Latest Articles (Page 3472)

Since we last spoke to Romanian developers AMC Creation, their oddly titled real-time strategy game No Name War has undergone something of a metamorphosis. Previously it looked somewhat reminiscent of Total Annihilation, with polygonal units battling over a more or less two dimensional map from an overhead view. In recent months though the developers have switched over to a new fully 3D graphics engine, taking it closer to Earth 2150 territory in the visuals department. The first screenshots of the revamped game have just been released and they're quite impressive, with nicely detailed buildings and units, undulating terrain and some rather neat looking palm trees. On the gameplay front, AMC are still promising large scale battles with a wide range of ground, sea and air units, as well as the traditional RTS tech tree to develop your way through and numerous buildings to construct at your home base. No Name War is now expected to be complete some time towards the end of this year, although AMC and their agents at Octagon are still looking for a publishing deal. We'll keep you posted, but in the meantime why not check out the latest screenshots of the game and then head over to the AMC website to find out more? Related Feature - No Name War screenshots

Diablo. Gauntlet. Dungeon Siege. Smash TV. What do these games have in common? For the most part, they all subscribe to the same theory of adventuring - that an overwhelming enemy populace and the organised redistribution of their limbs and souls across the pavement is conducive to a good time. Based on the White Wolf roleplaying books of the same name, Hunter: The Reckoning is another such game, thrusting you into a possessed town and throwing monsters at you relentlessly.

Minority Report's vision of a near-future world, with its animated cereal boxes, personalised advertisements beamed straight to the brain, and Big Brother-style retinal scan citizen control system, is one of the most ornate and consistently amazing sci-fi worlds delivered in recent cinematic history, and having bought the rights to the inevitable spin-off game, Activision will be hoping that developers Treyarch can accurately recreate the world for another adventure on PS2, Cube and Xbox.

Piracy seems to be back in style at the moment, with Pirates : The Legend Of Black Kat already laying at anchor on next generation consoles and the Tropico sequel set to go all swashbuckling in the near future as well. Now you can add another peg-legged strategy game to that list in the form of Voodoo Islands. Developed in the renowned pirate stronghold of Stuttgart by fresh-faced development studio SPIRIT, the game will put you in the boot(s) of a pirate captain fighting against cannibals, Conquistadors and rival pirates in search of fame, fortune and a nice embroidered eye patch. Probably. Along the way you will get to to engage in ship-to-ship combat, board captured ships, search for hidden treasure on mysterious desert islands and master voodoo magic. The PC version of Voodoo Islands will be jolly rogering its way on to shelves in the British Isles and across the European main in November, with a PlayStation 2 port expected to follow some time next year. Will it be worth a closer look, or is it destined for a keel hauling? We should know soon, but in the meantime feast your eyes on these early screenshots. Related Feature - Voodoo Islands screenshots

Sporting a combination of addictive gameplay and Tom Clancy inspired storylines, the Rainbow Six series has proven a critical and commercial success over the last few years, gathering a legion of hardcore fans. With the latest installment in the series - Raven Shield - enjoying not only a long overdue change of engine but also a new development team, we caught up with lead designer Mike McCoy at a recent press event in the wilds of Slough to find out more...

Phantagram's impressive line-up turned heads at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles a couple of months back, with the first in-game footage of their 3D strategy sequel Kingdom Under Fire 2 : The Crusaders amongst the highlights. To date that E3 trailer hasn't been available online, but today we are happy to announce that you can exclusively download it right here on EuroGamer, courtesy of our friends at Telewest blueyonder. The three and a half minute long trailer shows a variety of in-game action, from spectacular fireball attacks and archers letting loose volleys of arrows, to chaotic hand-to-hand combat and shots of your army charging around the battlefield on its way to a fight. The setting is a battle between humans and orcs which rages across rolling hills and through forests, with the sword-wielding knight Gerald and his scantily clad sidekick Ellen leading their forces against a horde of greenskins headed by a huge ogre. To see the results for yourself, download the trailer, available in large and small versions for the bandwidth impaired -

