I’m a Sinner… Yes Sir.. After buying Sins of a Solar Empire sight unseen I’ve been playing it non-stop through my evenings over the last four days.
If there’s one thing wrong with this 4X strategy game, it’s that you get completely sucked in and completely lose track of time. Before you know it, a quick glance at your clock will show it’s 1am and you still haven’t conquered the game after a marathon 3-4 hour session. In fact most small random games often take as long as 5 hours total to complete. Or you can attempt to do a frigate ship rush which can cut that in half, however it’s nowhere near as satisfying.
Now how does the admission of sin come into play? I haven’t even touched my World of Warcraft account, nor my EvE account, not even an inkling of desire to log into those since installing SoaSE.
This game is turning out to be the indy hit of the year, and I won’t hesitate to recommend it to fans of any type of PC strategy game. There’s something here that will appeal to everyone.
The story was originally broke by Charles Onyett from IGN as it was happening on the floor at the Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea aproximately an hour ago.
So far here’s the details:
- No release date has been announced.
- Simultaneous release on Windows and Macintosh platforms.
- The game UI remains very close to the original.
- Graphic style and unit proportions are nearly the same.
- Enhanced lighting effects (Think C&C3, and Supreme Commander)
- Massive battles with hundreds of units for large scale fights
- Single player, and online play through upgraded Battle.net service
- Realistic physics system for particle debris
- New unique gameplay mechanics for Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races.
New units such as the Protoss Mothership with a weapon to slow time while also creating black holes or launching a devastating massive laser against ground targets, Protoss Immortals with defense shields, Protoss Stalker (four legged unit) with self teleport, Protoss Colossus with dual lasers and long legs to travel over difficult terrain easily, Protoss Phoenix with the ability to overcharge weapons for a one-time shot with a cooldown, Protoss Warprey flying unit with a damage over time laser that increases in effectiveness but vulnerable to ground troops, Terran Reapers with jump packs, and Zerglings that can now mutate into rolling kamakazie bombs.
New abilities, Protoss can create shields whereever they want, and can warp in units from manufacturing facilities within range of their pylons. Protoss in general apparently will have great mobility for all units using phase fields and teleporting to move large groups of forces around.
Overall it sounds like SC2 is shaping up to be a solid sequel to the original released in early 1998. It likely won’t be blazing any new ground for the RTS genre but with Blizzards careful development its sure to be yet another bestseller with the polish and action packed gameplay that its die-hard fanbase expects.
Starcraft 2 Gameplay Video:
Starcraft 2 CGI Teaser Video:
Update: As of 4am CST Blizzard has launched the Starcraft2.com website.
Sources: IGN.com, Blizzard.com.
Necromanthus has updated the browser-based clone of Warcraft, called Warcraft Reloaded 0.9, which lets you play Warcraft in your own browser. It includes the barracks, blacksmith, the footman, weapon and armor upgrades, new sounds, and more.
XYZ Computing has a review of Razer’s new Krait mouse, optimized for MMO and RTS gaming. How does it fare; is it good, or a gimmick?
The criteria for an appropriate mouse for each style of gaming are different, or at least Razer would want you to think that this is the case. With the market starting to accept products like gaming mice and gaming keyboards, it was only a matter of time until someone introduced a mouse for a certain type of game. While it is easy to be skeptical of such an idea, Razer has a great reputation and may actually be onto something here.
Midway has announced that Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War has gone gold and is shipping to stores. The RTS game from now defunct Stainless Steel Studios introduces a few twists to a stale genre in need of more innovation, in which you control history’s greatest generals and can directly control them in action.
In Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War, players can choose from four of the ancient world’s mightiest empires – Persia, Greece, Egypt or Rome – and then engage in awe-inspiring feats of heroism by joining troops during climactic battles, using an action/adventure-style third-person perspective to personally impact the outcome as Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Cleopatra or other heroic and historic leaders.
“Rise & Fall is a graphically–stunning and easily–accessible game, offering something for strategy gamers of all levels,” said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. “Rise & Fall’s single–player campaigns and various multi–player modes feature a number of new innovations in addition to traditional RTS gameplay, including intuitive yet highly–detailed naval battles and, of course, Hero Command.”
Midway has announced that the RTS, Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War, has gone gold and should be in stores June 12th. You can check out a demo of the game at FileShack.
