Publisher: Nexon
Developer: Eyedentity Games
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, Pentium 4 dual-core CPU, 1 GB RAM, GeForce 7600 or better graphics card, 4 GB hard-drive space, DirectX 9.0c or newer, broadband Internet connection
Genre: MMORPG
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

MMORPGs have become a major segment of the modern gaming landscape, but many of the most successful of them feature content that really isn’t meant for the younger gamer. Publisher Nexon brings PG-13 material to the genre with Dragon Nest, a fantasy/action MMO that tries to tone down the graphic violence while still making the game enticing to adult gamers.

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Publisher: Alawar Entertainment, Inc.
Developer: e-FunSoft Games
Minimum System requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Vista or 7 / 800 MHz processor / 256 MB RAM / DirectX 7.0 or later
Genre: Time Management
Release date: Available now
Written by: Mindy Hartman

Attention fashionistas! Are you ready to style models, put on fashion shows and compete to have the most profitable boutique on the planet? Alawar Entertainment Inc. and e-FunSoft Games present Juliette’s Fashion Empire, the latest time management game for your speed-clicking, action-chaining amusement.

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Publisher: Overhaul Games
Developer: Overhaul Games, Interplay
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 3 GHz Pentium D or better CPU, GeForce GT 120/Radeon HD 2600 XT or better graphics card, 512 MB RAM, 1 GB hard-drive space, DirectX 9
Genre: FPS
ESRB rating: Not rated (original game rated Teen)
Release date: Available now

Old games are like a comfortable pair of shoes that have faded over the years. Sometimes you want to take them out, polish them up and take them for spin. This is what Overhaul Games has done with the 2000 FPS classic MDK 2, a goofy, definitely retro piece of gaming history that’s a simple yet refreshing shooter diversion, even after more than a decade.

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Publisher: Tripwire Interactive
Developer: Tripwire Interactive
Minimum System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/7, Dual Core 2.3 GHz or better, 2 GB RAM, 256 MP SM 3.0 DX9 Compliant/ NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX or better ATI Radeon HD 2900 GT or better, Windows Supported Sound Card, DirectX 9.0c, 8 GB free hard drive space, and Internet Connection for Multiplayer
Genre: Action/FPS
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now
Reviewed by: Mindy Hartman

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad is the sequel to Tripwire Interactive’s break-out game, Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45. For those who missed the first installment, Red Orchestra was developed as a mod using the Unreal Engine on Unreal Tournament 2004 and won first prize in the Make Something Unreal competition sponsored by NVIDIA. Red Orchestra 2 gives gamers a chance to look at WWII from a fresh perspective. Rather than coming in as the heroic troops and storming the beach on D-Day, this first person shooter takes players to the front lines in the German-Russian clash at Stalingrad.

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Publisher: Rail Simulation
Developer: Rail Simulation
System requirements: XP/Vista/Windows7, Intel Pentium 4/AMD Athlon 2.0 GHz, 2 GB ram, 256MB DirectX 9.0c video card with Shader 3.0, 6 GB Hard-drive space.
Genre: Simulator
ESRB Rating: E
Release Date: Available now
Reviewed by: Ian Davis

I’ve heard it said that all girls go through a “horse phase” at some point. Likewise, most boys have, at some point, experienced the intoxicating thrill that iron horses bring. If you haven’t grown out of this state, then you’re not alone: neither have the talented developers at Rail Simulation, makers of the popular RailWorks series. They’ve poured their love of everything on two rails into Train Simulator 2012, and it shows in every billow of steam.

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Publisher: Deep Silver
Developer: Techland
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 2.66 GHz Core2Duo or better CPU, 512 MB GeForce 8600GT/ATI 2600XT or better graphics card, 1 GB RAM, 7 GB hard-drive space, DirectX 9.0c
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Zombies have practically replaced Nazis and space aliens as gaming’s enemy du jour. From Plants vs. Zombies to Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising and beyond, the shambling undead are everywhere these days. Developer Techland (Call of Juarez) and publisher Deep Silver feed our hunger for all things undead with Dead Island, a massive survival horror RPG that tries to overcome its myriad faults to provide us with fright-filled zombie carnage.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Paradox Interactive
System Requirements: XP/Vista/Windows7, Intel® Pentium® IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+, 2 Gb RAM, 2 GB HDD, NVIDIA® GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon® X1900, Direct X-compatible sound card, Internet connection for multiplayer
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

With the release of Total War: Shogun 2 this year, it seems inevitable that clones will appear on the market cashing in on Creative Assembly’s success. Fortunately for strategy gamers, Paradox Interactive has decided not to bother making a Total War clone when trying their hand at depicting feudal Japan. Instead, Paradox has finally released Sengoku, a game that they describe as a “…deep character driven strategy game, [where] you play as the head of an illustrious Samurai family.” While armies fight one another and ninja conduct covert operations, at its heart, Sengoku is a game that focuses less on warfare, and more on feudal Japanese politics and people. This is a strategy title that wants players to worry equally about whether a neighboring clan might declare war and whether a disloyal vassal might plot the downfall of your clan’s ruler.