Work began yesterday on recording the soundtrack for the new Tomb Raider, with the promise of a darker more mature feel for the game and its music alike. The session took place at the legendary Abbey Road studio in London, and Jill de Jong, the latest in a long line of Lara Croft models, was on hand to "inspire" the 82 members of the London Symphony Orchestra. Unfortunately the photographs taken at the unlikely meeting of model and musicians show that most of them were too busy pissing themselves laughing to actually play the score, while one poor woman cellist in the front row appears to have burst into tears when confronted by the skimpily clad Lara look-alike trying to conduct the orchestra. "To bring together one of the world's most famous heroines and one of the world's best orchestras in such a famous setting as the Abbey Road studios has been incredible", according to Core composer Peter Connelly, who went on to explain that he had chosen the oboe, core anglais, harp and flute to represent Lara in the musical score. Given that the game takes Lara from Prague to the back streets of Paris, perhaps a French horn would have been more appropriate? [Steady on - Ed] Hopefully somebody managed to drag Lara away from the baton and mixing desk long enough to get some actual work done yesterday, in which case we should hear the end results when the game is released on PC and PlayStation 2 in November.

Although most human beings are perfectly capable of distinguishing between two relatively similar monikers, apparently lawyers and marketing people are not, and it is for these reasons that Polish real-time strategy game Starmageddon: Project Earth has been stripped of its original European title. However, the game was to be called Project Earth in the US and Canada anyway. The now shortened Project Earth (which doesn't sound like any of the other million and one games called Project Something, of course), will be available in August of this year on the PC, priced £29.99. Developers Lemon Interactive and publisher Mindscape are determined not to have their game confused with SCi's ancient and long since awful Carmageddon series. Fortunately, since nobody was confused to begin with, there won't be a problem. Related Feature - Starmageddon Project Earth screenshots

The fourth installment in a series of minute long teaser trailers for Colin McRae Rally 3 has been released over at the Codemasters website. Titled "Track Shakedown", it shows off some of the stages that rally fans can look forward to driving on, with surfaces ranging from tarmac and gravel to snow and sand, and settings including Britain, Sweden, Finland, Japan and America. Along the way you'll find lush forests, twisting mountain roads, parched dust tracks, wet asphalt and snow-covered routes. Once again it all looks very impressive on the visual front, with the highlight this time probably being the huge plumes of dust thrown up behind the cars on some of the desert tracks, the billowing clouds looking uncannily reminiscent of some of the real TV footage of the recent Kenyan Safari rally. Which, coincidentally, was won by a certain Colin McRae. As usual, you can grab the trailer in a variety of sizes from the Colin McRae downloads page on Codemasters' website. Related Feature - Colin showcases cars

Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance has continued down the rocky road to release this week with chief designer Hideo Kojima fleshing out some of the game's finer details for the first time since E3. Speaking to Japanese gaming mag Hyper-PS2, Kojima-san confirmed that Substance will have four principle modes; an updated single player adventure, alternative missions, VR missions and new Snake adventures. There will be more than 100 alternative missions and more than 200 VR missions with a number of different characters and all of the tricks and amusing tweaks demonstrated in the E3 trailer on offer. Snake in a tuxedo for example, or Raiden with a samurai sword [hopefully committing seppuku -Ed]. The fourth gameplay mode is sure to inspire a lot of chit-chat on message boards the world over, and it focuses squarely on the adventures of Solid Snake. After depriving us of our hero for most of the eagerly anticipated adventure, Kojima-san has decided to give us a number of medium-length stories ranging from comedy to hard-boiled drama, with proper narratives and the return of popular characters from Metal Gears past. The Evolution Skateboarding crossover is still set to be in place, although Kojima-san wouldn't be drawn on too many details and it seems to be more of a Konami in-joke than a proper gameplay addition, but we shall have to wait and see. Related Feature - Metal Gear Solid 2 review (PS2)

