A curious thing happened recently. I was reading the magnificent RPS, and learned about a very cool indie game called Legend Of Grimrock. It is a first-person dungeon-crawling game, which is essentially a remake of the old classics such as Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore. Much like that other bearded game critic John Walker, I look fondly upon those games and yet find them unplayable for reasons such as lack of modern controls, graphics, and having to run them either in DOSBox or on a virtual machine of some sort. It makes me happy that someone is remaking (or almost remaking) these almost forgotten games. It also makes me wonder why this isn’t happening on any significant scale.

Why does nobody remake old games?

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Razer, the company behind some of gaming’s greatest headsets, mice, and controllers, has announced a new laptop they are calling “the world’s first true gaming laptop.” The new laptop, known as the Razer Blade, promises powerful performance in an innovative package. The Blade features 10 dynamic buttons as well as a multi-touch LCD panel to the right of the keyboard.

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The PC version of newly released Deus Ex: Human Revolution comes with a voucher for a free download of the game for OnLive users. This promotion is meant to get new players to try OnLive’s services and saves PC gamers from having to pay for the game twice. It was reported earlier today that GameStop wasn’t a big fan of this promotion, and decided to do something about it.

In a memo to staff, a GameStop manager told employees to open up all PC copies of Deus Ex and remove the free voucher. This hurts their customers twofold: Gamers are paying full price for opened goods, and they are no longer getting access to the free download. The memo in question is shown in the image accompanying this story. Click the image to read the complete message.

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Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Eidos Montreal
System requirements: 2 GHz dual core CPU; 1 GB RAM (XP), 2 GB (Vista and 7); GeForce 8 or Radeon HD 2000; Windows XP, Vista, 7 with DirectX 9.0c; 8.5 GB disk space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: August 23, 2011

2011 has so far been a great year for games in general and for highly anticipated sequels in particular. A lot of favorites got follow-ups; some were impressively good, while others were of the sort not mentioned in polite society. Different types of gamers looked forward to different game worlds getting expanded, and quite a few of us were holding our collective breath for Deus Ex: Human Revolution – a prequel to one of the best role-playing games of all time: Deus Ex. The classic PC masterpiece was released in 2000, and blew away the critics and the audiences alike. In 2003 a sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War was released for PC and consoles, and although it was a decent game in its own right, it failed to live up to the glory of the original and has always remained something of a disappointment to the hardcore fans.

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This is not, strictly speaking, a review. We don’t currently have an Android games section (although we might in the future), but that doesn’t mean we don’t play them. I, for one, was an early adopter of the Android platform. I still have my G1 laying around somewhere, and right now my non-PC time is split between my G2 and my Asus Eee Pad Transformer. The latter has replaced my old laptop in terms of reading books, browsing the web and other similar tasks. Of course I also play games on it; in fact earlier you might have seen my tutorial on how to get DOS games to run on Android.

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When newly released PC title From Dust was still in development, publisher Ubisoft uncharacteristically stated that the game would launch without DRM. This excited many PC gamers, and people began eagerly awaiting the release date.

Fast forward to the release of From Dust. Many PC players were distressed to find out that the game actually did possess a form of DRM. From Dust requires users to have an active internet connection while they are signing into the game. Once the game has started, the internet connection can be severed at no loss of usability to the player. While this is less harsh than Ubisoft’s usual “always online” DRM, it has still angered PC gamers who were promised a clean copy of the game.

While it is our job to remain neutral when delivering news like this, there is nothing keeping you from voicing your true feelings in the comments. How do you feel about Ubisoft’s change of heart?

Publisher: Flying Wild Hog
Developer: Flying Wild Hog
System requirements: TBD
Genre: FPS
ESRB rating: Not yet rated
Release date: September 2011

Last week was one of those weeks. I found myself nearly overwhelmed by a slew of personal and work-related projects. Then I heard there was an opportunity to get a hands-on look at Flying Wild Hog’s upcoming cyberpunk shoot-em-up Hard Reset. Projects got put on hold as I made sure to allot a suitable chunk of time for it. Ever since a single screenshot appeared on the Internet earlier this year, I’ve been eager to take a closer look at this baby, because it seemed pretty damn enticing. Then there was talk about it being an old-school FPS (Doom-like as opposed to Halo-like) and that increased my interest tenfold. Finally, when I learned it was a PC-exclusive aimed at capitalizing on my favorite platform’s strengths, I was all but sold on it.

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I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Crysis 2 was pulled from Steam a short while ago. That’s right, if you haven’t yet purchsed it, you are out of luck, at least when it comes to Valve’s download service, now. What happened? Well, the people over at EA decided to take yet another shot at launching their own store. Their original EA Store sucked, so they dropped it in favor of their new Origin service. Origin is basically EA’s own Steam knock-off.

What this means for you is that for a period of time, there will be a new online gaming store that’s backed up by the weight and wallet of a major publisher. In a bid for your money, they are certain to institute protectionist policies, making their games unavailable for sale elsewhere. BioWare’s Old Republic MMO is confirmed as an Origin exclusive (at least at launch), and Battlefield 3 will be available at other download services, but not via Steam.

