Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: 4/26/09

2009/05/07

Tribute to 3D Realms

You all now know that 3D Realms is gone, unfortunately. Well, here is a small tribute I put together for them.

This is a list of all the posts I've made that refer to Duke Nukem in some form:

http://apocalypso-atomic-arcade.blogspot.com/2009/05/duke-nukem-never-game-over-for-3d.html
http://apocalypso-atomic-arcade.blogspot.com/2009/04/duke-nukem-forever-possibly-coming-soon.html
http://apocalypso-atomic-arcade.blogspot.com/2009/04/okay-put-guns-down.html
http://apocalypso-atomic-arcade.blogspot.com/2009/04/3d-realms-shocker-duke-nukem-forever.html
http://apocalypso-atomic-arcade.blogspot.com/2009/02/games-i-want-this-year-duke-nukem.html
http://apocalypso-atomic-arcade.blogspot.com/2009/01/when-its-dumb-duke-nukem-forever.html
http://apocalypso-atomic-arcade.blogspot.com/2009/01/on-this-day-duke-nukem-3d.html

This is a list of all the games that 3D Realms has been involved with:

As Apogee Software

Developer

1986 – Beyond the Titanic
1986 – Block Five
1986 – Diamond Digger (aka Raiders of the Forbidden Mine and Gold Miner)
1986 – Maze Machine
1986 – Maze Runner (aka Rogue Runner)
1987 – Kroz series
1987 – Supernova
1988 – Night Bomber
1988 – The Thing
1988 – Trek Trivia
1988 – Word Whiz
1989 – Meteors (aka Asteroid Rescue)
1990 – Phrase Master
1991 – Arctic Adventure
1991 – Crystal Caves
1991 – Duke Nukem
1992 – Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure
1992 – Secret Agent
1993 – Bio Menace
1993 – Duke Nukem II
1993 – Major Stryker
1993 – Monster Bash
1994 – Rise of the Triad
1995 – Realms of Chaos
1996 – Stargunner

Publisher/producer

1988 – Trivia Whiz – Micro F/X Software
1988 – Star Trek: The Next Generation Trivia – Micro F/X Software
1989 – The Thor Trilogy – Scenario Software
1990 – Pharaoh's Tomb – Micro F/X Software
1990 – Monuments of Mars – Scenario Software
1990 – Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons – id Software
1991 – Dark Ages – Scenario Software
1991 – Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy! – id Software
1991 – Paganitzu – Trilobyte
1991 – Jumpman Lives! – Shamusoft Designs
1992 – Wolfenstein 3D – id Software
1992 – Word Rescue – Redwood Games
1992 – Math Rescue – Redwood Games
1993 – Alien Carnage (aka Halloween Harry) – SubZero Software
1993 – Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold – JAM Productions
1994 – Blake Stone: Planet Strike – JAM Productions
1994 – Boppin' – Accursed Toys
1994 – Hocus Pocus – Moonlite Software
1994 – Mystic Towers – Animation F/X
1994 – Raptor: Call of the Shadows – Mountain King Studios
1994 – Wacky Wheels – Beavis Soft
1995 – Xenophage: Alien Bloodsport – Argo Games
1996 – Death Rally – Remedy Entertainment

Cancelled projects

The Underground Empire of Kroz
Dino Days
Gateworld
Commander Keen: The Universe Is Toast
Fantasy 3D
Cybertank 3D
Tubes
BoulderDash 5000
Nuclear Nightmare
Angels Five
The Second Sword
Wards of Wandaal
Doom – Was supposed to be published by Apogee, but a discussion with id Software (developer of Doom) finished with the conclusion that Apogee would no longer publish any games of id.
Megaloman
Tom, Dick, and Harry– Was written by Chris Nurse and produced by Andrew Amess of Transend Ltd which was a British shareware company that sold all Apogee games and was the U.K. distributor of DOOM. Tom, Dick and Harry was offered to Apogee but never reached the market, as Transend Ltd closed down.
Violent Vengeance
Descent
Monster Bash VGA
Crazy Baby
Fumes
Crystal Carnage
Pitfall (PC version)
Ravager
Cyberpunk Kid
Duke Nukem Forever (scroll game) – Was a side scroll game Apogee intended to do but later cancelled (not related to Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project).

