dungeons posts

The month of March is almost over. Time to break out the baseball bats, the flower pots and the small lull in PC gaming releases until mid April.

• As promised the Mass Effect 2: Arrival DLC pack has been released for about $7.
• The Dungeons web site also has the previously announced Into The Dark DLC available for download for $4.
• How long will Battlefield 3 take to complete its single player mission? About 12 hours, says DICE.
• A demo for the upcoming PC port of Horde is now available to download via Steam.
• Would you want to buy a real world and official Magicka wizard robe for $85? Of course you would.

The release of the fantasy strategy-RPG "you are the bad guy" title Dungeons was apparently successful enough for publisher Kalypso Media that the first DLC pack for the game has now been revealed. The Impulse download web site is now taking pre-orders for the DLC which will be released on March 25 for $3.99.

The DLC will contain a new campaign map to the game, Flowerdale, where players will have to deal with waves of those pesky do-gooder heroes. In additon 10 more maps will be added to the game for its sandbox, survival, soul survival and amusement game modes. Finally players can acquire 20 new prestige items via the DLC release.

Another busy day today for news, even with some announcement about a second iPad. We are not familiar with it but some kids seem to like the iPad.

• Steam has a new free update for Dungeons that adds a new "Amusement" gameplay mode and three new maps.
• Steam also has a new update for the Steam client and updates for Portal, Half-Life 2 and the two Half-Life 2 episodes.
• The Arcania: Fall of Setarrif web site has gone live.
• Players who still want to see Elite 4 at some point still have some hope.
• Minecraft technically isn't done yet but the team is already saying. "We'll probably do Minecraft 2."

Despite some bug issues that have plagued the game's release, the open world driving game Test Drive Unlimited 2 is still on top of this week's top 10 best selling PC games list on the Steam download service. This year's sleeper hit Magicka comes in this week in the number two spot while the fantasy strategy-RPG game Dungeons shows up at number three on the list.

The full top 10 list is as follows:

1. Test Drive Unlimited 2 - Eden Studios/Atari
2. Magicka - Arrowhead Game Studios/Paradox Interactive
3. Dungeons - RealmForge/Kalypso
4. Two Worlds II - Reality Pump/Southpeak Games
5. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Retribution - Relic/THQ
6. Call of Duty Black Ops - Treyarch/Activision
7. DC Universe Online - Sony Online
8. Dead Space 2 - Visceral Games/EA
9. Battlefield Bad Company 2 - DICE/EA
10. Dragon Age 2 - BioWare/EA

GDC is getting closer and we've already heard through various whispers in the wind that there will be quite a few announcements coming before and during the conference. Just sayin'

• For example the Shoot Many Robots web site is hinting that the first details on this game will be revealed next week.
• Steam has new automatic updates for Crasher, Dungeons and Cricket Revolution.
• Steam also has a new update for APOX that adds a new Survival gameplay mode with six new maps.
• The Steamcast Podcast has the first part of a two part interview with Valve head man Gabe Newell. Interesting stuff is brought up in the chat.
• The original art for the box cover for Castle Wolfenstein is on sale on eBay.
• If you are having some issues with Test Drive Unlimited 2, head over to this forum post.
• Combat Arms is getting a new map, Costra Recon, on February 16.
• Duke Nukem Forever won't be edited for its Australian release. Yay!
• Bulletstorm will be heavily edited for its Germany release. Boo!

There can be little doubt that Dungeons drew more than a healthy amount of inspiration from the Dungeon Keeper series. There's major theme of being an overlord of an underground network of creatures, out to corrupt a happy fairytale land while disposing of the competition. Furthermore, there's the theme of defeating heroes foolish enough to venture into your domain before they have a chance to destroy your dungeon heart. There's even a throwaway joke where the adviser tells you all the chickens have been eaten, then remembers that chickens are used in a completely different game... which actually admits to a lot. Although the game may look a lot like a Dungeon Keeper game, it certainly isn't, and anyone playing with that preconception is likely to be very disappointed. Dungeons uses a fundamental gameplay twist that puts the focus on keeping incoming heroes happy instead of luring in creatures and training them. While this change gives the game a unique identity, it comes with a boatload of problems attached and ultimately isn't much fun.

Download Dungeons Demo (524 MB)
Check out all Dungeons downloads

In Dungeons, players design an underground lair to combat invading heroes and rival Dungeon Lords. This playable demo includes three levels, and completing them unlocks Survival Mode.

"A mighty hero stalks through a dark, dank dungeon making life miserable for hordes of pitiable monsters as he steals anything and everything not bolted to the floor. Been there, done that - about a thousand times? Then it is definitely time to switch sides and show that hero just who's who in the dungeon!

Assume the role of a mighty (and mighty evil) Dungeon Lord and create your own diabolical demesnes underground. Dim-witted goblin workers tremble as they await your orders and dig corridors and rooms into the rock at your command."

Download Dungeons Demo (524 MB)
Check out all Dungeons downloads

This week's new PC game releases include a sequel to an open world-based driving game, a Dungeon Hero-inspired game and a fantasy RPG that was made available first last week via download sites.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 - Developer Eden Studios and publisher Atari give us this second game in the open world driving game series this week. Set on two islands, the game has over 3,000 kilometers of road to explore as you drive in competition with others both offline and online. A lot of the cars in the game are exotic sports vehicles but the game wasn't able to get the licencing rights to any Lamborghini cars.

Free games are always good in that you don't have to pay money to play them (of course the game itself could be bad but at least your wallet's safe). This week publisher Kalypso Media announced that folks who pre-order the upcoming fantasy strategy-RPG game Dungeons via the Steam service will get immediate downloadable access to a free title.

That game is M.U.D. TV, the sim-style game where you have to run a television studio. Kalypso released the game about a year or so ago. This is in addition to the extra content in the Steam version of Dungeons which includes an extra mission, exclusive in-game items and new maps in the game's sandbox mode. The game is due out on February 10.

Update: Impulse is also taking pre-orders for Dungeons and is offering a free copy of the adventure game Ceville to those pre-orders.

It will soon be time to see how good of a bad guy you can be. Publisher Kalypso Media sent over word that its fantasy strategy-sim game Dungeons, where you play as a evil dungeon lord trying to trap heroes, has gone gold. The game is scheduled to be released in retail stores and via download on February 8.

To celebrate the game's completion by developer RealmForge, Kalypso has sent over the official theme song to Dungeons. It's not exactly the theme to The Brady Bunch. In fact think about the music for the movie The Omen before listening to it.

Download the Dungeons theme song at Big Download