Square is throwing a huge, celebratory Summer Festival in the world of Final Fantasy XI's Vana D'iel. According to a report on The Magic Box, amongst the merriment will be dramas, fireworks and tournaments and further details will be announced in Japan this evening. The news follows Square's decision to reopen the game's auction system, which was temporarily disabled after a vicious exploit robbed the RPG visionaries of a lot of yen recently. Related Feature - FFXI defrauded

Novalogic's next big militaristic action game for the PC, Delta Force : Black Hawk Down, will be hitting the shelves some time in October here in Europe. In the meantime though, fans of the series can look forward to a multiplayer open beta next month, with a single level test version being released to help hone the game's online features. "Multiplayer has always been one of the strongest facets of the Delta Force franchise", according to Novalogic CEO John Garcia. "We see this open beta test as an opportunity to test and improve our multiplayer options while also getting the feedback of the people who count, the gamers." Related Feature - Black Hawk Down screenshots

SSX Tricky has claimed the lives of millions of young adults. Unfortunately, this addictive menace has swept society without a thought for the little ones it leaves behind. And now the home wrecking looks set to continue with an eminently portable GameBoy Advance version courtesy of handheld conversion specialists Visual Impact. Those of you unfamiliar with this destructive influence would do well to read our previous articles on the subject, here, here and here. It's a popular peril. The forthcoming handheld release has been crafted using a fully 3D polygon-based engine. Although character models will be replaced by sprites, close to the full complement of SSX trick combinations should be available to each rider (if Visual Impact can come up with a reasonable compromise on the control front - SSX on the PS2 uses four buttons for grabs alone). Graphically it'll look as good as it looks, which is almost impossible to predict - there is talk of some severe clipping in early versions, which doesn't bode well, but to veterans of the game the course layouts will be second nature anyway. Speaking of which, all ten will be present, in race, showoff and practice modes. Tricky is due out Stateside in November, having finally now appeared on PS2, Xbox and Cube all over the planet. There is currently no European release date available from EA, although it would seem daft to hold the game back until after the winter, so expect to see it at the turn of the year or thereabouts. Depending on daftness. Related Feature - SSX Tricky review (Xbox)

While July and August are traditionally quiet for the gaming industry, with publishers following the rather circular logic of not putting out any big new releases because nobody buys games during the summer (probably because there's nothing worth buying), this week bucks the trend with the release of no less than three potentially big titles. Heading up the list is Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo-Geneva on the PS2. Building on the similarly titled Japanese GT3 spin-off which was released late last year, it sports an array of weird and wonderful concept cars alongside more conventional vehicles. It's not a true sequel by any stretch of the imagination, recycling game engine and tracks alike from its big brother, but fans of the series will no doubt still want a piece of the action, especially at a knock-down price of around £25. Meanwhile Codemasters have burrowed their way under the fence and sneaked off into the night with Prisoner Of War, now out on PS2 and Xbox. For those of you who've been locked in the cooler for the last few months, it's a novel looking game which drops you into a series of famous World War II prison camps such as Stalag Luft and Colditz, and then tasks you with breaking out. Also appearing on Xbox today is Enclave, the splendid looking fantasy action game from Swing and Swedish developers Starbreeze Studios. Aside from the tasteful eye candy, the game also features two campaigns spread across 25 levels, giving you the chance to battle as good or evil with a variety of character classes, weapons, spells and skills on offer. Whether the gameplay can match the graphics remains to be seen, but we'll have a full review for you soon. GameCube owners aren't being left out either, with the arrival of EA Sports' F1 2002 (arguably the best racer to date on the Cube) and retro rehash Gauntlet Dark Legacy. Oh joy. On the handheld front, GameBoy Advance fans can look forward to the old school side-scrolling mayhem of CT Special Forces. And sticking with the counter-terrorist theme, Novalogic's Delta Force spin-off Task Force Dagger is also available this week, providing a somewhat fanciful recreation of the on-going war on terror. The videogame version has you blowing up MIGs and destroying biowarfare facilities in Afghanistan, rather than shooting your own allies or spending weeks wandering around in the mountains without seeing anything more hostile than a mangy old goat. Which is probably a good thing. New Releases - CubeF1 2002Gauntlet Dark LegacyGBACT Special Forces Stuart Little 2 PCDelta Force : Task Force DaggerZoo Tycoon : Dinosaur DigsEdge Of Chaos (budget) PSX Stuart Little 2 PS2GT Concept 2002 Men In Black 2 : Alien Escape Prisoner Of WarSilpheed : The Lost Planet (budget) XboxEnclavePrisoner Of WarRelated Feature - UK Release Date List