As Pinball Wizards

Publisher/producer

1997 – Balls of Steel – Wildfire Studios

As 3D Realms

Developer

1996 – Duke Nukem 3D
1997 – Shadow Warrior

Publisher/producer

1995 – Terminal Velocity – Terminal Reality
1997 – Duke Nukem 64 – Eurocom
1997 – Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown – Aardvark Software
1998 – Duke Nukem: Time to Kill – N-Space
1999 – Duke Nukem: Zero Hour – Eurocom
1999 – Duke Nukem (Game Boy Color) – Torus Games
2000 – Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes – N-Space
2001 – Max Payne – Remedy Entertainment
2002 – Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project – ARUSH Entertainment/Sunstorm Interactive
2003 – Duke Nukem Advance – Torus Games
2003 – Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne – Remedy Entertainment
2004 – Duke Nukem Mobile – Machine Works Northwest/Tapwave
2005 – Duke Nukem Mobile II: Bikini Project – Machine Works Northwest
2005 – Duke Nukem Mobile 3D – Machine Works Northwest
2006 – Prey – Human Head Studios
2008 – Duke Nukem 3D (Xbox Live Arcade)

Announced projects

TBA – Duke Nukem Forever (DNF)

Cancelled projects

Ruins: Return of the Gods – A 3D game using the Build engine, it was sold to Playmates Interactive and retitled "Exhumed" (PowerSlave in the US).
Blood – The game was supposed to be developed and/or produced by 3D Realms, but the rights were sold to Monolith Productions, who finished the game, which was published by GT Interactive.
Descent: FreeSpace — The Great War
Duke Nukem: D-Day – Was to be developed by N-Space.
Earth No More – Transferred over to Radar Group.
Prey 2 – Transferred over to Radar Group.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_Realms

Duke Nukem Never: Game Over for 3D Realms

"It's not a marketing thing. It's true. I have nothing further to say at this time."- Joe Siegler

Yes, it's happened- 3D Realms is gone; in the blink of an eye, and just when we thought we might get Duke Nukem Forever this year. So close!

Fan reaction has been annoyingly callous, but then again, making people wait a dozen years for a game is asking for trouble, and not just with fans, but with publishers, too.

This is some very sad, frustrating news, but it was bound to happen eventually. Don't believe me? Check out this post I made last month about 3D Realms going under. The funny thing is, it was meant to be an April Fool's Day joke! While you're reading it though, put on a serious face and ignore the fact that it says April 1st. And rest assured- this time it isn't an April Fool's Day Joke. May 6th, 2009 will always from now on be remembered as the day 3D Realms closed down.

On some slightly better news, Apogee will still be around, and Duke Nukem Trilogy will still come out sometime, while Take-Two, the b@stards who reportedly cut off 3D Realms' funding and shut them down, still own the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever. So, we might still get it sometime in the next 12 or 13 years, albeit a little tainted.

Sources:

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58519

The Wish Granter- Call of Duty: Vietnam

Rumours have now been going around about a new branch in the franchise, and instead of World War II or Modern Warfare, it’s going to be in Vietnam or something.

As I’ve said before, Call of Duty’s WW II exploits are getting a little stale, with mainly just the same stuff (the Russian campaigns have been more or less the same since the first one), but with prettier graphics. I liked the American campaign of World at War, with the Pacific Front being explored more, and it gave a little taste of what might come in the form of this Call of Duty: Vietnam, if it is real. And why not? It’s just a natural progression, and could, and should happen sometime. Even Medal of Honor did a Vietnam game, Men of Valor, which was okay.

