Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:53 PM

Category: First Person

Only rarely people dared to set off for the Zone to find out, to procure evidence of weird and uncanny changes around Chernobyl Atomic Plant. Only a handful returned, bringing strange objects and stories of deadly traps and eerie animal mutants, they found out of somebody inside controlling the evolution of humanity, forcing it to leap towards unknown final. They became stalkers, those who leave for the changing world of the Zone to explore it and find artefacts, those who cross the Zone of immense territory covered with ulcers of black lakes, scorched earth, poisonous fogs, deadly anomalous zones, populated by sapient pseudo-animal mutants.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 6:52 PM

Category: Role Playing

The combat runs into even more issues that pile on frustration. First, opponents can run through walls. Not every wall, mind you, but it occurred with surprising regularity. We saw NPCs run through solid rock, monsters move effortlessly through cave walls, and humanoids breeze right through stone ruins. They also seemed to get stuck at certain points. For instance, a large group of foes attempting to cross a bridge all got glued together somehow, jittering in a line as we waited patiently at the other end for an opponent to detach themselves.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:48 PM

Category: Mods

You must defeat axis forces to prevent the resurrection of god Wotan...Action takes place at night, you must fight your way through destroyed houses to reach the castle where the ceremony is starting..!

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 10:44 AM

Category: Role Playing

If there is one thing about Neverend that is even more annoying to deal with than the meat of the game itself, it's the graphics. Since when do people cast four shadows at once, all of equal length and intensity, in the four cardinal directions at all times?

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 9:44 AM

Category: Music

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 8:47 AM

Category: General

Rich Wickham: I don't think compatibility concerns should keep a gamer from upgrading to Windows Vista, even from day 1. We've been testing hundreds of games for Windows Vista compatibility for more than a year now. We're very happy with the results so far, and we'll keep working and engaging with our software and hardware partners to make sure we address any issues.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 5:34 PM

Category: Strategy

The first thing to note about the game is just how open the developers promise the world will be, letting you drop into any location with ease, switching between a command mode and a hands-on action mode. We're talking huge photo realistic landscapes with a total area of 154 sq. km. Players can zoom in and out on this world, locating hotspots and dropping available forces where they feel they are needed the most like a supreme commander should be able to. But if a hands on approach is needed you can jump into any of the forces you command at any time and take the fight to your foes directly.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 4:42 PM

Category: Role Playing

It's the RPG equivalent of developing a character by dropping the Dungeons & Dragons Player Handbook on the ground and selecting the skill on whatever page it opens to.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 3:05 PM

Category: First Person

The add-on picks up where the original game left off. If you haven't finished F.E.A.R. and don't want the ending spoiled, stop reading now.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 12:32 PM

Category: Entertainment

Jackson's film company, Wingnut Films, brought a legal action against New Line resulting from an audit the company undertook on The Fellowship of the Ring.

Jackson, a devoted Tolkien fan, said he had been removed from the Hobbit project by New Line, who also hold the rights to a second Lord of the Rings prequel.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 11:49 AM

Category: Role Playing

There is also very little sense of the world existing around you. Unfairly again perhaps, Oblivion gave you a sense that if you weren't there things would still happen - it was a living breathing world. Gothic 3's world exists purely for you and if you're not there, it'll wait for you.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:59 PM

Category: Massively Multiplayer

Though you may not need to pay beyond the usual retail price tag, Guild Wars is a real contender for others out there. I entered this games universe with a prejudice; after having tasted World of Warcraft and becoming some what hooked I doubted this could really impress me. My preconceptions were very wrong; in fact I’ve seen much strength over other MMO’s.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 9:28 PM

Category: Strategy

The units and buildings in this expansion are as well done as the previous offering of this title and add much to the appeal of the game. Playing it really feels like you are wandering through the woods of the Americas and it's a quite realistic approach to game boards and probably the best I have seen in this type of game. The animation of workers and soldiers are quite excellent and the buildings are well pulled off. If there is one area I would have liked to have seen improved it's the way ships are done; I feel they are just a little off but that is simply my opinion.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 12:38 PM

Category: Role Playing

The graphics are the first hook and it’s a damn big one. The detail to the game is amazing; to the stitching of leather armor, the metal grain in a suit of plate armor, the architecture of the buildings in cities, the bark on trees or the leaves in the trees that sway in the breeze. The developers spared nothing in their quest of brining the gamer to a visually immersive world.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 8:18 AM

Category: Role Playing

The expansion adds eight new character classes to the game, dozens of new monsters, hundreds of new weapons, and 10 extra character levels. It also includes a new environment in the underworld of Hades, and offers "more than 12 hours of single-player content per difficulty level."

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:06 PM

Category: Role Playing

I was well aware of the furore on the internet about the game's unfinished, buggy state when played off-the-shelf. I had also tried the first game in the series and had dismissed its supposedly grand RPG experience as nothing but poorly written garbage. I was, in short, fully prepared for disappointment. And I was right, kind of.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:23 PM

Category: Role Playing

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- THQ Inc. (Nasdaq: THQI) today announced that Titan Quest(TM): Immortal Throne(TM), the first expansion to the critically acclaimed Titan Quest(TM), is currently in development and is scheduled to release worldwide in early 2007. Titan Quest: Immortal Throne expands on the popular original property, transporting the epic story from the swamps of the Mediterranean to the depths of Hades.

"The summer release of Titan Quest marked a strong global success for THQ on both a critical and commercial level," said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. "Titan Quest: Immortal Throne will provide the large existing fan base with exciting new content."

