Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade

2011/03/26

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

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]

2011/03/10

The Web’s Worthy Downloads [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 week, I have a few good things for you:

The latest version of WGRealms 2: Siege Breaker was released this week. What is WGRealms 2? It’s a total conversion for Duke Nukem 3D, and the sequel to the original WGRealms – which was but a mere collection of maps for DN3D. Siege Breaker has new weapons to play with, as well as several maps, of which you’ll notice inspiration from several other 90’s era FPS titles, such as Hexen, Doom, and Quake, among others. Look out for a review of this on the blog at a later date, perhaps.

Next up is a high resolution pack, or HRP, for the upcoming Dragon Age 2 - for the PC version, of course. This has been released for free on the game’s website. It weighs in at over 1 GB, and by the looks of it you will need a hefty rig to handle it.

And then I just read about the Crysis 2 multiplayer demo the other day, which is available. That and the new patch for the demo. All in all, also over 1 GB this time for the two combined. For what it’s worth, I read somewhere that this demo was responsible for losing about half of Crysis 2’s PC market. And people wonder why some companies opt to have a post-release demo.

And there’s also a King’s Quest III remake out now by AGDI! It’s been years since the last two were released. There is another remake of the third game, but it was handled by another “studio”. This new one is more inline with what you’d expect from AGD Interactive, previously known as Tierra. This redux was made in AGS, or Adventure Game Studio – an excellent program to use when looking to make a classic Sierra or LucasArts point and click, or text-based, adventure.

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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WGRealms 2: Siege Breaker [56 MB]
Crysis 2 v1.2 Multiplayer Demo Patch [38 MB]
Crysis 2 Multiplayer Demo [1.55 GB]
Download King's Quest III Redux: To Heir is Human [231 MB]
Dragon Age II High Resolution Texture Pack [1.1 GB]
[DVD] April DVD Suggestion Thread

2011/02/28

Pippa Taking a Break From The Verge

Pippa Tshabalala has been hosting the show known as The Verge for over the past two years now as far as I can recall, even though I only really started watching sometime in 2009. The show in it’s original form began in December 2008.

The Verge made a return in January 2011 after going on another break over the Christmas holidays. This was the second break The Verge had taken in about six months or so. The previous one was a break from June until August 2010.

But now just when the show has been on for just over a month again, Pippa said on last Wednesday night’s episode that she is leaving for a spell, soon – some say for two months. This means obviously that she won’t host The Verge or PlayR. On a side note she claimed that she would also be writing a column for NAG magazine soon, the first of which would appear in the birthday issue of NAG next month.

But Pippa said that there would be a replacement host on the shows for next several weeks. There I was, praying to a god who may or may not exist, that it isn’t Mo. PLEASE. Thankfully it isn’t. But it is someone else. And when I saw who it was, I cringed.

In the past there have been some rather pitiful attempts by the public to audition for a spot as a host on The Verge. And now it seems I’ve found the reason why this was being done. Pippa might only be leaving on a short break, but in the future, who knows, it might be more permanent.

Anyway, back to the substitute here. Pippa says that he has some crazy gaming skills, and for some reason I was expecting, in a cruel twist of irony, to see Michael James of NAG magazine to pop up on the screen. But it wasn’t. It’s a guy who is actually more obnoxious and irritating, and even unfunnier than Siya, and the entire Crème Cartel on Vuzu. I couldn’t believe it.

This guy, Thomas Gumede, will be hosting the show. Watch the promo to see exactly why some think that this will be the downfall of the show. The lunatics are running the asylum…

I think I saw him on the show at one stage playing on an Asus laptop, and when Pippa was asking him what the game was like and all (CoD: Black Ops, I think), he didn’t even know what to say. And they expect this guy to host the show?

I wish we could get some better shows on gaming here. Ginx Files and GameFace turned out to be a bit disappointing. What about G4TV in the states? Is that any good?

