The Web’s Worthy Downloads #2 [Guide to Goodness]

This is a new feature that I’ve decided to put on the blog. Here every now and again, I will put down all the stuff on the web that’s been released lately (and sometimes not) which is worth downloading. It could be games; music; programs – you name it.

I might do this weekly, biweekly, or even monthly. I’ll see how it goes. But one things for sure – everything you read about here is free, and therefore, very likely legal to download and play or use.

This is issue #2 of this new feature on AAA.

What do we have for this instalment then? This time it’s not as varied as before – it’s mainly all about first person shooters, most of which are multiplayer, and inspired by the likes of classics such as Quake III Arena.

The first is called Alien Arena 2011. It’s described by the developers as a retro-themed shooter, with a dose of sci-fi and aliens – we need more of this in games. It’s supposedly like a cross between Quake and Fallout 3, or some such, just by looking at the screenshot on the right. The latest version of it is 7.51, and it weighs in at just under 300 MB.

Then there’s Red Eclipse, also a free multiplayer game which once again draws inspiration from the likes of Quake III Arena – but it doesn’t use the Quake III Arena, or id Tech 3 engine. It’s a TC for the Cube Engine 2, just so you know. That’s all there is to say, it seems, apart from the fact that version 1.0 weighs in at decidedly more than AA 2011: it’s 428 MB.

There is however something else; a break from the multiplayer madness. It’s a demo of Torchlight. Now I’ve heard a little bit about this in the past – it’s an RPG title developed by some of the people who brought you Diablo, operating under the name Runic Games. This is a free time-limited, or rolling, demo which lasts 2 hours. After that you won’t be able to play it anymore, and you’ll have to buy a key (serial number) to unlock the game so you can continue playing. This one is also quite heavy, coming in at over 400 MB. But just think about this: you’re essentially getting the full game, just with restrictions.

Something else I found just recently is a mod for C&C: Generals – Zero Hour: Enhanced. I know – Zero Hour is ancient. It was released about eight years ago as an expansion to C&C: Generals – a spinoff of the main C&C universe. And no, this mod I’m talking about is not The Forgotten, which is a mod for C&C 3. This mod for Zero Hour, made by the [FM] Enhanced Mod Team, introduces players to improved graphics, textures, units, maps, and AI. There’s a whole bunch of other changes that have been made too, and you can check them all out over at the official ModDB page. There’s two downloads to be had. The one is 131 MB, and is the beta version of the mod. The second one, released a few days later, is an update, coming in at less than half that: 60 MB.

Some of these downloads are quite hefty, but in the likely case that you won’t have the time or data to handle getting them yourselves, I have suggested all of these for the latest NAG cover DVD. Whether they’ll appear on there is another story. But more often than not, they often do. Note that NAG, to my knowledge, is only available for the most part in South Africa, as well as some limited bordering countries. Of course you might be able to smuggle one in to the USA or wherever you live.

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[DVD] May DVD suggestion thread

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Alien Arena 2011 v7.51 Full Game [294 MB] Website

Red Eclipse 1.0 (Free Full Game) [428 MB] website

Torchlight v1.15 Demo [410.94MB]

C&C: Generals – Zero Hour Mod: Enhanced [131 MB] official page on Mod DB

Zero Hour: Enhanced - Enhanced Graphical Content 0.6.2 [60 MB]

The Web’s Worthy Downloads #2 [Guide to Goodness]

Call of Duty: Devils Brigade - MIA

                           Bang! You’re dead! No, I shot you! Mom!

A BlogSpot blog was spotted, which was started this year, belonging to one Leonid Korostyshevskiy and contains some leaked images of yet another Call of Duty title, that perhaps very few people know about, besides the people making it of course.

Call of Duty: Devil’s Brigade was a World War II themed FPS, but instead of taking place in Normandy like most of the run of the mill WWII shooters, this one was to be set in Italy.

It was being developed by Underground Development, most notable known for being involved with the PS3 version of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars as well as Guitar Hero: Van Halen, and was going to appear on PS3 and Xbox 360, but the project was shut down when the studio was closed by Activision, and it didn’t see the light of day. Not all that surprising or saddening, seeing as people are tired of WWII shooters nowadays, and Activision latched onto Modern Warfare instead.

Looking at the dates on the screens, it looks as though these were taken in 2007, the same year as CoD 4: Modern Warfare and before World at War. And if you look at the bottom it says there “CoD 4”. Apparently the game played a bit like Ghost Recon, and there’s even some clips of gameplay footage on YouTube.

Doing some research, there was a Devil’s Brigade, also known as 1st Special Service Force, which was active during WWII. It was comprised of both American and Canadian Commandos, and they fought in Italy and Southern France, before being disbanded in 1944, before the war’s end. The Devil’s Brigade has been the influence behind a few films and doccies, one of which is Inglourious Basterds.

