rise-of-the-argonauts posts

As they always do on Thursdays, the subscriber-download PC game site GameTap has added a couple of new games to its paid premium subscription service. One is Rise of the Argonauts, the Greek myth-themed action-RPG from developer Liquid Entertainment and publisher Codemasters that was first released last December.. The other new game is The Path, the acclaimed and very creepy adventure game based on the Red Riding Hood legend from developer Tale of Tales..

In addition a new game is scheduled to be placed in GameTap's free subscriber section for the next week. That would be Cradle of Rome, the puzzle game from developer Awem Studio.

Valve has brought back their regular weekend sale to their Steam service this week with something of an old school flavor. They have the entire X-Com franchise (five games in all) on sale this weekend only for just $4.99. That's a 66 percent savings from the pack's normal $14.99 price tag.

Also during the past week Steam has added number of games that were released in retail stores in the fall of 2008. These include EA's Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 and Dead Space along with Codemasters' Rise of the Argonauts and Activision's Quantum of Solace. They are all full price but hey, at least you won't have to deal with EA's DRM issues.

Rise of the Argonauts takes players through an adventure inspired by Jason and the Golden Fleece, a tale from Greek and Roman mythology. In this game, the princess Alceme is assassinated during the wedding ceremony to Jason, king of Iolcus. Jason, distraught with the injustice of her death, decides to seek out a way to bring her back to life, which ultimately puts him on the path to the Golden Fleece. Four gods (Ares, Apollo, Hermes and Athena) take an interest in Jason's quest and aid him with special weapons and abilities. Additionally, Jason will fight alongside his crew, the Argonauts, comprised of famous heroes like Hercules, Atalanta and Achilles. Together, the heroes embark on a journey that goes deeper than just returning a bride from the dead.

Codemasters is sneaking out Rise of the Argonauts in much of Europe today and in the US next week but the UK, for some reason, has had their release date for the action-RPG in the vague "early 2009" mark for some time. Today Codemasters finally revealed that the Liquid Entertainment-developed game will be coming out on February 6, 2009.

Codemasters has also issued some new screenshots from the title which will be the last we will post up here until the game's release next week in the States. Let's hope that the game's Dec. 16 release date is not indicitive of a project that was rushed to make a holiday time period.

This trailer for Rise of the Argonauts features Jason's companions: Hercules, Atalanta, Pan, and Achilles. All these Argonauts will accompany the hero on his journey, bring their special skills into combat, and offer up personal side quests of their own.

Download HD Rise of the Argonauts "Allies" Trailer (74 MB)
Check out all Rise of the Argonauts downloads

As Gomer Pyle might say at this point, "Surprise, surprise, surprise". Last time we got an update on the release date for Rise of the Argonauts, it was supposed to be out by early 2009, at least according to an official press release sent out by its publisher Codemasters. Well, as it turned out even the publisher seems to be confused as to the action-RPG's release date.

This week Codemasters's official forum site for the game has revealed that the title will be out next week (specifically Dec. 16) in the US. Australia and most of Europe will actually get the Liquid Entertainment-created game a few days earlier on Dec. 12. The UK, however, will still have to wait until early 2009 for their Rise of the Argonauts' shipment. We hope Codemasters has their stories straight now.

Two new video for Rise of the Argonauts released, highlighting some of the main aspects of the game. One (featured above) involves dedicating deeds to honor different gods to gain favor and special abilities. The other walks players through the leveling process to develop their characters.

Download HD Rise of the Argonauts "Honour the Gods" Trailer (79 MB)
Download HD Rise of the Argonauts "Leveling Up" Trailer (137 MB)
Check out all Rise of the Argonauts downloads

Gallery: Rise of the Argonauts

The last time we checked in with the release date for Rise of the Argonauts, the official word from publisher Codemasters was that it would be out "before Christmas". Well, in just a few weeks that has changed and it now looks like 2008 will have go without the release of the action-RPG from developer Liquid Entertainment.

In a new press release Codemasters has now finally admitted that the game is due for release sometime in early 2009, which makes the already pretty sparse December time frame for new games even more bleak. Codemasters had previously pushed back another fall 2008 game, Damnation, to a new early 2009 release. Codemasters did release some new screenshots from the game this morning which we have reproduced here.

Looks like folks who want to try out a free sample of Rise of the Argonauts will have to wait a looooong time. According to Eurogamer, the upcoming Greek-Roman mythology based action-RPG will forgo releasing a demo because according to the game's publisher Codemasters "...chopping the sprawling story into pieces for the sake of a 10 or 15 minute sampler would apparently not do the game justice."

The game from developer Liguid Entertainment will also apparently not be released this month as planned. Some online retailers in the US currently have the game coming out in January 2009 but according to Eurogamer's info Codemasters still plans to release Rise of the Argonauts "before Christmas".

Developers of the Rise of the Argonauts, an upcoming RPG based in Greek/Roman mythology, take us through a tour of Kythra. The inhabitants here are petrified in stone, and that only means that the dreaded Medusa lurks somewhere nearby. The video also discusses the game's decision making process, since players won't have to kill Medusa to defeat her. Decisions will impact how the story plays out.

Download HD Rise of the Argonauts Kythra Video (154 MB)