Rock, Paper, Shotgun

When I first saw the words “vampire” and “RPG” appear in DARK‘s elevator pitch, my brain immediately made a mad dash down the portion of memory lane marked “Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines.” But then my incredibly rare T-Rex-like vision disorder cleared up, and I saw other words skitter out – for instance, “stealth-action” and “RPG elements.” So no, this probably isn’t the long-awaited successor to Bloodlines’ bloodline, but the RealmForge-developed, Kalypso-published vampire, er, chokeslam sim could be interesting.

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Just for the weekend, of course. Mr Zacny – who has a review coming up right after this article! – rather liked the fourth iteration of the colourful dictate ‘em up. You’ll be able to download and play the game on Steam tonight last night from 8pm GMT, and play it through the weekend. Should a purchase be aroused in your wallet, then there’s a 66% discount, too. So that’s pleasant. (And sort of appropriately timed.)

I thoroughly enjoyed Port Royale 2 and if your idea of buckling swash and living the life of an outlaw on the high seas involves cargo management and financial ledgers, there’s every chance that you enjoyed it as well. While the combat was about as much fun as scurvy, the economic simulation was deep enough to create a compelling experience and taking up quests across the Caribbean made it feel more like a place than a spreadsheet. Port Royale 3 looks handsome in this trailer, which also contains the greatest press quote in the history of press quotes. Observe.

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Yes, it seems to be real. Kalypso have sent word that the expansion for Tropico 4, which is called Modern Times, will features the possibility for enforced modernisation of your little republic, including a space programme. They explain: “El Presidente must modernise his island nation while battling sinister underground forces that threaten the future of Tropico itself in an extensive new single-player campaign.” That means fending off the collapse of capitalism, blocking your citizens’ access to the internet, and other signs of the times. Modern Times is due out in March, but at £19.99 it seems a little pricey! Trailer below.
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SkyDrift is Burnout with Mario Kart powerups, or Pilotwings with more racing and shooting. The fact that it’s about planes rather than cars does take away the possibility of nudging competitors into oncoming traffic or sending them spinning out of control, which is disappointing. Powerups take the place of collisions and although shooting opponents down with missiles hardly seems sporting, no one seems to mind. Perhaps it’s because the settings are so idyllic and tranquil. There’s a demo available on Steam, which I took for a quick test flight. Thoughts follow, like a bogey on your six.

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It’s never been my dream to run an airline. But then again it’s never been my dream to shoot thousands of aliens in the face with an improbably large gun, and I do that in games all the time. You can now find out if simulating the running of plane-o-businesses is your sort of thing with the demo for Airline Tycoon 2. It offers three campaigns from the game’s single player mode, allowing you to plan routes around the world, meddle with four of the game’s planes, and, er, manage the finances. See, I never have to do the accounts when I play Mans-Shooter VII: Shoot Them In The Necks. You can get the demo from here and here. If you’ve ever run an airline, tell us how realistic it is below.

Kalypso send word that they are going to be publishing a 4X space game by Novacore Studios in Q1 of next year. The description of it makes Legends Of Pegasus sound like every 4X game ever made: “The 4X space simulation will put players in control of the last surviving humans, as they explore space in a quest to expand their galactic empire. Players will conquer and explore an incredibly detailed 3D universe as they use economic, diplomatic and scientific means to expand their empires. Through a deep technology tree, players will unlock new technologies to customize their ships and prepare their fleets for the next alien encounter…” No winged horses to be seen, so far.

But I suppose it might have something neat going on that we don’t know about just yet. Novacore themselves are some kind of German academic spin off from University Duisburg-Essen, so they’ve no previous history of games for us to infer anything from. Feature list below!
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Banana el presidente despot republic. I have just summed up every opening line ever written about the Tropico series. Also I’ve probably done something clever regarding SEO witchcraft. We will be number one! But are there bananas in Tropico? Really? You can now find out for yourself, as the Tropico 4 demo has been released. It’s 1.7GB (you know what – that’s 116 Peggles), which you can pick up from here or here, or even here. In there you’ve got four tutorial missions, and one campaign mission, which should give you a fair idea if it’s something you want to buy. Something you’ll be able to do on the 1st September.

EDIT: Alternative trailer.

Kalypso have sent word that their follow-up to dungeon management game Dungeons is closing in. Dungeons – The Dark Lord will land on 23rd September, bringing with it a new single-player campaign set in an “ice-crystal” cavern, and multiplayer. Kalypso report: “Three multiplayer modes for up to four players: Deathmatch, King of the Hill and Survival,” which represents a big change for the game.

Needless to say, there’s a trailer chained up in the dungeon below.
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Kalypso have announced that the third instalment of their 17-century Caribbean swashbuckling naval management game is set to appear in “Q2 2012″. As in other Port Royale games, you will be set with naval victory, but have economic and military options at your disposal. Kalypso have explained that this consists in two quite different paths: “Following the path of the adventurer will lead the player on a naval conquest where they must gain notoriety through raids, piracy, bounty hunting, plundering and conquering cities as they strive to build their new Caribbean empire. The route of the trader sees the player using their economic know-how to become the most powerful trading tycoon in the New World by setting up trade routes, building production facilities and developing cites.” The game will also feature multiplayer, so players can use these toolsets to go up against each other on the high seas.