The first time my hopes were raised was due to an April Fool’s day insert in an issue of NAG magazine in 2008 or so, where they had a fake box cover reading Call of Duty: Vietnam, and the picture had a couple of marines with M16s jumping out of Huey helicopter as it hovered over the grassy plains- sort of like that part in We Were Soldiers, with Mel Gibson. Even though it was all a joke, I just got excited about the idea that one day we might get it. This latest rumour then is also not much to get excited about on alone, but when you start to think about it, you can picture it.

Vietnam is both a rose and a thorn in the side of American culture, and perhaps the culture of others nations. Yes, the Americans withdrew, and they lost over 58 000 men, and it was reportedly one of the most terrifying wars ever fought, according to survivors. But on the other hand, think of how many people treated veterans when they came back home. There was that line from the trailer of ShellShock 2: Blood Trails, a game based in Vietnam, which came out recently (and sucked apparently): “A country that doesn’t want me.” That stuck in my head.

Imagine bits of your favourite Vietnam films, like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Born on the Fourth of July, Apocalypse Now, We Were Soldiers- those are some of my favourite films of all time. Now I think it’s time to have a collection of some good, memorable games set in Vietnam too.

Sources:

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2009/05/01/call-of-duty-7-in-vietnam-cuba/
http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/eymOjBy17do/rumor-call-of-duty-moving-on-to-vietnam

Prototype Preorder- Bonuses

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Prototype- PC - $49.99

Prototype- Xbox 360 - $59.99

Prototype- PS3 - $59.99

2009/05/06

What 3D Realms has to say About Wolf 3D Turning 17

The other day I wrote a piece on "Apocalypse Then: Wolfenstein 3D", which was in respect to "the grandaddy of them all". I checked, and 3D Realms also had something to say about Wolf 3D, seeing as they published the game when it first came out, under Apogee Software, and were also due to make an addon for it, which eventually became a separate project- Rise of The Triad: Dark War.

http://www.3drealms.com/news/2009/05/wolf3d_turns_17.html

Thief Fans Running a Source Petition

Since Square Enix has bought Eidos, the Thief fans are now pleading with Yoichi Wada to release the source code for the original games in the series, namely Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age, which both use the Dark engine, the same as Thief Gold and System Shock 2.

"To: Mr. Yoichi Wada, Square Enix' President and Representative Director

Dear Mr. Yoichi Wada!

We are the Thief-community and are inspired by the fact that your company, Square Enix, has bought Eidos. Your corporate slogan, «It is the mission of the SQUARE ENIX Group to spread happiness across the globe by providing unforgettable experiences», has brought hope to us, who are pained for ten years by the futile, but at the same time ineradicable, dream. Let us share it with You.
The games Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age, which were released in 1998 and 2000, opened for PC players a door to the mysterious and mythical world based on Medieval Europe. The world that is tissued from steam and magic, made by the geniuses of Looking Glass Studios, became so attractive to Thief players that they began to create their own missions by themselves, and these missions enlarge and fill up the original games (now there is more than 800 of them). Not few among them are better in quality than the original games (see, for example, rating at http://www.keepofmetalandgold.com/fmarchive.htm).

The world of Thief still lives over a decade after its initial release through the efforts of its fans – isn't it proof of the fact that the game is a work of genius? However, time passes by, and the technology, made for the base of Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age, can no longer provide enough freedom for the activities of those who want to enlarge and improve the original games. We, as the Thief-community, dream of receiving in our hands the original source code of Thief: The Dark Project and/or Thief 2: The Metal Age in order to make changes and improvements to it. By releasing the source code to us fans, it would give more scope to those who continue to create the world of Thief.

We are by no means calling on Square Enix to release the games Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age as freeware. We are only requesting the original source code for the graphics engine to these games, not anything more. More than ten years has passed since the release of Thief: The Dark Project and more than nine years since the release of Thief 2: The Metal Age. Because of this, we realize that these two titles are likely to be of little technological and/or commercial value for publisher. That's why we charitably ask you, the new owner of the "Thief" brand, to make the Thief-community happy and publish the original graphics source code of the games Thief: The Dark Project and/or Thief 2: The Metal Age, thus confirming Your corporative slogan.