I kind of wish that it’s some sort of cruel joke or that it’s all a dream. It’s times like this when I really, really miss Cybernet.

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Source: The Verge

2011/02/24

NAG March 2011 Issue Out Today

Today sees the arrival of the latest issue of NAG hitting shelves.

There’s some good news right off the bat here. This issue of NAG is said to be up in page count, and I also saw by looking at the contents page that the spine will return some time – maybe next month, seeing as the April issue will be NAG’s birthday issue.

So let’s look at what’s in this issue of NAG:

Homefront gets the cover this issue, with some features on the Tomb Raider reboot as well. Previews include a look at the Mortal Kombat reboot, and reviews – the major feature here is Dead Space 2, released last month.

The Cover DVD – which is the reason we all buy magazines anyway – has several demos on it, none of which I’ve heard of before. The extras section does have some cool stuff by the looks of it, with a few suggestions I’ve made in the past on there. These include Pixel Force: Halo, and Pixel Force: Left 4 Dead. And a mod that I suggested a long time ago is here too: Command & Conquer 3: The Forgotten.
Speaking of suggestions, to coincide with the release of the new issue, the April DVD suggestion thread is now open for your links to whatever it is that you want to appear on the DVD. Remember that it pays to be patient, and always have direct links in your posts if you want a chance.

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NAG March 2011 issue
[NAG] March 2011 issue
[DVD] April DVD Suggestion Thread

2011/02/10

Keen Dreams: Duke Nukem Forever

It actually happened. Last night, for the first time ever, I dreamt about Duke Nukem Forever.

And it was probably one of the best dreams I’d had in recent memory – not just because it was about DNF, but because it was one of the most emotion-fuelled ones I think I’ve ever had.

It started with me playing DNF, and walking around some building, which felt like some sort of top secret facility, or lab (it could have been the IMF: Impossible Mission Facility, from Duke Nukem 3D). And as you can imagine, there I was, picking things up, throwing them around; enjoying the interactivity that is said to be in the game.

As I made my way down the storeys of the building, I was talking to people, and one of these individuals sounded like Isaac Kleiner from Half-Life 2. “They’ve really gone all out on this!” I thought to myself, as I even caught myself shedding a tear or two every now and again. I was finally, actually playing the game of my dreams (no pun intended).

Then I reached a point where I had to get down on my belly and crawl under some part of the structure, all the while being careful to avoid shooting myself with my duel M1911s. That’s right, DUEL, as in TWO Golden Colts. I think this made it in there after playing a lot of Duke 3D with the DukePlus mod.

As I was crawling (and feeling that this was a scene straight out of Metal Gear Solid), and nearly getting Duke’s huge body stuck under the floorboards, the action picked up. Through an opening ahead, I saw a van ram some kid right up against the wall in an alley. Then I heard voices, like they were questioning the kid’s friend, whose name happened to be Christian. For every question he hesitated on, the van rammed the other guy against the wall again (might have been Yatta). Maybe they wanted to desperately know what playing DNF was like.

Then the dream skipped ahead for a bit. I must have exited the game for some ludicrous reason, and there I was, reading an issue of some gaming magazine down by the pool. It looked like it might have been NAG due to the familiar reviews and scoring system. I skipped all the way down to the bottom and read the last paragraph, while simultaneously, my other eye caught the final score and pros and cons down at the bottom of the page.

There was a big round, solid score of 80. Not bad, but not as great as some might have wanted. And when I looked to see what the pros and cons were, I noticed something rather ironic under “plus”. It was one word: “pretty”. And this is after so many people have criticised the game for not being graphically up to snuff. I could only chuckle at that. Under “minus”, there was nothing; just a blank space. Once again, I found this kind of hard to believe, as critics who have played the game and previewed it have had a lot of nasty stuff to say about it – particularly the Xbox 360 version of the game, with persistent framerate issues and the like.

