Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Phenomic
Minimum Requirements: Windows XP (SP2) or Vista, 1.8 ghz CPU, 512 mb RAM (XP)/2 gb (Vista), 4X DVD drive, 7 gb hard-drive space, DirectX 9.0c-compatible video and sound cards
Genre: RPG
Release date: Available Now

Patience, they say, is a virtue. But from an early age, patience is something that most of us are sadly lacking. This is true about most aspects of life, but especially in gaming. How many of us have popped a new game into our machine of choice, left the instruction manual in the box, skipped the tutorials (which, as we all know, are for noobs) and jumped straight into a new game—only to give up after having our asses kicked unrelentingly for an hour? Electronic Arts and developer Phenomic’s RPG BattleForge is one such game, but don’t fall for the trap, lest you spend more time cursing the game than you do enjoying it.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Mezmer Games
Minimum Requirements: Windows® XP/Vista, Pentium 4 1.5 GHz or Athlon XP; 1 gb RAM (2 gb recommended); nVidia GeForce 6/7/8/9 series, ATI Radeon 9600/X1xxx, AMD Radeon HD 2xxx series or Matrox Parhelia video card; at least 2 GB of free hard-drive space; DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card; DirectX 9.0
Genre: RTS
Release date: Available Now

Every once in a while, a game comes along that combines great parody with great fun. Dungeon Keeper and its iterations are a good example of such a fusion. In a similar vein, Stalin vs. Martians attempts to parody the RTS genre, combining a ridiculous premise with absurd gameplay elements. Unfortunately, SvM doesn’t give the player gameplay that’s either stimulating or fun.

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Publisher: City Interactive
Developer: City Interactive
System Requirements: Windows XP\Vista, DirectX 9.0, 1.6 ghz CPU, 512 mb RAM, 64 mb DirectX-compatible video card, DirectX-compatible sound card, 4 gb hard-drive space, DVD-ROM drive
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available Now

Having a bad day at the office? Fax machine eating your documents? This is nowhere near as bad as being a federal agent hunting a serial killer. City Interactive’s Art of Murder: Hunt for the Puppeteer gives us a chance to experience what it’s like to be a G-man (or woman).

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Publisher: 1C Publishing
Developer: Aspyr
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista; Intel Pentium 4/AMD Athlon XP; 1 GB RAM; nVidia GeForce 7800/ATI Radeon x1800; 6 GB hard disk space
Genre: FPS
Release date: Available now

For months I have been looking forward to the release of Cryostasis, from Russian developer Aspyr and publisher 1C. Clearly deviating sharply from the standard characteristics of modern shooters, Cryostasis is a horror-oriented FPS in many ways reminiscent of Frictional Games’ Penumbra series in terms of its overall tone and its combination of puzzle-solving and shooting action. It also has been highly publicized as a state-of-the-art implementation of nVidia’s PhysX physics engine’s capabilities.

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Publisher: THQ
Developer: Relic
Minimum requirements: Windows XP or Vista; SSE capable processor, 2.0 Ghz Intel Pentium IV or equivalent or AMD Athlon XP or equivalent; 512 MB RAM, 1GB MB RAM required for Vista; DirectX 9.0c compatible 64MB video card with Pixel Shader 1.1 support or equivalent and latest manufacturer drivers
Genre: RTS
Release date: Available now

Having missed the original Company of Heroes when it was first released, I was pleased to get a chance to play the newest expansion, Tales of Valor, as the original got such good press. Still set in World War II, it follows the military exploits of both Allied and Axis units in the weeks and months following D-Day. While there are a few new units and gameplay features, the expansion focuses primarily on some new single player missions and multiplayer modes.

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Publisher: Lighthouse Interactive
Developer: Kerberos
Minimum requirements: Windows 2000/XP/Vista; 1.5 GHz Intel Pentium or comparable AMD Processor; 1 GB RAM; 128 MB RAM DirectX 9x compatible video card; 3 GB hard disk space; DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card; LAN or 56 Kbps Internet connection
Genre: Strategy
Release date: Available now

It’s been a strategy-filled few weeks for me. I’ve been fortunate enough to have multiple RTS titles come across my virtual desk as I stroll from game to game; it’s no secret that I enjoy empire building. This time around, I had the pleasure of reviewing the 4X strategy game Sword of the Stars: Ultimate Collection, a turn-based, science-fiction epic set in a universe with star-spanning empires, raging space battles, highly advanced technology and interesting civilizations with which to interact (and annihilate).

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Publisher: Tale of Tales
Developer: Tale of Tales
Minimum requirements: Windows XP or Vista; 2 GHz CPU; 2 GB RAM; 256 MB Radeon or Geforce video card of at least x6xx type (integrated video cards are not supported)
Genre: Action/Horror
Release date: Available now

It’s not too often that one finds a game so quick to lie to you from the outset. We’re accustomed to following some sort of rule-set in games, so when you play one that issues a failing grade for just doing what you’re told; you rear back a bit in surprise. This is exactly what happened to me the first time I played The Path, a pseudo horror/action offering from oddball publisher, Tale of Tales.

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Publisher: Chronic Logic
Developer: Chronic Logic
Minimum requirements: Java and Win98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/OSX/Linux
Genre: Strategy
Release date: Available now

When you have been involved with playing strategy games as long as I have, including those old school Avalon Hill table top box sets from what seems like the distant past, it is easy to forget that aside from all the bells and whistles you can find in games today, there are some very basic structures and formulas that contribute to a successful game. When you strip away cool graphics, immersive audio and plausible plotlines, strategy gamers are really looking for games that provide a wide range of strategic options. The more complicated and nuanced those options are, the more a gamer can get out of a game. Zatikon is a turn-based strategy game that successfully provides the nuanced strategic gameplay for which gamers are looking.