Publishing the original source code of an old game is a widespread demonstration of good will to players - it is done by known of PC game developers: id Software (Wolfenstein 3D, Doom 1&2, Quake 1-3), Raven Software (Heretic 1&2, Hexen 1&2), 3D Realms (Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior), Volition (Freespace) and others. We cherish hopes that Square Enix will do the same with Thief: The Dark Project and/or Thief 2: The Metal Age as well.

We understand that it has been nine years since the closing of Looking Glass Studios, and that it is possible that the original source code of Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age does not exist integrally and ready for compilation. If this is true, we understand this but then, please, publish everything that is left, and we will try, like archeologists, to rise the great past from the ashes!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned"

This has been provided as is, and there are bits and pieces that look as though it wasn't proofread,
but the message is clear. I agree that it's about time that the source code is released and those enthusiastic about it can get to work with giving Thief a bit of a face lift.

If you're interested, and want to know more, and sign the petition (I all ready have), then head on over to http://www.petitiononline.com/ThiefSrc/.

New All-Time Low Prices for PC Games

Home Design 3D: Kitchen And Bath Edition - $19.99 - Save $10.00
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization - $19.99 - Save $8.00
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Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition - $42.49 - Save $3.00
Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor - $26.99 - Save $1.00
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy - $14.99

Latest on Amazon.com: Amazon Kindle DX is available for pre-order

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The Wish Granter: F.E.A.R. 3

After playing F.E.A.R. 2 and noticing the overall average reaction (I enjoyed it at least a little), with many comparing it to original, citing its shortfalls, I thought, “Where to with F.E.A.R. now?”

After the events of F.E.A.R. 2, Alma became pregnant with Michael Becket’s child, hinting at the probability of F.E.A.R. 3, with the baby being the third prototype.

I thought about not necessarily a F.E.A.R. 3, as in continuing the story of the F.E.A.R. series, but a game taking place in the same universe but in an alternate reality. Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC) carried on with all of their projects, like Origin, Perseus, Icarus, Harbinger, and Paragon (there are others, these are just the main ones). The Department of Defence, the Military, Law Enforcement Agencies, and even Terrorist Organisations become interested in ATC’s projects after exclusive reveals and want to use them. It would be the start of a new, different, unwinnable war which would make trillions for ATC, where all sides have access to ATC’s expendable, replaceable, highly-trained clone soldiers, psychic commanders, covert assassins, and other ATC technological innovations, like Powered Armour units (mechs), and weapons.

Basically it would be as if the events of F.E.A.R. hadn’t happened, and maybe in this game, the player would assume the role of one of the psychic commanders controlling a squad or a platoon of clone soldiers.

A possible future SWAT team replacement?

A military force to be reckoned with?

FBI, CIA or Terrorists?

Assassin’s Creed 2 Concept Art

I’ve scanned a few images out of the May Edition of NAG magazine, which has an “exlcusive” interview on Assassin’s Creed. The other pictures that were there you’ve most likely seen.
If you haven’t, then check here:

http://www.n4g.com/News-320974.aspx

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/new-assassins-creed-ii-images-really/1231/

There have been quite a few new screenshots for Assassin’s Creed 2, depicting the protagonist, Ezio, being able to fly, and not just by jumping off of buildings, but by using some flying contraption resembling a pair of bird’s or dragon’s wings. Another few have him diving into or swimming in the canals of Venice- at least he doesn’t drown like that wimp, Altair. Perhaps after scaling viewpoints to get more info on the map, he can dive into the canals instead of having to look for those straw piles- and missing when he falls.

2009/05/05

Thief 4 on the way: Trail of Blood

It hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, but there are several clues that have been spotted, some by many, and others by just a few.

There was this piece of concept art suggesting a more modern setting for Thief 4, allegedly created by Ion Storm in about 2004/2005:

And for those of you worried about the prospect of Thief being modernized, the latest rumours say that idea has been scrapped, thankfully- although it wouldn’t be a bad idea for a spin-off or another game entirely.

