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The Biggest news but Short
A new week, a new load of news, a new load of downloads. Check out the most important articles and most popular downloads of this week in our weekly summary. Welcome to Best of the Week 13-18 February.
Top Stories
The week started with some news from 2K Games. 2K Games announced that Firefly Studios is working on the third installment in the Stronghold series, called Stronghold Legends. Stronghold Legends is a a real time strategy game built on the Stronghold heritage, combining beautifully crafted visuals and well balanced gameplay with the epic legends of the middle ages. Stronghold Legends will feature a new strategic conquest style of play and new multiplayer modes - gamers can play as King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Count Vlad Dracul or relive the heroic sagas of the mighty Siegfried of Germany in twenty-four missions that span across three unique campaigns. Stronghold Legends is due to ship in fall 2006. You can check out the Press Release and some screenshots here.
NCsoft also announced that Auto Assault is available for open beta testing from 6-10pm Thursdays and 9am Saturday through to 9pm Sunday. In this game, players explore a post-apocalyptic future in customizable cars, motorcycles, semis and even tanks. Players battle other players both in arenas and in epic race vs. race wars for control of the regions in a devastated Earth. Auto Assault uses the power of the Havok physics engine to let you make insane jumps, send obstacles flying and even blast bridges, buildings, fences and trees with your car-mounted rockets. Check the Press Release and a link to the beta here.
Ubisoft announced Monday that Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Lockdown has gone Gold and will hit the stores across the U.S. on February 16, 2006. Compared with the console version, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 4 Lockdown for PC features a multiplayer reward system, improved AI, a new “Free-for-all” game type, a revamped Rivalry Mode, new weapons, and many more. You can find a Press Release here and you can still download the demo here.
Following Valve Software’s recent announcement that they will be releasing all Half-Life 2 add-ons in Episodes from now on, they Monday released the first information about Half-Life 2: Episode 1. Episode 1 will continue the story from the Half-Life 2 single player adventure. Half-Life 2: Episode 1 promises better AI, enhanced physical gameplay, and more. You can find all the details here and the original article can be found here.
On Tuesday SouthPeak Interactive announced that State of Emergency 2, developed by DC Studios, is available throughout North America for as little as $29.99. State of Emergency 2 takes place 10 years after the original and has Spanky, Bull and MacNeill again up against the Corporation. This time, they not only have access to guns but also - for the first time - helicopters, speedboats, Tanks and APCs and new team members. State of Emergency 2 adds a full story-based single-player game to the challenge modes and split-screen multiplayer modes. SouthPeak Interactive also plan a PSP release which is due to be release this fall. Check out the Press Release along with the full article here.
Wednesday Reef Entertainment Limited released some new screenshots from Utopia City, their upcoming sci-fo FPS set in 2091 where a parallel virtual world, based on the real life town of Postville, begins to take on a life of its own and threatens normal life as it really is. Developed by Parallax Art Studios, Utopia City will be available in Q2 2006. Check the original article here.
THQ announced that they will be releasing an Xbox 360 demo of The Outfit via Xbox Live on March 3rd. The demo allows up to 8 players to play over Xbox Live or 2 players (1vs1) through the split-screen feature. You can find a list of features along with the original article here.
Ubisoft has sent us new Far Cry Instincts Predator screenshots, illustrating how the game takes advantage of Xbox 360’s multi-core next-generation engine. Scheduled for launch this Spring, Far Cry Instincts Predator will feature both Far Cry Instincts Next Chapter and an enhanced version of the original Far Cry Instincts game. You can check out the new screenshots along with the full article here.
Downloads of the Week
New demos, trailers, patches and much more have been released this week. Here is a list of the most popular files.