I think this was likely the reason I dreamt about DNF last night, after going through all my RSS feeds, picking up on the latest chicken scratch, and sh!t-talking on DNF. Whether the game does suck or not, I know that I’m going to get it and play it. I have to, since it’s really the only game that I’ve ever truly wanted for half my life (Half-Life? Get it?).

2011/01/29

Apocalypse Then: Duke Nukem 3D

15 years of Duke Nukem 3D

On this in gaming, one of the greatest games ever made (in my opinion) was released: Duke Nukem 3D.

Developed and published by 3D Realms (one of the biggest and most respected companies during the 80’s and 90s and perhaps all time), and first released in early 1996, the game went on to become one of the most successful and enduring first-person shooters of all time, with people still buying and playing it today. A very committed and talented community keeps it alive and kicking, with projects like the EDuke32 source port (with the polymer renderer), the HRP, and Duke Plus in ongoing development. And with the sequel, DNF, just around the corner, this has only gotten stronger, with other projects like Duke Nukem 3D: Reloaded in the works, which is essentially a modern remake of the game – which was green lighted by Gearbox.

But when the game was released a decade and a half ago, they said it was on top of its game – technologically advanced. Hardly just another Doom clone, as the term was back then, it had some brilliant level design, courtesy of one of the greatest in the business, Richard “The Levelord” Gray, as well as some awesome music, by talented and respected video game musicians, Lee Jackson and Bobby Prince, who had also worked on previous Apogee games too.

And not to mention that DN3D no doubt had in my mind, the first “real” character in a game. No more silent, faceless protagonists like other FPSs of its time, Duke was and still is an egotistical, misogynistic, one-liner spouting jerk – but we all loved him just the same, and he is considered one of the “coolest” game characters ever conceived. Several characters, such as Serious Sam, and most recently the protagonist from Epic Games’ Bulletstorm, are strongly influenced by the King himself. Maybe these should be called Duke Clones!

I could go on and on about how great the game was and still is today, but I’ve all ready done that so many times. Like you might have guessed: I’m a huge Duke fan. And if you’re reading this, maybe you are too.

I also have a surprise up for the anniversary of Duke Nukem 3D. It’s an article which covers the evolution of the Duke Nukem character throughout the last twenty years. That’s right: Duke Nukem 1 was released in 1991, so also don’t forget about its anniversary in July! Check out the article here.

Happy 15th Birthday, Duke Nukem 3D!

2011/01/27

NAG February 2010 Issue Out Today

It’s time. It’s NAG time. I thought I’d save you having to read through “it’s the last Thursday of the month”. Oh dear, I did it again it seems.

Anyway, NAG will be here this week to save me from an otherwise uneventful month, games wise. There’s been the typical drought after Christmas, with things usually heating up more towards Q2.
So let’s see what’s in store for us with the February 2011 issue. Crysis 2 is making the big news this time, nabbing the cover, as you can see. By the way, it looks like the Crysis 2 demo doesn’t seem to be going down well with some people, according to players of the game on Twitter. I don’t think the game will be that bad, but it won’t really be Crysis.

Reviews cover Gran Turismo 5 and WoW: Cataclysm, as well as Back to the Future: The Game: Episode 1 – needless to say the first in a line of games based on the classic sci-fi series.
As for the DVD, only one of my suggestions made it on to the DVD, and that was the StarCraft II demo. There’s also a demo of Bejeweled 3 (here we spell it with two ls, but whatever). As for the extras there’s 8 free game soundtracks (can’t wait to check those out), and a new updated version of the always useful NAG CD database.

Plenty of drivers this issue, along with THE TRAILERS!!! 135 of them. You wanted them, here they are.
By the way, the new DVD suggestion thread for the March issue is now open, so go there, sign up (or log in), and post your links to whatever you wish to appear on the DVD. There’s about a 10% of it doing so, but do it anyway.
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Sources:
NAG February 2011 issue
[NAG] February 2011 issue
[DVD] March DVD Suggestion Thread