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 10:07 AM

Category: Role Playing

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 4:40 PM

Category: Mods

To be honest, there isn’t much to say about this map, apart from the fact that its damn fun to play. You can choose from 4 difficulties, and either way you are teleported to a room in which you find scattered weapons, ammo, and of course… enemies. Before you start, there are additional buttons you can push to create crushers, laser tripwires, lava towers and even annoying music.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 10:14 AM

Category: General

General gameplay, regardless of the combat system, is best in real time, because it's fast, gives maneuverability and easy in-game character reaction. Real Time Combat System is best appreciated over the net. The majority of MMORPG uses this system, 'cause we have some slow players (I mean, you can time these guys with a calendar). If you were to mention turn-based in the same sentence as Multiplayer, you would probably get laughed at. Slow paced games have no place on the net, so Real Time rules net games, and it looks its gonna stay that way for a while.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 8:25 AM

Category: Massively Multiplayer

With Guild Wars, the term "expansion" is used loosely; like the previous two installments of the game, Nightfall essentially stands alone, providing a self-contained play experience for newcomers, and compelling new content for veterans. Specifically to the advantage of new players, Nightfall introduces a system that allows you to control powerful NPC companions, which makes almost every aspect of the game's PvE experience much more accessible.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 1:18 PM

Category: Entertainment

Known for hard, grizzled roles in numerous Westerns during his six-decade career, Palance gained a second wind of fame when he won the best supporting actor Oscar for playing Curly in "City Slickers."

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 5:28 PM

Category: Role Playing

This Gothic 3 demo includes the beginning area of the game, including the towns of Ardea and Cape Dun and the Rebel outpost Reddock, with all available quests, weapons, spells and NPCs.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 10:40 AM

Category: Role Playing

Gameplay wise, there's a lot to enjoy. Progressing through the chapters unlocks an impressive amount of skills, henchmen and a wide variety of quests to go through. The coolest thing is that the development team was smart enough to include practically all the skills, feats and special abilities that were present in Neverwitner Nights, Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide and Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 5:07 PM

Category: Role Playing

Liezen, Austria, 8th November, 2006; JoWooD Productions, Deep Silver and Piranha Bytes are giving due notice to the gaming public at large, that in two days time, for all those that have not yet played Gothic 3 - and experienced the incredible vastness of this RPG - they will be able to dip into the living real world with the release of the Gothic 3 demo, on Friday 10 November.

At the start of this immense demo, you`ll be teared both into the beginning of the game and the exciting world of Myrtana by interacting with the folks and taking care of their troubles in Ardea, Reddock and Kap Dun. Kill the furious beasts of the wilderness, get your first useful and lethal items and step farther into the revealing storyline. In this demo, you`ll be facing two of the main factions – the orcs and the rebels. Choose wisely for whom your sword will fight!

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 9:05 AM

Category: First Person

The scenario of the game bases on the real episodes of the Second World war. The action takes place in the outskirts and inside the German top-secret military facility (Hitler’s field headquarters Wehrwolf.( note: Wehrwolf – armed wolf, Werwolf - werewolf) not far from Vinnitsa. Even today this facility is covered under the curtain of mystery, secrets and myths. Until now Wehrwolf is one of mysterious and undiscovered places in Europe.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 8:44 AM

Category: Role Playing

There is a good amount of places to go and explore. Most of them are completely optional if you only follow the main story, but to learn about the world, its past, mysteries, and maybe even to solve some of those mysteries, the player will have to seek for answers in places tucked away far from the main path. Needless to say, curiosity will be appropriately rewarded.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 10:36 AM

Category: General

"Acquiring DreamCatcher perfectly aligns with JoWooD’s strategy to deliver high-quality computer and videogames globally. We are looking at DreamCatcher as our North American counterpart and there are numerous and important synergies waiting to be exploited by all of us" says Albert Seidl, CEO of JoWooD Productions Software AG.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 9:33 AM

Category: First Person

The story for BF2142 is a fairly stereotypical sci-fi affair. The world is in an apocalyptic state with two groups of people left; the EU forces and the Pan Asian Coalition, fighting one another over the last remaining places on earth that are inhabitable. Rather than just getting along the last remnants of the human race decided to fight one another, unsurprising - no, a desperately realistic, depressing prediction for humanities future - yes.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 7:46 AM

Category: Massively Multiplayer

A few more cubes of jelly die. The part of my brain that's still conscious idly notes that the red ones take slightly longer to defeat than the green ones. Then, on the horizon, a Gnoll. It's got an animation and everything. Woo! I start hitting it. Despite it being the same level as this sex shop-attired elf-thing with rabbit ears I'm playing as, it kills me almost immediately.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 10:08 PM

Category: Music

The thing that makes Iron Maiden so unique - the thing that gives the band their longevity - is the band's ability to weave interesting and intricate story lines around brilliant musicianship. The signature of the band is its ability to incorporate seamless time changes into the songs that not only complement Bruce Dickinson's vocals, but keep the song interesting.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 5:26 PM

Category: Role Playing

Hazucha: To tell you the whole story would be too long for this interview and perhaps also for one game. We took the challenge and developed an entirely new Elvish universe. The world and story development took us four years. So there really is a massive background behind Elveon. Our game and our fantasy universe depict an ancient era where the Elves still are a cunning and dynamic race on their rise to power, with great deeds not the fairy-like fading culture that is known from most other fantasy stories.