sword-of-the-stars posts

Sword of the Stars 2 is the newest game for indie studio Kerberos Productions. As it is a sequel to the reasonably successful Sword of the Stars (imagine that), it's got some expectations. One of these is that the engine will be drastically improved from its predecessor, as one would expect, and this trailer shows that off in quite some detail. While the trailer itself is relatively boring (it's akin to a flythrough), the ship designs are incredibly stunning in both scope and color. Alas, there was nothing of the engine in action, just of the ships, so we can't really judge if it will look as great during gameplay.

The sixth anniversary sales event for the Direct2Drive PC game download site is entering its final week and so the site has listed a final selection of games that are on sale until the end of the month for $6 each. The games included in the sales event are Europa Universalis III: Heir to the Throne, Red Faction Guerrilla, Warfare, Dracula Origin, Gratuitous Space Battles, 7 Sins, A Farewell to Dragons, City Life 2008 and Sword of the Stars.

In addition, two more games get big price cuts from now until 1 pm Eastern time Thursday. Both Borderlands and Football Manager 2010 are priced at just $9.95 each.

Vancouver-based Kerberos Production made a splash with the original Sword of the Stars way back in 2006.Since then the development team has made a number of updates and expansions to their first space strategy game. Now the team is hard at work on the full sequel, Sword of the Stars II,for their new publisher Paradox Interactive.

Big Download got a chance to ask some questions to Kerberos Productions' CEO and creative director Martin E. Cirulis about their plans for the sequel, including new features, improved graphics and generally more of what players will get from the full version.

You may think you have all of the games and expansions for Sword of the Stars, but you really don't. The space strategy game from developer Kerberos and publisher Paradox Interactive is about to release a "Complete Collection" bundle featuring the original game and all of its expansion packs (Born of Blood, A Murder of Crows, and Argos Naval Yard).

And here's the kicker: The Sword of the Stars Complete Collection also has an all new scenario for the game. Hopefully that scenario will be made available for loyal fans and purchasers own the original game and its expansions.. The Compete Collection will be released on May 14.

Paradox Interactive bought the rights to publish the space strategy game franchise Sword of the Stars in 2009 after its original publisher Lighthouse Interactive shut down its operations. Today Paradox announced that that game is getting a full blown sequel, Sword of the Stars II, that will be released sometime in 2011.

The original game's developer Kerberos Productions is also making the sequel and IGN has some of the first details of the game including that all six races from the original and its various expansions will return. A new race, the Suul'ka will also be introduced in the sequel. Unfortunately the game is still in the very early stages of development with no screenshots or gameplay footage to show yet.

Direct2Drive has been offering a selection of their downloadable PC game library for $5 for the past few weeks. Today the site is offering a selection of titles from indie game developers for just 5 bucks from now until next Monday. Many of these games have had their prices cut by as much as 66 percent in this sale. The genres range from puzzle titles to RPGs to tower defense titles to space strategy games. If you have never tried these games before this is the perfect time to start:

Mount and Blade
World of Goo
Defense Grid: The Awakening
Sword of the Stars
Cogs
Light of Altair
The Path
Bridge Construction Set
Gish
Zatikon

It's a Monday but the retail web site GoGamer.com has already launched its weekly (and mis-named) 48 Hour Madness sale. This week's sale, which ends at 3 am ET on Thursday, September 3, has a number of good PC games on sale, as always.

Just some of the sales this week on the web site include Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for just $7.90, Supreme Commander for $7.90, Company of Heroes for $7.90 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for (yes) $7.90. Stronghold Legends is on sale for a mere $3.90 and the recent game collection Sword of the Stars Ultimate Collection is on sale for $19.90.

As they usually do the downloadable game sites GoG.com and GamersGate are offering some price cuts on a few of their items this weekend. Over at GoG.com they have a special bundle promotion on the games Spellforce Platinum and The Guild Gold. You can get both games together for just $13.98, a 30 percent savings. If you own one of the games already you can get the other game for a $3 discount.

Over at Gamersgate they are selling all of the Unreal games for 15 percent off their normal prices. Also on sale this weekend is Sid Meier's Railroads, Sword of the Stars Complete Pack and Dark Sector. All of those titles are currently being sold for 50 percent off their normal GamersGate price.

This week, PC gamers can look forward to getting slimed and getting shot at with a new retail release and the next version of a popular free multiplayer shooter.

Ghostbusters: After switching publishers and getting delayed for several months, developer Terminal Reality and publisher Atari release this long awaited movie-based action game made with the assistance of several of the original film's cast and writers. Time to cross the streams as you get to play a new Ghostbuster alongside the classic team to fight new and returning beasts. Unfortunately the PC version lacks the multiplayer modes that most of the other ports of the game will have.

The weekend is usually the time for temporary PC price cuts but at GoG.com they have decided to put a permanent price cut on one of their titles. Panzer Elite: Special Edition, the 2001 released WWII tank sim from publisher JoWood, has had its price cut from $9.99 to just $5.99. That's not a weekend sale but is there to stay. Just a reminder that GoG.com is also offering 25 percent off a number of their strategy games from now until Monday.

Gamersgate is offering a temporary weekend price cut on Sword of the Stars: Ultimate Edition, the space strategy game from developer Kerberos Productions and publisher Paradox Interactive. You can download and purchase the collection (the original game and the first two expansions) for just $7.99. This deal does not include the upcoming mini-expansion for the game Argos Naval Yard.