We all know about the clue a time ago where Eidos advertised a job offer on their site with the letter “T”, supposedly referring to Thief being their next project (quite obvious, really):

Then there was the clue this year that looked like this, with people claiming that the font was very “Thief”:

Then recently in a magazine, according to thereticule.com, there was this:

As we can clearly see in the ad, the mystery game belongs to a series that has earned a place in GameSpot’s “Greatest Games of All Time” and “Ten Best Heroes in Gaming,” as well as Gamespy’s “Hall of Fame.” Thief is the only Eidos-developed series to have earned these accolades. And when you think about it, it’s rightfully deserved- at least for the first two games.

In a thread on the TTLG forums very recently, someone did a search for www.thief4.com and, yes, found it to be a domain registered by Eidos last year:

“Just did a whois look up for www.thief4.com and got these tantalizing results.

Quote:
Registrant:
Eidos Plc
Domain Administrator
Wimbledon Bridge House 1 Hartfield Road
London, SW19 3RU
GB
Email: haithamr@eidos.co.uk

Registrar Name....: CORPORATE DOMAINS, INC.
Registrar Whois...: whois.corporatedomains.com
Registrar Homepage: www.cscprotectsbrands.com

Domain Name: thief4.com

Created on..............: Tue, Dec 30, 2008
Expires on..............: Sun, Apr 04, 2010
Record last updated on..: Mon, Jan 05, 2009

Administrative Contact:
Eidos Plc
Haitham Rowley
Wimbledon Bridge House 1 Hartfield Road
London, SW19 3RU
GB
Phone: +44.2086363000
Email: haithamr@eidos.co.uk

Technical Contact:
Corporation Service Company
Domain Registrar
PO Box 597
Yarmouth, NS B5A 4B4
CA
Phone: +1.9027465201
Email: admin@internationaladmin.com

I'd say that's a pretty good indication of development. I had to change my pants after I got curious and checked it. December is pretty recent too.

I think it's officially on, fellas.”

The next thing to look out for will be the date mentioned in the magazine advert- the 11th of May, when hopefully all will be revealed and the “big secret” will be let out. Still, it might be a while before the game actually comes out.

This year, Eidos was bought by Square Enix too, although they maintain that Eidos Plc will operate independently, so hopefully we don’t end up with a Japanese anime-type game.

I’d also like to see how it’ll compare to The Dark Mod, which has been in development nearly since the last Thief game, Deadly Shadows, was released.

Sources:

http://thereticule.com/2009/05/more-thievery-acoming/

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126419

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2009/05/04/thief-4-is-the-worst-kept-secret-in-the-world/

PC Games Available for Preorder

Now Available for Preorder

05-12-2009 - Left4Dead - Game of the Year Edition - $39.99

Releasing Soon - Preorder Now

05-19-2009 - Joint Operations Complete Collection - $29.99

05-19-2009 - Terminator: Salvation - $49.99

New All-Time Low Prices for PC Games

Prey Limited Collector's Edition- $15.48 - Save $1.50
40 Years of the X-Men - $29.99 - Save $1.00
Kings Bounty: The Legend - $14.69
Dead Space - $29.99 - Save $7.00
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars - $8.99
Battlestations Midway - $16.99 - Save $0.50

Where are the Stars now: B.J. Blazkowicz

B.J. Blazkowicz is the protagonist from Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and is under contract to star in Wolfenstein, the sequel to RTCW.

William Joseph (B.J.) Blazkowicz, of Polish descent, served in the O.S.A. branch of the United States Military during World War II. He was captured and held prisoner in the depths of Castle Wolfenstein in a dark, dank cell, on his own. He managed to break out and made his way through level upon level until he reached the exit and escaped the castle.

He then embarked on a quest afterwards to take down some of the major figures in the Nazi regime and German army, foiling their plans for biological warfare in the Nocturnal Episodes of Wolfenstein 3D. Eventually he ended the dream of the third Reich, eliminating Hitler down in his bunker.