RISE & FALL: CIVILIZATIONS AT WAR is the first real–time strategy game to place players directly in the heart of combat as a heroic general fighting side–by–side with their troops. Players can completely command one of the four mightiest empires of the ancient world as in a traditional RTS, but can also use RISE & FALL’s innovative Hero Command to enter the battlefield as one of history’s eight greatest heroes, controlling the likes of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and more, as they slash through the enemy ranks to turn the tide of battle.
Actually, as far as I know, Sacrifice, a RTS from Shiny Entertainment, was the first to put you in the shoes of the leader while you commanded your troops.
Now open to the public is the beta version of Bang! Howdy, a hybrid turn-based and real-time strategy game set in the Wild West. Bang! Howdy is a free game that you can play online, however you can purchase microcurrency for upgrades in the game, so the super-rich can have a sizable advantage on you if they so desire. This is part of an early trend of play-free-buy-upgrades type of games that we’ll be seeing more of this year.
“We’re happier than a coyote in the chuckwagon to let y’all know what we’ve been working on back at the ranch,” said Michael Bayne, project lead for Bang! and Three Rings’ CTO. “We think strategy fans will appreciate our fresh perspective on the genre and plumb everybody will enjoy our fun and accessible Wild West antics.”
Rome: Total War has a new expansion in the works, Alexander, which features a singleplayer campaign where you take direct control of the greatest conqueror known to man, Alexander the Great. The campaign will have 6 historic battles, 4 new factions, and over 60 new units. The expansion will be available in June as a digital download from sega.com.
Gamespot has a preview of the ambitious real-time strategy game from Gas Powered Games, Supreme Commander. The sheer scope of this game is mind-boggling, and should be different from most other RTS games, especially since it comes from Chris Taylor of Total Annihiliation fame. This preview covers the different factions, gameplay mechanics, and the theater of war.
We had a chance recently to visit Gas Powered Games’ offices in Redmond, Washington, to get an early look at Supreme Commander. And from what we saw, this is a game that takes some of the core concepts of Total Annihilation and applies them on an unprecedented, awesome scale.
Not long ago, a Rise of Legends demo was released and it got some pretty negative attention. Now there’s a new demo that has all the latest code from the final release, so it should be less buggy and play better. Mirrors for the download can be found at FilePlanet, Microsoft, and WorthPlaying.
It looks like May is going to be a busy month for gaming, as another game has gone gold, this time Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends, the real-time strategy game from Big Huge Games.
As the second installment of the “Rise of Nations” franchise, “Rise of Legends” also extends the gaming experience using a 3-D engine with dynamic lighting, deformable terrain, destructible buildings, ground-rattling earthquakes and massive armies locked in enormous strategic battles. “Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends” combines cutting-edge, industry-leading technology with awe-inspiring art design to create environments unlike anything ever seen.
The real-time strategy game sequel to Rise of Nations, Rise of Legends, has gone gold and should be in stores on May 9th. Here’s the official on Rise of Legends:
The RTS gameplay of “Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends” has been improved for a more rewarding experience – gamers have the choice of drawing out battles for multiple hours for the classic RTS feel or focusing on shorter, 20-minute, campaigns. As the second installment of the “Rise of Nations” franchise, “Rise of Legends” also extends the gaming experience using a 3-D engine with dynamic lighting, deformable terrain, destructible buildings, ground-rattling earthquakes and massive armies locked in enormous strategic battles. “Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends” combines cutting-edge, industry-leading technology with awe-inspiring art design to create environments unlike anything ever seen.
FileShack has a singleplayer demo for the real-time strategy game, Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War. It weighs in at 410MB and allows you to play as the Egyptians in a mission against the Romans.
As expected, EA has officially announced Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars after scans from PC Gamer were leaked on the internet, indicating that the real-time strategy series will be making a comeback. The game takes place in 2047, where you fight a Flood-like substance (Halo, anyone?) called Tiberium. The game is expected to be released sometimes in 2007.
It is 2047 and the stakes could not be higher. Tiberium—a self-replicating alien substance that has infected the Earth—is spreading like a radioactive ice age. The GDI, a high-tech alliance of the world’s most advanced nations, is fighting to contain Tiberium, but Kane, the megalomaniacal leader of The Brotherhood of NOD has other plans for Earth. Kane’s secret society turned superpower is bent on using Tiberium to take control and transform humanity into his twisted vision of the future. All-out war rages over Tiberium and the fate of the planet rests in the balance.
After some scans were leaked on the internet from the latest PC Gamer (June issue) showcasing screenshots of the classic real-time strategy series, Command & Conquer 3, it has been announced that the game is in development. No concrete details from EA yet on the game, but that should come in soon now that this information is out.
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