

While that sounds like a great deal on the surface, consider that at the moment GameAgent only has 13 games in its library so far. However there are some good games in this list such as 1701 AD and its expansion pack, PuzzleQuest: Galactrix. several games from 1C Company and even the Mac version of Call of Duty 4. So if that appeals to you, then by all means dig in.

As we promised they would on Wednesday, Aspyr Media has now issued the official press release annoucing they will be publishing the PC port of Dark Sector, the 2008 released console action game from developer Digital Extremes. The game itself is apparently ready to go as Aspyr is aiming for a March 23 release date for the game.

This sounds like it will be a fairly vanilla port of a console game with no real new content added for the PC version. Aspry did say the game will feature "improved graphics and a streamlined interface that allows for easy mouse and keyboard control." The actual port of the game was handled by Russian based Noviy Disk.

In 2007 a game development company called Nerjyzed Game Studios announced pans to release the Black College Football Experience (BCFx), a college football game that used Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3. Today Aspyr Media announced that they would be the publishers for the game, with a release date of sometime this spring for the PC and consoles.

The full and official name of the game is BCFx – The Doug Williams Edition (Williams played in the NFL and was the MVP in SuperBowl XXII in 1988; he later became the head coach at Grambling State University). In addition to traditional football gameplay with 36 teams from Historically Black College and University (HBCU) schools, the game will also feature rhythm based mini-games such as Drum Line Challenge and the Interactive Halftime Show. Historical info on the real teams is also included in the Legacy Museum and the game will also have a number of muscial tracks taken from the college's marching bands.