“It was complete balls- not historically accurate- because Hitler killed himself, as anyone will tell you.”

Then id made a prequel to the events, in Spear of Destiny. He had to retake the legendary Spear that pierced the side of Christ; else it would stay in the wrong hands and turn the tide of the war. B.J. made a comment, saying, “It got really bizarre. The things in Spear of Destiny were way different from Wolf 3D, with angels and bats with guns and weird stuff.”

Id then put out what has been referred to as the lost episodes of Spear of Destiny, and B.J. had to go back and finish up with those.

After having waged a lone war against the Nazis for two whole games, B.J. was then forced to star in another game, this time it was Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which was basically a remake with modern technology, but sent B.J. to places that he hadn’t been before, which he claims made a nice change instead of Spear of Destiny, which was basically like Wolfenstein 3D, but with the enemies having a wardrobe change, and new music playing in the background.

B.J. now has orders to star in yet another id game, Wolfenstein, which is the sequel to RTCW.

“You think they would have come up with more original names. Out of all the games, only Spear of Destiny is different. The other three all have 'Wolfenstein' in the title.”

B.J. usually refers to himself as William and hates his nickname for certain reasons. He also doesn’t like to abbreviate Spear of Destiny, as it “spells a rude word”.

“They’re a bunch of sickos, the people who thought up this stuff.” He claims.

He married Julia Marie Peterson after World War II and later had a son. Their son, Arthur Kenneth Blazkowicz, or A.K., became a television talk show host in Milwaukee and later changed his last name to Blaze. His son was named William Blaze or Billy Blaze for short, the protagonist in an earlier Id Software title, Commander Keen.

“To think they made it so I was related to that little pogo pouncing squirt; of all the nerve.”

B.J. lives in a chateau in Germany, where he is currently working with id and Raven Software on Wolfenstein.

Regarding the parodies and references to Wolf 3D in other games, like Telltale Games' Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, where there is a mini-game referred to as "Castle Poopenstein", B.J. says that they have “no respect whatsoever”.

When asked to comment on whether Rise of the Triad should have been part of the Wolfenstein series, he said, “Of course! I was geared up to be in that game, and then they changed their minds, and it ended up starring all these other people instead and things changed. I would have been psyched to star in it.”

When he was asked if it was true that he once had romantic ties to Gretel Grosse from Wolf 3D, he said, “I’d sooner kiss her brother, Hans.”

Apocalypse Then: Wolfenstein 3D

May Day (holiday)

On this day in gaming, in 1992, the legendary Wolfenstein 3D was released.

Wolf 3D is often called the granddad of FPS games, even though Doom helped carry the genre even further. The term “Doom Clone” was used throughout 1993-1997, and was replaced by the current first-person shooter term we use today. Shouldn’t it have been “Wolf Clone”?

The game received a prequel of sorts in September, Spear of Destiny, four months later. Another game in the series is Return to Castle Wolfenstein, released in 2001, and the latest installment, called Wolfenstein, will hopefully be released this year.

2009/05/03

PC Games Coming out in May- Week 1

May 4, 2009 Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper

May 5, 2009 Crysis: Maximum Edition (Crysis, Crysis Warhead, Crysis Wars)

May 5, 2009 Left 4 Dead (Game of the Year Edition)

May 5, 2009 Plants vs. Zombies

May 5, 2009 Fallout 3: Broken Steel

Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!

Sherlock Holmes Chronicles (Trilogy)- (The Awakened, The Secret of the Silver Earring, and The Mystery of the Mummy)

Sources:

http://pc.ign.com/index/release.html

http://www.gamespot.com/

Resident Evil 5, Bionic Commando and Street Fighter 4 for PC!

It's been confirmed that three of the biggest games this year are making their way to the PC soon- Resident Evil 5, Bionic Commando and Street Fighter 4.

Sources:

http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewstory&threadid=97986

2009/05/02

More on S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

It turns out that S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, touted as the second add-on for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, might actually not be “just” an expansion after all.