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Publisher: Strategy First
Developer: KDV Games
Minimum requirements: Windows XP; DirectX 9.0c; Pentium 4 3.0 GHz or Athlon XP 2500+; 512 MB RAM; GeForce 6600 128MB Graphics card; DirectX 9 Compatible Sound Card; 8 GB Hard Drive Space
Genre: RTS
Release date: Available now

Entire genres can go stale over time; so it is with RTS games. It can be a difficult task to create a game that cashes in on the successful aspects of a well entrenched genre while giving gamers enough of something new to stave off boredom. I had these thoughts on my mind as I installed Perimeter II: New Earth, an RTS game from KD Vision Games Development Company. Never having played the original, but having read some reviews of it a few years ago, I came to the game hoping for something new and interesting.

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Publisher: Aspyr
Developer: Best Way
Minimum requirements: Windows 2000/XP/Vista; 1.7GHz Processor; 512MB RAM; nVidia GeForce 3/ATI Radeon 9600 video card or higher; DirectX 9.0b compatible sound card; 4GB free hard drive space; DVD drive
Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Release date: Available now

I often talk about the game Dungeon Keeper 2 as being one of my favorite PC games of all time. I think what stood out to me the most about the Bullfrog RTS/sim mash-up was that your minions were in your capable hands at all times. If you didn’t like how the AI was handling itself, there was always the option of possessing the henchmen and taking care of business yourself. This is perhaps the most tantalizing part of Best Way’s Men of War, and the main reason I requested the opportunity to review it.

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Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
Minimum requirements: Windows XP / Vista (Vista64 unsupported); 2.0 GHz or better processor; 512MB RAM; 64MB DirectX 8.1-compliant video card; DirectX 8.1 sound device; DirectX Version 9.0c or better
Genre: Adventure
Release Date: Available now

In my review of the first installment of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures, I paid tribute to the stellar work that the developers at Telltale Games had done in using episodic series to resurrect the adventure-game genre. With the games industry rivaling movies, music and television as a viable pastime, there are many tastes to satisfy out there beyond those hardcore gamers who grew up on a strict diet of first-person shooters and hack ‘em/slash ‘em staples. The fact that Telltale is trying to attract gamers in search of more cerebral pursuits is just part of the story. Their genius is directly tied to their ability to find properties that can flourish in bite-sized portions. They know how to whet our appetites by giving us a few stellar hours with these quirky characters and leaving us hungering for another morsel; which brings us to their latest dish, Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures: The Last Resort.

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Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
PC version minimum requirements: Windows XP / Vista (Vista64 unsupported); 2.0 GHz or better processor; 512MB RAM; 64MB DirectX 8.1-compliant video card; DirectX 8.1 sound device; DirectX Version 9.0c or better
Genre: Adventure
Release Date: Available now

Synergy is a wonderful thing. For years it’s been the buzzword of the techno world, with talking heads droning on about how our TVs would one day interact with our toasters and broadcast our breakfasts live across the Web for the entire world to enjoy. While this techno-wizardry is sweetly significant, it’s on the fringes that we find its real benefits. For starters, the ability to download anything on demand has breathed new life into beloved gaming archetypes we thought lost to the ravages of time, and this in turn has led to the evolution of episodic gaming, which the fine artisans at Telltale Games have taken up as their cause. Telltale has worked wonders providing adventure gamers with a new lease on life through their expert handling of beloved series such as Strongbad and the sublime Sam & Max. Now joining their growing stable of prized properties is the celebrated duo Wallace & Gromit in their first of four planned Grand Adventures, Fright of the Bumblebees, another example of Telltale taking familiar characters and building old-school adventure games with nouveau production values around them.

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Publisher: Legacy Interactive
Developer: Paramount Digital Entertainment
Minimum requirements: Windows XP or Vista, 1 GHz processor with an accelerated 3D graphics card, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c or newer compatible sound card
Genre: Puzzle
Release date: Available now

High School. These words sometimes bring out the best of memories, and at other times they bring out the worst of them. Being the new kid in school can either be either a nightmare or an adventure. Legacy Interactive’s Mean Girls turns new-kid fears into a flashy puzzle game.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: 1C Company
Minimum requirements: Windows XP; 2.4 GHz Pentium IV or AMD 3500+ 2.2Ghz; 1 GB RAM; nVidia GF 6800 or ATI Radeon R850XT 256 video card; DirectX-compatible sound card; 3 GB of free hard drive space; DirectX 9.0c
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
Release date: Available now

Odds are you’ll never see me sit down to play a hex-based strategy game of my own accord, yet I find that as more of them are assigned to me, the more my aversion to them subsides. With that personal aside out of the way, I’ll say that while not ideal, Elven Legacy does further whet my appetite for geometrically based strategy. Maybe these kinds of games aren’t so bad after all…

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Publisher: The Adventure Company
Developer: Crimson Cow
Minimum requirements: XP/Vista; 1.6 GHz P4 or equivalent; 512 MB RAM; 3 GB HD space; 256 MB graphics card; DirectX 9.0c or higher
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available now
Review by: Michael Smith

Recent point-and-click adventure games have been of varying quality, from mildly intriguing to tedious, obtuse and boring. The Adventure Company and developer Crimson Cow try to raise the bar a few notches with A Vampyre Story, a new adventure that features colorful graphics, spooky music and a snarky sense of humor. But just as you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, it’s also dangerous to judge a game by its first few minutes.

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