zeno-clash posts

Let's all of us take a breath now. Breath in . . . and out. Good. Because now that all those PC downloadable game sales are done the various services are starting all over again with some new savings deals to check out.

• Steam is giving folks a chance to purchase the unusual first person action game Zeno Clash from developer ACE Team for just $5.10. The sale lasts through Thursday, December 3.
• Direct2Drive has begun its 24 Days of Christmas sales event with one game on sale every day for 24 hours. They begin with putting EA's action game Mirror's Edge on sale for just $4.99. The sale lasts until 1 pm ET Wednesday

So you are looking for a PC game to give your favorite gamer. But maybe he or she doesn't care to deal with . . . what's the word we are looking for . . . oh yes, "people". They don't want a game that has any kind of component that allows them to actually interact online with others. They just want a game that they can play on their PC on their own without the need to deal with what they might call "noobs"

While the single player-only game is starting to become an endangered species on the PC, that doesn't mean they are not out there now. Big Download has a list of 10 terrific titles (plus one that will be out soon that we have high hopes for) for the PC gamer that thinks this whole "multiplayer" thingie is just a passing fad. From first person shooters to big scale RPGs to smaller downloadable indie titles, we think there's something out there for any person on your gaming list.

Click on the image above to continue reading Big Download's 2009 PC Gamer Single Player Game Holiday Gift Guide.

Tripwire Interactive made the decision to publish their monster co-op themed shooter Killing Floor to retail stores themselves. Now the small company is expanding its retail publishing arm by handling the US retail release of Zeno Clash, the very original first person action game from developer ACE Team.

Previously available only as a digital download title, Zeno Clash will soon be made available as a boxed retail game to stores in the US and Canada "soon" according to Tripwire's press release. The retail version will contain the original single player campaign, the eight challenge maps that were released later as a free download and the optional model pack that can be used in Garry's Mod.

Games from independent developers continue to gain more and more traction, especially in this economy with smaller development teams making titles that are original and outside the normal mainstream game design. Beginning today in Culver City, California (just outside of LA), the annual IndieCade festival puts the spotlight on that growing genre.

From now until Sunday, the festival will showcase a number of indie game titles including well known games such as The Maw, Zeno Clash, and The Path. In addition to showing the games, there will be speeches and panel discussions with people like Will Wright who will give the keynote speech on Saturday night. Tickets for the event are being sold at the IndieCade web site.

If you want to support independent game developers but don't want to spend a lot of money doing it, Direct2Drive's latest game sale is just up your alley. They have collected five recent indie games into one bundle and for a limited time you can get all five for a super low price.

The bundle includes the tower defense game Defense Grid, the odd adventure game The Path, the weird looking first person action game Zeno Clash, the political simulation-strategy title Democracy 2 and the puzzle title Cogs. All five can be yours now for just $17.75. Normally you would have to pay $77.75 to buy each title separately. There's no word on how long this bundle deal will last.

ACE Team's wild looking first person action game Zeno Clash has become successful enough that the development team has released free downloadable content for the game since the game's launch last April. It's also announced plans for a full sequel. Now the company is letting everyone else get access to the original game's code.

This week the SDK for Zeno Clash was released via the team's Wiki page. That page also has documentation on how to use the mod tools. Yes, now you will be able to make your own levels and mods for one of the oddest looking PC games released in recent memory. Have fun.

We are a little over halfway through the end of 2009 and so far things in the PC game industry have pretty much been what we have expected. We've had some games that were as good as we expected and other that didn't quite meet our high hopes. We've also had a couple of surprises that have kept us on our toes.

Today, We have decided to look back and give our picks for the best PC games released so far this year (in the order of which they have been released). We have also picked a couple of high profile titles that were also released but did not end up to as good as we had hoped.

However the first half of the year is usually not when the big PC game releases show up. We still have a lot to look forward to in the back half of 2009 with games like Modern Warfare 2, BioShock 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Borderlands, Champions Online, Aion, Dragon Age: Origins and (if Blizzard sticks to its announced schedule) StarCraft 2. In other words we likely haven't seen the best games of the year just yet.

Download Dawn of War 2 Single Player Demo
Download Zeno Clash Demo
Download Plants vs Zombies Demo
Download Tales of Monkey Island Demo
Download F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Demo


Click on the image above to read more of our picks for the top PC games of 2009 (so far)

As promised, the Source Engine-based first person action game Zeno Clash has had it's price cut 50 percent for this weekend only on Steam. That translates to the full game being priced at $9.99 through Sunday. The acclaimed game from developer ACE Team will also come with some new free content.

As we have reported before, the new content is three additional challenge levels under the collective title The Pit. Players fall down the levels of the Pit as they fight enemies while trying to avoid being hit by boulders and other objects. You can also gain new Steam achievements by playing the new levels in the game.

Also on sale via Steam is a pack of Might and Magic games from Ubisoft. You can get all four games in the pack (Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Heroes of Might and Magic V and its two expansion packs) for just $19.96 this weekend.

ACE Team promised extra free content would be released for their recent and acclaimed first person action game Zeno Clash and today the company revealed plans for a three level challenge pack called The Pit. The levels will be released sometime this weekend. According to a press release, ". . . gravity is the enemy and taking a wrong step can be fatal. Destructible floors and traps await the skilled who want to reach the bottom of the pit alive."

ACE Team will also cut the price of Zeno Clash by 50 percent this weekend in suport of the new downloadable levels. You can check out a YouTube video showing gameplay from The Pit levels after the jump.

Gallery: Zeno Clash

To satisfy the inner brawler in all of us, Ace Team - the developers of Zeno Clash - is releasing a free downloadable content pack that includes brand-new challenge levels. In it, players will have to battle their way through arena tournaments through deep pit and a giant tower.

Download HD Zeno Clash Tower DLC Trailer (53 MB)
Check out all Zeno Clash Downloads