By Quintin Smith on October 26th, 2010.
RPS reader Andreas “So Powerful” Persson writes to inform us that indie puzzle-racer Nimbus has just been released on Steam for the price of £5.99. £5.99! That’s not even the cost of a book, and as well all know, books aren’t so hot. If a book was on Hot Or Not, how well would it do? Case closed.
Nimbus was originally an entry into the 2010 IGF, so the game’s evidently done well for itself. No demo yet, but maybe you’ll be sold on the trailer beneath. Maybe…
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By John Walker on October 26th, 2010.
This is a test. Do not be alarmed. Try to stay calm.
By Quintin Smith on October 26th, 2010.
A gift! A gift, straight from Mr. Sid Meier himself. If you’re quick, you might even get a whiff of mothballs and superglue off it. A couple of DLC packs have just been made available for Civ V- the first, the Mongol Civilization Pack, is completely free, and introduces the Mongols as a civilization and Genghis Khan as their leader. The second, Babylon, which introduces Babylonians and their king Nebuchadnezzar II, actually came with the Civ V deluxe edition and will set you back £3. These aren’t just cosmetic upgrades, you know. Each civ in Civ V has their own tiny set of unique advantages and exclusive units.
Alec and I saw eye to eye on Civ V, agreeing that it was a beautiful piece of work with sorely lacking AI. For those who find swallowing someone else’s opinion distasteful, a gameplay walkthrough can be watched beneath the jump.
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By Jim Rossignol on October 26th, 2010.
Via Massively, I notice there’s a bit of a random clue as to the fate of APB. The website and such might be dead, but for some reason the patcher is still delivering info. On the 22nd it read: “It’s looking like there might be light at the end of the tunnel for APB. The end of the administration process is apparently close and there appears to be a buyer for the game.”
A wind up? Wishful thinking on the part of remaining APB admins? It’s hard to say, but both Epic and Codemasters have been connected with the game. My money is on one of the big F2P publishers, personally.
By Alec Meer on October 25th, 2010.
Have we ever polled the RPS omni-opinion about Carmageddon? It appears not. The discovery that the ‘Carmageddon’ tag did not exist on this humble website before now is startling. It’s not a game I’d ever hold up as essential, classic, important, with lessons unlearned by those that followed… but it’s formative. It’s a game that occurred at the right time, when technology was crude and gaming awareness cruder: a quiet little thrill of transgression, noisy at the time but not ultimately beaten down enough by tabloid terror or by popularism enough to stop feeling, well, a little bit special. Our secret. The game about driving over people, – far more unashamedly than GTA ever has been. Points for pedestrians, in the guise of competitive racing. Ours.
By Jim Rossignol on October 25th, 2010.
RPS has occasionally managed to inspire some fine bouts of multiplayer gaming. Blood Bowl (or perhaps Solium Infernum) has become our national sport. The TF2 server has become the home of many fine hats, the Battlefield server has eaten a couple of hundred hours of my life, and the Arma 2 events have been exercises in ramshackle military awesomeness. But we want more. It’s time to get organised. We’re going to do this by stages. The first stage will consist in event days where we will select a game – one that is cheap, or free – and ask everyone who reads RPS to join their comrades in readership to come and play. The later stages… well, that would be telling.
So, without further ado, the first event is going to feature DogFighter. The game is currently astonishingly cheap on Steam (85% off) and we’re going to be playing it this coming Friday night and Saturday afternoon. That’s you, and me, and probably other people we don’t know particularly well. Saturday evening, of course, we will be dressing as lobsters and eating magic apples, but we ask you to join us before you head off to whatever it is you are doing for Halloween, and shoot me to bits in the skies of DogFighter. More details – servers, times, and such organisational stuff – will appear here as we proceed. Tally ho, and all that. I’m looking forward to this.
By Alec Meer on October 25th, 2010.
The following, a conceptual reworking of Terry Cavanagh’s splendid/monstrous hyperdeath platformer VVVVVV is not a real game. By criminy, you’re going to wish it was.
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By Jim Rossignol on October 25th, 2010.
Sandboxy robot MMO Perpetuum is now in open beta, and Avatar Creations have announced some details for early access purchases of the game. For €8.95/$9.95 players in the beta will be able to start playing a week before the game launches proper (getting 37 days access), as well as getting some “extension point” bonuses.
More interestingly, the game has had a graphical overhaul, has a new tutorial front end, and has opened up territorial warfare. The outer islands can now be fought over by players, which adds the first layer of genuine PvP conflict in the game world. If you’re interested in an MMO that’s doing things a bit differently then this is worth visiting while it’s at open beta. I posted some thoughts on the game here, and previewed it for Eurogamer here.
This game really needs a new trailer.
By Quintin Smith on October 25th, 2010.
Gretel and Hansel Part 2 is just how I like my point’n'click games: short, curious and sinister, like some kind of… really short… sinister… private detective. I’m sorry, I think I’m out of simile credits.
Alec wrote about Part 1 of this indie retelling of the Hansel & Gretel story when it was released almost a year ago, calling it “lovely, in a vaguely malevolent way.” Part 2 provides more of the same ominous watercolour puzzling, and is just as deserving of your time. Go play! Video walkthrough after the jump, because who has time to play a point’n'click game without a walkthrough these days? Thanks to the Indie Games blog for spotting this first.
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By John Walker on October 25th, 2010.
Putting the puzzling into puzzle games is SpaceChem. I’ve just watched the indie game’s trailer, and I’ve absolutely no idea what on Earth it’s all about. However, KB who kindly emailed me about it says it does make sense to him. So much so he’s able to conclude: “It looks like you actually design circuits or something to accomplish a task, such as combining molecules, I think.” Crystal clarity! You can watch the trailer below, for what looks like a genuinely intriguing game, by a developer with the best name I’ve seen in ages: Zachtronics Industries.
By Quintin Smith on October 25th, 2010.
Blizzard has fired a warning shot across Valve’s sleek, streamlined bow over use of the DOTA trademark.
Blizzard game design lead Rob Pardo said in an interview with Eurogamer that since Defence of the Ancients came out of the Blizzard WarCraft 3 community, Valve trademarking DotA for the purposes of developing DOTA 2 “doesn’t seem the right thing to do”.
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