Demos:
Commandos Strike Force Demo
War World: Tactical Combat v1.09 Demo
War on Terror English Demo
ETROM: The Astral Essence English Demo
Patches:
Battlefield 2 v1.2 Patch
Star Wars: Empire at War v1.2 Patch
Total BF2 Map Packs
World of Warcraft v1.9.4 Patch
FEAR v1.03 Patches Released
Trailers:
Battlefield 2: Euro Force Trailer
Far Cry Instincts Predator Trailer #2
Half-Life 2 Rube Goldberg devices
Far Cry Instincts Predator Trailer
Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 Trailer
Game Clients / Programs / Drivers / Mods :
Nexuiz v1.5 Free Full Game
Dofus-Arena Open Beta Test Client
DarkSpace v1.484 Beta Client
SPV5 Reality Mod v1.0 Client
Top Stories
The week started with some news from 2K Games. 2K Games announced that Firefly Studios is working on the third installment in the Stronghold series, called Stronghold Legends. Stronghold Legends is a a real time strategy game built on the Stronghold heritage, combining beautifully crafted visuals and well balanced gameplay with the epic legends of the middle ages. Stronghold Legends will feature a new strategic conquest style of play and new multiplayer modes - gamers can play as King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Count Vlad Dracul or relive the heroic sagas of the mighty Siegfried of Germany in twenty-four missions that span across three unique campaigns. Stronghold Legends is due to ship in fall 2006. You can check out the Press Release and some screenshots here.
NCsoft also announced that Auto Assault is available for open beta testing from 6-10pm Thursdays and 9am Saturday through to 9pm Sunday. In this game, players explore a post-apocalyptic future in customizable cars, motorcycles, semis and even tanks. Players battle other players both in arenas and in epic race vs. race wars for control of the regions in a devastated Earth. Auto Assault uses the power of the Havok physics engine to let you make insane jumps, send obstacles flying and even blast bridges, buildings, fences and trees with your car-mounted rockets. Check the Press Release and a link to the beta here.
Ubisoft announced Monday that Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Lockdown has gone Gold and will hit the stores across the U.S. on February 16, 2006. Compared with the console version, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 4 Lockdown for PC features a multiplayer reward system, improved AI, a new “Free-for-all” game type, a revamped Rivalry Mode, new weapons, and many more. You can find a Press Release here and you can still download the demo here.
Following Valve Software’s recent announcement that they will be releasing all Half-Life 2 add-ons in Episodes from now on, they Monday released the first information about Half-Life 2: Episode 1. Episode 1 will continue the story from the Half-Life 2 single player adventure. Half-Life 2: Episode 1 promises better AI, enhanced physical gameplay, and more. You can find all the details here and the original article can be found here.
On Tuesday SouthPeak Interactive announced that State of Emergency 2, developed by DC Studios, is available throughout North America for as little as $29.99. State of Emergency 2 takes place 10 years after the original and has Spanky, Bull and MacNeill again up against the Corporation. This time, they not only have access to guns but also - for the first time - helicopters, speedboats, Tanks and APCs and new team members. State of Emergency 2 adds a full story-based single-player game to the challenge modes and split-screen multiplayer modes. SouthPeak Interactive also plan a PSP release which is due to be release this fall. Check out the Press Release along with the full article here.
Wednesday Reef Entertainment Limited released some new screenshots from Utopia City, their upcoming sci-fo FPS set in 2091 where a parallel virtual world, based on the real life town of Postville, begins to take on a life of its own and threatens normal life as it really is. Developed by Parallax Art Studios, Utopia City will be available in Q2 2006. Check the original article here.
THQ announced that they will be releasing an Xbox 360 demo of The Outfit via Xbox Live on March 3rd. The demo allows up to 8 players to play over Xbox Live or 2 players (1vs1) through the split-screen feature. You can find a list of features along with the original article here.
Ubisoft has sent us new Far Cry Instincts Predator screenshots, illustrating how the game takes advantage of Xbox 360’s multi-core next-generation engine. Scheduled for launch this Spring, Far Cry Instincts Predator will feature both Far Cry Instincts Next Chapter and an enhanced version of the original Far Cry Instincts game. You can check out the new screenshots along with the full article here.
Downloads of the Week
New demos, trailers, patches and much more have been released this week. Here is a list of the most popular files.
Demos:
Patches:
Trailers:
Game Clients / Programs / Drivers / Mods :
Commandos Strike Force Demo
(638.01MB)
War World v1.09 Demo
(102.73MB)
Battlefield 2 v1.2 Patch
(81.59MB)
Star Wars: Empire at War v1.2 Patch
(19.69MB)
Battlefield 2: Euro Force Trailer
(8.03MB)
Far Cry Instincts Predator Trailer #2
(21.11MB)
Nexuiz v1.5 Free Full Game
(178.35MB)
Dofus-Arena Beta 7 Client
(9.08MB)
None