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Sources:

superannuation
http://artbrigada.blogspot.com/

Call of Duty: Devils Brigade - MIA

New X-Com Title Confirmed, FPS Title Called XCOM, First Screenshot

A rumour that’s been around a long time is that another series of games from the 90’s, X-Com, will be getting a modern resurrection of sorts. 2K Australia is planning to make another X-Com title, but with a twist: it will be an FPS, or first-person shooter, title this time.

For a while, it was suspected that 2K Boston, now known once again as Irrational Games, the team who worked on the original BioShock, would be working on this title. But Ken Levine is adamant that he has a game in development that is the first in a new IP.

2K Marin, developers of BioShock 2 was then also widely reported as the team handling this new title, referred to as XCOM, but it’s been said that 2K Australia is the lucky bunch that will head development on the project. 2K Marin and 2K Australia are sister studios, along with 2K Novato, 2K California, and 2K Canberra. 2K acquired the license to the IP from Atari a few years back.

2K president Christoph Hartmann:

"With BioShock 2, the team at 2K Marin proved themselves as masters of first-person, suspenseful storytelling, and with XCOM they will re-imagine and expand the rich lore of this revered franchise. Players will explore the world of XCOM from an immersive new perspective and experience firsthand the fear and tension of this gripping narrative ride."

Teaser site write-up:

XCOM is the re-imagining of the classic tale of humanity’s struggle against an unknown enemy that puts players directly into the shoes of an FBI agent tasked with identifying and eliminating the growing threat. True to the roots of the franchise, players will be placed in charge of overcoming high-stake odds through risky strategic gambits coupled with heart-stopping combat experiences that pit human ingenuity – and frailty – against a foe beyond comprehension. By setting the game in a first-person perspective, players will be able to feel the tension and fear that comes with combating a faceless enemy that is violently probing and plotting its way into our world.

There are some concerns about this whole XCOM FPS business though, seeing as X-Com: Enforcer, a TPS [third-person shooter], was a flop. The games before this were turn-based strategy titles similar to Jagged Alliance or Fallout, except they had you fighting against UFOs and aliens and such.

This new XCOM will be available for PC and Xbox 360.

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Sources:

Press release

“X-Com 'Re-Imagined' as FPS by BioShock 2 Dev” [Shacknews]

New X-Com Title Confirmed, FPS Title Called XCOM, First Screenshot

Codemasters’ new FPS called “Bodycount”

Recently, the creator of the game called Black, which actually had its 4th anniversary this week, Stuart Black, trashed most FPSs of today, calling them “F@cking boring”. No doubt he’s not going to be able to live down that comment for some time.

Now it seems as though a trademark filing for a game has surfaced, and Stuart Black is at the helm of it. It’s possible title is “Bodycount”. It will be reportedly be developed by Codemasters, the people behind Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.

The game, whatever it’s called, will get exclusive coverage in the March issue of Official Playstation Magazine.

This is sort of unrelated, but does anybody remember that game called Operation Body Count, released in 1994? Could it be that this game is a sequel or remake of that game? You know reboots are all the rage nowadays…

I doubt it however. Nobody liked Operation Bodycount that much anyway. Some say it wasn’t even as good as Wolf 3D even though it used the same engine. I didn’t mind it that much.

Forget I said anything. Just rambling here.

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Source: CVG [Computer and Video Games]

Codemasters’ new FPS called “Bodycount”

Games and violence…against animals?

Okay, so now gamers are not only racists (Resident Evil 5), and psychotic killers (every FPS shooter game), but now they’re sadists and animal haters too.

Breanni Lucci, who is the president of a private high school’s Animal Rights Club, started a petition after seeing her brother shooting dogs in Call of Duty: World at War. Apparently, more than 100 classmates have supported the petition which she will send to Activision.

The last time we had something like this was when Nintendo demanded that id software had to take the attack dogs out of Wolfenstein 3D for the Super NES version, which were replaced with giant rats.

The killing of dogs isn’t the main aim of the game, as you have to take on the axis forces of Germany and Japan in the game. These were also violent dogs that could kill the player, and so if you were to leave them alone, they would either be gunned down by someone else or they would kill you. That’s self-defence in my book.

Once again, clueless people who don’t play games rush to conclusions and act without thinking. Let’s hope Ms. Lucci doesn’t take up politics and we end up with a Jane Thompson on our hands.

Games and violence…against animals?

New CGR article: Wolfenstein 3D

As of today, I've written another Classic Games Resurrected article, the ninth in the series, and it is Wolfenstein 3D. This game is regarded by many to be the grandaddy of them all, the game that invented the FPS genre.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Wolfenstein-3D

New CGR article: Wolfenstein 3D