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Publisher: Flying Wild Hog
Developer: Flying Wild Hog
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 2.5 GHz Pentium IV/Athlon 64 CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB GeForce 8800GS/Radeon HD 3870 or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c, DirectX-compatible audio solution, 4 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Not rated at press time
Release date: September 13, 2011

Remember the good old days of PC shooters? When it was just you, a bunch of absurdly overpowered weapons and a seemingly endless horde of enemies? I do, and apparently so do the folks at new development house Flying Wild Hog. The Polish developer’s first game, Hard Reset, gives you everything you want from an FPS, dressed up with some strikingly gorgeous visuals.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Neocore Games
System requirements: Windows XP SP2/Vista/Win 7, AMD Athlon 4000+ or equivalent Intel CPU, WinXP 1GB RAM, Vista/Win7 1.5GB RAM, Nvidia 8600 GT (256Mbyte) / ATI Radeon HD3650 (256Mbyte),DirectX 9-compliant sound card, DirectX®: 9.0c or higher (included in the installer), Nvidia (AGEIA) PhysX (included in the installer), 8GB hard-drive space
Genre: RTS
ESRB rating: Pending
Release date: 9/16/2011

Capitalizing on the success of King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame, and no doubt wanting to whet players’ appetites for the upcoming sequel, Neocore Games has released the stand-alone expansion King Arthur: Fallen Champions. Unlike its predecessor, Fallen Champions focuses only on story-telling and tactical battles; there is no kingdom management. This tighter focus makes Fallen Champions much more of an RTS title, although it still keeps some of the role-playing found in the original.

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Publisher: Hazardous Software
Developer: Hazardous Software
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Mac/Linux, dual-core CPU, 1 GB RAM, graphics card with OpenGL 2.0 support
Genre: RTS
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: August 29, 2011

Innovation is much prized in an industry such as gaming, which has had its various genres set in stone for a long time. More often than not, new ideas usually arise not from the established AAA developers, but from the small companies willing to take creative and financial chances to bring something new to an old concept. Such is the case with Achron, in which new developer Hazardous Software has taken the standard RTS formula and given players a new dimension to exploit.

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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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Publisher: Wargaming.net
Developer: Wargaming.net
System Requirements: Intel from 2.2 GHz or equivalent AMD Family processor; minimum of 1.5 GB RAM for Windows 2000/XP, 2 GB for Windows Vista / 7; 3.5 GB har disk space; Shader Model 3.0 GeForce 6800GT video card with 256 MB of RAM / ATI X800 with 256 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c; DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card; Internet connection speed of at least 128 Kbps
Genre: Action MMO
ESRB rating: Not yet rated
Release date: Available now

Imagine driving a Tiger tank through a deserted city, spotting a smaller Soviet vehicle. You take aim and fire a HE shell at it, killing its engine and setting it on fire. But before you can finish it off, a Soviet T-34 ambushes you from an alley, spots for some artillery, and you get obliterated, only to respawn and live to fight again. This is a typical day when playing on Wargaming.net’s servers for World of Tanks. It’s been almost a year since I last looked at it, and the game has grown up. Wargaming.net calls WoT, “…a team-based massively multiplayer online game dedicated to armored warfare in the mid-20th century.” Focusing on Soviet, German, and US panzers from the period, and boasting maps with a wide variety of terrain, it offers those who love their heavy armored vehicles a chance to get into the nitty-gritty of armored warfare.

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Publisher: Funcom
Developer: Funcom
System requirements: Windows XP SP2/Vista/Win 7, 3.0 GHz Pentium IV or equivalent CPU, ATI Radeon 9800/Nvidia GeForce 6600 or better graphics card, 1 GB RAM, DirectX 9.0c/DirectX 10, DirectX-compatible sound card, 32 GB hard-drive space, broadband Internet connection
Genre: MMORPG
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

”Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!” So ended the introduction to Conan the Barbarian, the 1981 sword-and-sorcery film featuring author Robert E. Howard’s most famous character. Twenty-seven years later, developer Funcom released Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. And now, this MMO has been rebranded Age of Conan: Unchained (good timing, considering a Conan remake is headed to multiplexes this month). The difference? Now you don’t have to spend any gold, silver or tin to play it.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Paradox Interactive
System requirements: Requires Hearts of Iron 3 and Semper Fi to play; Windows 2000/XP/Vista; Intel Pentium IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+ (quad core); 2GB RAM; 2GB hard disk space; GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon X1900 NVIDIA; Direct-X compatible sound card; 3-button mouse; keyboard and speakers; Internet Connection
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now

Much like Michael Corleone in The Godfather III, I can’t escape WWII strategy games. No matter how much I try to get away, they keep pulling me back in. Paradox Interactive has released yet another expansion to Hearts of Iron 3. Adding even more content on top of the Semper Fi expansion, For the Motherland boasts a host of new mechanics, in addition to some specific battle scenarios that add some tactical flavor to the game. And, true to its roots, it remains an in-depth strategy game that has enough micro-management to keep any grognard occupied, while having enough automation options to streamline the parts you don’t like.

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Publisher: Mystic Box
Developer: Mystic Box
Genre: RPG/Puzzle
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: July 20, 2011

A cloaked figure wanders into a tavern. After he sits down at the bar, one of the more unruly patrons stumbles over and picks a fight. The cloaked figure reaches into his pocket and unsheathes his weapon…the five of clubs. He slams in on the bar and the instigator is no more. This may seem like a strange premise, but it is similar to Mystic Box’s new game, Runespell: Overture.

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