rts posts

The Shogun 2 multiplayer can be a bit confusing to those unused to the Total War conventions. It even confuses us, and we love the Total War series! Thankfully, Creative Assembly has released a trailer detailing all of the functions you can perform in multiplayer, and it covers nearly everything. It has details on everything you might be confused about, from retainers to province influence to matchmaking. Despite the game having been out for a while now, this trailer is definitely appreciated.

Download the Shogun 2: Total War Multiplayer Tutorial, Part 2
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Anomaly Warzone Earth has been described as a reverse tower defense, and while this is marginally true, it misses something essential: rather than simply trudging endless waves of units towards a generic goal, you are actively dismantling the opposition. It's not so much reverse tower defense as tower attacking. It's also absolutely fantastic, and an extremely strong first showing from indie studio 11 Bit. Excellent production values, clean and concise game mechanics, and excellent replay value make it a steal at its asking price. It is probably the most highly polished $10 game you will ever play.

Download the Anomaly Warzone Earth demo right here on Big Download!

The stoic and thoroughly difficult AI War has received three expansion packs to date: Zenith Remnant, Children of Neinzul, and Light of the Spire. Each one offers new units, scenarios, and AI types to bring to bear For this multi-part review, we'll be examining each expansion pack individually and giving them individual verdicts. After all, each expansion is independent of the others and brings new ships and Ai types unique to that particular expansion. The one thing they have in common, however, is how much the increase the difficulty compared to the original game. These expansions are for the hardest of the hardcore.

For those that prefer not to use the auto-updater, this stand alone patch for StarCraft II updates the game to v1.3. The patch includes a list of gameplay and balance changes, UI enhancements and bug fixes. A detailed list of all changes can be found on the official website.

Download the StarCraft II 1.3.0 Patch [PC] (339 MB)
Download the StarCraft II 1.3.0 Patch [Mac] (293 MB)

There's one thing that has plagued Age of Empires since the series start, and that is the awfully muddy visuals. Even the move to 3D never helped, as both Age of Mythology and Age of Empires 3 suffer from too much detail, not enough composition. This trailer for Age of Empires Online, however, brings back our hope for the series. With clean, simple colors, striking unit outlines, and a beautifully minimal interface, it looks like all the visual problems of the previous entries have melted into the void. We love the new cartoonish direction, and the Egyptian faction is definitely the best to showcase this new change with.

Download Age of Empires Online 'Egyptians Reveal' Trailer
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Most real MMORTS games have been science fiction. The first is arguably Mankind, and it took place amongst the stars as a combination space sim and RTS. Then came others like Shattered Galaxy. Dawn of Fantasy is, if this trailer is any indication, a return to the persistent economy and such of Mankind. A world for people to build up, explore, and conquer at their leisure. While no player-focused footage is shown here, it does display what appears to be important mechanics: spells, troops garrisons, and city building. The choppy framerate and blurred visuals keep us from really distinguishing anything though.

Download HD Dawn of Fantasy Teaser Trailer
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For those having trouble with the StarCraft II auto-patcher, the stand alone patch for the v1.2.0 update is available to download for both PC and Mac. The patch includes a number of bug fixes and game enhancements such as race balance changes, editor improvements and additional Battle.net chat channels.A full list of changes can be found on the official website.

Download StarCraft II v1.2 Patch [US] (275 MB)
Download StarCraft II v1.2 Mac Patch [US] (242 MB)
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The zombie genre is an already massive one, and there seems to be no end to the amount of zombie games being produced. That doesn't mean a new one can spring up and surprise us, however. Trapped Dead is a tactical RTS that looks very similar to some other strategy classics, such as the highly-regarded Commandos. This trailer shows off the gameplay for the title, and we have to say that it looks almost exactly like the old tactics games of yore. Games like Desperadoes, Commandos, or Baldur's Gate. We're definitely intrigued by it, but we're cautious, since there's just so many zombie games now.

Download HD Trapped Dead Gameplay Trailer
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The newest Dawn of War II expansion (or should we say game, since it's separate from the original?) is shaping up to be a fantastic looking game, and nothing proves this more than this trailer. The Space Marines and the forces of Chaos have been beating on each other since time immemorial, and their fight still continues. Naturally, if you want to see some slick gameplay footage of chaos demons, space marine dreadnoughts, and copious amounts of gore, this is the premiere trailer to watch! Personally, we can't wait for the game, but it has nothing to do with any trailers.

Download HD Dawn of War 2 - Retribution Trailer
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Natural Selection 2 is an indie darling, and for good reason: the original mod is an absolute blast, and the development team has managed to turn one of the best mods ever into a stellar stand-alone sequel. This trailer shows off some of the beta features and content, giving players that didn't pre-order the game a glimpse into the current development. It's certainly looking great, although the framerate chug in the video is slightly concerning. Despite this, we can't wait to get our hands on this FPS-RTS hybrid and once again explore stations filled with Skulks, Fades, and other nasty little aliens.

Download HD Natural Selection 2 Beta Gameplay Trailer
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