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Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
System requirements: Windows XP SP3, Vista SP1, Windows 7; Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz; 1.5 GB RAM; Radeon HD 3870 or GeForce 9800 GT; DirectX 9.0c; 4 GB HDD/SSD space
Genre: Hack-n-Slash RPG
Release date: Available now

Before I begin talking about Dungeon Siege III, I want to mention two things that are directly related to my review. First and foremost, I am not really a fan of the hack-n-slash RPG genre. I liked Diablo because it was fresh and novel, but found Diablo II to be tedious and unpleasant. Nox was pretty cool, but the original Dungeon Siege was clearly not my type of game. The second thing I want to disclose is that I am really not a fan of Obsidian Entertainment. I believe KotOR 2 to be an unfinished mess, and Neverwinter Nights 2 is one of my least favorite games of all time. I haven’t played their other games, but believed every bad thing I heard about them. In fact I used to use the studio’s name as a synonym for “terrible developer.”

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Publisher: Atari
Developer: CD Projekt Red
System requirements: Core 2Duo 2.2 GHz or dual core AMD 2.5 GHz CPU; GB RAM Windows XP, 2 GB Windows Vista/7; GeForce 8800 512 MB or Radeon (HD3850 512 MB); 16 GB Drive Space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Everyone is at E3 right now and I’m not. There are two reasons for that. First, I have my finals this week. By the time you read this I will hold a degree in History and Anthropology. Second, I just really wanted to play The Witcher 2, a sequel to one of my top RPGs of all time. Both games are based on my favorite series of fantasy novels and although it is impossible for any game to match the type of experience a sublime work of literature can provide, in this case a valiant effort was made. Andrzej Sapkowski, the maestro himself, was consulting CD Projekt during the development of both titles. The bar was raised pretty high already, but it appeared that the development team was intent on not just raising it again this time around, but rather on rocketing right through it and into previously unknown heights.

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BioWare is awful and I can’t stand it. There. I said it. To add to the gravity of my situation, Avault never retracts its articles and I will have to deal with the consequences for so long as I continue working in this field. Or until I get a name change and a face transplant. If I suddenly disappear, it’s because BioWare’s hired goons took me out. It’s OK though, I am ready to face the music. It took me a few years to realize that my relationship with one of my favorite developers was over. Having puzzled for a while over how this could have happened and why, I am finally at a point where everything is sorted out. Now, standing at the grave of my freshly buried romance, I want to share, with whomever is willing to listen, the tragic story of how it all came to be, and how it then came undone.

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Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Straandlooper Animation
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1.8 GHz Pentium IV or equivalent CPU, 256 MB graphics card, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 9.0c
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

The reason why no one should ever negotiate with terrorists is because once you’re in such a situation, you can’t possibly win. The only reasonable course of action is to immediately cut your losses. Yes, there will be losses, and you must come to terms with the fact that they are unavoidable. The moment you falter and try do to damage control, they will grow. Moreover, you’ll be lucky if there’s only linear or logarithmic growth, since chances are you’ll find yourself facing exponential escalation. Coincidentally, the same advice applies in situations that involve girlfriends, but that’s of no concern to Det. Insp. Hector, since he doesn’t have one. What he does have is a cop job in the worst city ever, along with a hostage crisis on his hands. If it was up to him, he’d go back to bed, but the higher-ups insist on negotiating.

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Publisher: Valve Software
Developer: Valve Software
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/MAC OS 10.6.7; 3.0 GHz Pentium IV/2.0 GHz dual-core/AMD64X2 or better CPU; 1 GB RAM (XP), 2 GB RAM (Vista, MAC); 128 MB DirectX 9.0c-compatible graphics card with Pixel Shader 2.0b support; DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card; 7.6 GB hard-drive space
Genre: First Person Puzzle
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now

Those of you who follow the Avault forums probably remember that, when Portal 2 first came out, I said that I was sad and relieved because I wasn’t going to be the one to write about it. I was sad because this was one of the games I was really looking forward to playing, but I was relieved because, after playing it for half an hour, I realized that it would be incredibly difficult to review. But publication plans changed, and having beaten the game, I spent about a week trying to come up with the best way to write about it. The problem wasn’t that I had nothing to say, but that it’s nearly impossible to talk about this game without mentioning the story. Portal 2 is the story, or rather the story makes up the entirety of Portal 2. After days of trying different approaches, I decided that I can’t review it without spoiling it and making it uninteresting for you to play.

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There is a very interesting (and at times heated) argument going on in the comments section of the Gaming revenue falls again article. Although mostly formed around the Console vs. PC argument, some points were raised that address the overall state of gaming. In particular, one of the explanations offered for the decline in sales is that the games of today are not particularly good. I was going to bring this up in the comments, but then decided that it is such an important topic that it should be explored outside of the current flame-war.

I’ll tell you straight out, I actually don’t think that games today are worse than they were 20 years ago. Or 10 years ago. Or 5. As Solo4114 pointed out, we are getting older. It means we have more money and less time, but it also means that we are more and more prone to fondly reminisce about “the good old days”.

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Publisher: Wadjet Eye Games
Developer: Joshua Nuernberger
System requirements: Not available
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

Hello folks! Alaric here, with another report on my ongoing love affair with indie PC games. This year promises to be quite fruitful as high-profile releases go, and I must admit that I’m really eager to get my hands on some of the upcoming goodness. However, out of nowhere comes an amazing indie offering, which, come December, will be a very serious contender for my 2011 Game of the Year. I’m talking, of course, about the recently released Gemini Rue. Much like Auralux, Gemini Rue was developed by a student. One notable difference is that it was created using Adventure Game Studio, a free tool available to everyone. Despite being this developer’s first-ever commercial offering, it won the Student Showcase award during the Independent Game Festival 2010. When I first got my hands on it, I wondered whether it could live up to the honors it received. I didn’t wonder for long.

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