order-of-war posts

It's time for another game giveaway here at Big Download and this time we have five Steam download codes to give away for the recent WWII RTS game Order of War. The game, from developer Wargaming.net and publisher Square Enix, had a new free content update this week that enabled a number of units and a gameplay mode that were previously pre-order exclusives.

As with most of our contests, entering the giveaway is simple:

• To enter, post a comment on this contest page.
• The comment must be left before 11:59 pm Eastern Time on October 27
  
• You may enter only once.
• Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• The winners will be sent a Steam code that can be use to download a full copy of Order of War (valued at $39.99 each)
  
• Click Here for complete Official Rules. You must be a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec) who is 18 years or older to enter this contest.

Our thanks to the game's PR company Maverick PR for the donation of the prizes. Good luck.
Download Order of War Demo (545 MB)

Sometimes you can actually get things for free if you wait long enough. That's certainly the case for Order of War, the recent WWII RTS game from developer Wargaming.net and publisher Square Enix. Today the game received an update via Steam that adds all of the pre-order content bonuses to the game for folks who didn't get access to them the first time.

Included in the free update are new units such as heavy bomber squadrons for both Allied and Axis sides, infantry mortar launchers, the ability to call in heavy artillery strikes and an additional survival gameplay mode where players have to fight off waves of enemies.

There's not one but two retail MMOs being released this week along with not one but two WWII themed games. Who would have thought that?

Aion: NCsoft's fantasy MMO is already a huge hit in its native Korea and even before its US release the game has generated nearly 400,000 pre-orders. The game, which uses the first generation Cryengine for its graphics, is noted for its combat which can take place in the air as well as on the ground.

Next week Square Enix ships Order of War to stores and online. The first true Western developed game from this Japanese based publisher is a WWIi RTS game from developer Wargaming.net. However, the folks at Valve's Steam are giving people who pre-order Order of war from them some exclusive in-game units.

The units are off-map types, one for each of the two single player campaigns in the game. For the US campaign you get to use the powerful M115 203 mm howitzer while the nasty Nazis get to have their 17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette weapon. The game must be pre-ordered before Order of War is released on September 22 to get the extra units.

Just before Square Enix made the move to purchase the Western-based publisher Eidos, The Japanese-based publisher announced plans to release its first game made by a Western developer. Now that game, the WWII RTS title Order of War, has an official release date of September 22 (a date that's been listed on retail gaming web sites for some time).

Square Enix hasn't done a lot of publicity for Order of War, which is being developed by Wargaming.net. We hope that's not a bad sign. We also hope that the game will make us forget that there have been tons of WWII-based RTS games that have been recently released.
Download Order of War Demo (545 MB)
Check out all Order of War downloads

In just a few days, the game industry as a whole enters a period in time that is extremely important to them, at least as it pertains to their wallets. From September to the end of the year the games industry generates well over half of their total yearly revenues. This year is a little different than most, however. Game publishers have moved quite a few of their major titles out of the fall-holiday time period to the first quarter of 2010 or later. The reason? They are not sure if a flood of even highly anticipated games will do well in this current economy.

That said there are still quite a lot of major PC games that will be coming down the pike for gamers to check out in the next few months. In the first part of a three part series, Big Download goes over all of the major games slated for release this fall and gives a little opinion on how well they might do in terms of sales. Keep in mind that the release dates for the games in our series is current to the best of our knowledge and they can, and frequently do, change.

Click on the image above to continue reading The Big PC Games For Fall 2009 - Part 1

This is the playable demo for the WWII themed strategy game, Order of War. System requirements are shown after the jump. The full game is expected to release in September.

"In the summer of 1944, the Second World War entered its end-game when the Allies launched two major operations that would drive back German forces on both the Western and Eastern Fronts at once. Their names were Overlord and Bagration. Overlord famously commenced with the D-Day landings in Normandy and ended in the Liberation of Paris, while Bagration - a far less well-known but far larger Russian operation - crushed the invading German forces in the east, leading to their complete withdrawal from Soviet territory. Had either operation been unsuccessful, history could have been very different. In the ultimate test of military strategy, Order of War will challenge you not only to lead America's finest to victory in the west, but also place you in command of the German forces charged with repelling the Red Army's seemingly unstoppable offensive in the east. Even the keenest military minds will find that it's one thing to make history, but quite another to change it."

Download Order of War Demo (545 MB)
Check out all Order of War downloads

In a bit of a surprise, Steam has just provided its users with a free demo for Order of War, the upcoming WWII RTS game from developer Wargaming.net and publisher Square Enix. There's little info on what the demo itself contains on Steam's web site other than it's single player only.

Order of War has received little press and publicity since it was first announced by Square Enix last April as their first game working with a Western developer (this was shortly before their deal to buy Western publisher Eidos was finalized). The full game is due for release in late September. We will try to get a stand alone demo from Wargaming.net and/or Square Enix so we can have it available here at Big Download.

For the past couple of weeks we have been giving out our wish lists of games that we would like to see at E3 2009 next week. We have gone over the FPS titles, the action games and the RPG-MMO titles. Today we conclude our pre-E3 2009 feature with a list of other PC games titles we would like to check out including a couple that were revealed after we started our series.

But that's not all we have planned. Tune back in tomorrow for yet another special pre-E3 feature that we think you will like a lot.

Click on the image to continue reading Countdown to E3 - The Other Games We Want To See.

Yes, it's another World War II themed strategy game, but Order of War is also publisher Square Enix's first time working with a non-Japanese developer. It's also a PC exclusive that doesn't resemble a J-RPG in any way, shape or fashion, so the publisher deserves a lot of credit for working outside of its comfort zone.

"Order of War will feature massive scale battles brought to life with a cinematic intensity never seen before in a WWII strategy game. Players will take command of an entire army including ground troops, artillery, tank divisions and aircraft in all out strategic assaults. The single-player mode can be played out in two campaigns – American versus German forces on the western front and German versus Russian on the eastern front – missions will be based on key historic events and operations from 1944."

Download HD Order of War Teaser Trailer (26 MB)