Bluesnews has settled for “third stand-alone game”, because it might not be a sequel either (please, not another identity crisis!). In any case, they say it will be here sometime in Q3 2009. The game is using the X-Ray v 1.6 engine, and looking at the scans and screenshots I’ve seen, it looks a bit better than Clear Sky- not to say that Clear Sky looked bad. At least the character detail is up a bit.

One wonders then if S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat possibly IS S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 after all? In an interview with one of the guys from GSC Game World, Sergey, it was mentioned that there would be S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat and probably a sequel as well: “This (Call of Pripyat) is the name of the second add-on for Stalker and will release this year, in Autumn. I can say that Stalker 2 we will develop unambiguously.”

Note: A post similar to this has appeared on my other blog, Anomalous Artefact.

Sources:

http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewstory&threadid=97940

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58426

Ghost Recon 4 and Splinter Cell: Conviction Coming Sometime

In the latest Ubisoft sales report for the last fiscal year, two Tom Clancy flagship games were revealed and are now generating a buzz. The one is Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction, a game that was advertised a lot ages ago, and then went underground. That title is, according to Ubisoft, going to be out by December 2009, and like Borderlands, will take a new visual art direction. The other game is Ghost Recon 4. The report doesn’t say Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 4, although it would actually be 3, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t change later. It’s due for a 2010 release.

I hope they make a game similar to the first Ghost Recon- it was the best one, I don’t know why.

Sources:

http://www.gamerdna.com/Favorite/Gaming/New_Spinter_Cell_by_this_holiday_season

http://www.gamerdna.com/Favorite/Gaming/New_Ghost_Recon_announced

My New Blog: Anomalous Artefact

I've just started a new blog as of today, and it's coming along quite nicely. The blog is mostly about S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and it's called Anomalous Artefact. Have a look if you've got time.

2009/05/01

PC Games At Their All-Time Low Prices

Call of Duty: War Chest (Includes Call of Duty, Call of Duty: United Offensive Expansion Pack, & Call of Duty 2) - $29.99

Fallout 3 - $39.99

Far Cry 2 - $27.99

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent - $19.49

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - $39.99

Left 4 Dead 4 Free

Speaking of Left 4 Dead, if you haven’t read it all ready, then you’ll be pleased to know that Left 4 Dead is free to download from Steam today! The deal started at 00:01 GMT on this Freaky Friday, and will last 24 hours from that time. If you’re only reading this now, it means you’ve only got so many hours left, though.

http://planethalflife.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=158009

Another Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack

This time it’s been imaginatively titled Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 2, and from the video I’ve seen it actually looks quite thrilling. But has anyone noticed that people are obsessed with this Zombie thing? Sometimes I think CoD has turned into Doom or something.

Maybe they should just develop an entire game, and call it Nacht Der Untoten or All Nachtmare Long, and just have a story about survivors of World War 2 battling zombies- undead soldiers come back from the grave to consume the living so that nobody wins the war. Left 4 Dead was just like that, in a way- released as a multiplayer game right from the start. I think if they ever did, Nacht Der Untoten or All Nachtmare Long should definitely have a singleplayer too, and not just multipayer.

Discount on Rise of the Triad at GOG.com

There’s an Apogee promotion at the moment at GOG, where Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, Blake Stone: Planet Strike and Rise of the Triad are now 25% cheaper, and that means you’ll only pay $4.49 for each. The deal only lasts until Monday, May 4 at 11:59 p.m.

http://www.gog.com/en/news/date/all#g_1207317350

http://www.gog.com/en/page/apogee_promo

Apocalypse Then- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Worker's Day (holiday)

On this day in gaming, in 2002, Morrowind was released. It is the third major game in the Elder Scrolls series by Bethesda, and used the Gamebryo engine which is still used by games today, like Oblivion and Fallout 3, among many others.

There were two expansions for it, Bloodmoon and Tribunal, one of which introduced the player to the Dark Brotherhood, the opposition to the Morag Tong, which was further enlarged upon in Oblivion, the game’s sequel.