Sony Online continues its milking of the EverQuest franchise with the announcement today that Rapid Eye Entertainment is developing an EverQuest-based real-time strategy game for the PC, due out next autumn. Both companies are playing their cards close to their chests, so pretty much all we know at this early stage is that Rapid Eye are promising "a unique twist" to seperate their game from the horde of real-time strategy clones released over the last decade. But then, they would say that, wouldn't they? Rapid Eye itself is mostly made up of escapees from New World Computing, veterans of the Might & Magic and Heroes series, although its designers' CVs also include games such as Dungeon Siege, Delta Force and Eye Of The Beholder. Hopefully they can blend those influences to bring us the great gameplay of Heroes with the graphics of Dungeon Siege, rather than vice versa. Meanwhile, the same press release from Sony also mentions a forthcoming PlayStation 2 spin-off, under construction by Baldur's Gate : Dark Alliance developers Snowblind Studios. Just about all we know about this one so far is that it isn't the already announced EverQuest Online Adventures. What it is, what it's called or when it's due out remains a mystery. Related Feature - Sony announces EverQuest for PS2

EA's last excursion into the world of James Bond featured a rather bland generic 007, but we're happy to report that their next adventure, Nightfire, won't suffer from the same problem. Step forward Pierce Brosnan. It's not entirely clear from the vague press release whether or not the big screen Bond will be providing a voice for his videogame counterpart, but we do know that Nightfire will now feature his "likeness", so you will at least look like Bond, James Bond, even if it's not entirely certain that you will sound like him. And to make doubly sure that Bond fans are stirred into buying a copy, the game should arrive in the same month as the secret agent's latest cinematic outing, Die Another Day. Related Feature - Nightfire screenshots (Xbox)

The Warhammer Online team at Climax Nottingham have been busy since we last spoke to them and, as producer Matt Sansam revealed in his developer diary today, one of the main things they have been working on is populating the game world. Fans of the classic Warhammer table-top and role playing games should find a lot of familiar faces waiting for them in the game when it finally goes live some time in 2004, with the monsters previously only seen as lead figures and fanciful paintings in game manuals taking on polygonal form. To give you a taste of things to come, we have short animation clips showing two of these monsters in action - wyverns and rat-ogres.

It's just a few months since Climax and Games Workshop revealed that their adaptation of the classic Warhammer table-top system had morphed from an online strategy game to a massively multiplayer role-player. Today, in the first of a series of developer diaries, executive producer Matt Sansam fills us in on what the team has been up to...

Earlier this year around E3-time, Electonic Arts announced Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for PS2 and Cube, to be developed by Aussie development outfit Krome Studios. Well, EA dropped us a line yesterday to point out that the game is now in development on Xbox alongside the PS2 and Cube versions. All three are due out later this year. Ty is EA's attempt at a 3D character-based adventure, with visuals reminiscent of Rayman spliced with Jak & Daxter, and a lot of characters based on animals indigenous to the Australian outback. Although EA has yet to elaborate on finer details of the game, like the plot, we do know that Ty will be capable of running, jumping, swimming and gliding, with an upgradeable boomerang at his side. Related Feature - Ty the Tasmanian Tiger screenshots (Xbox)

Given the deluge of rally titles around at the moment, the arrival of a new V-Rally game from Infogrames is hardly cause for celebration. But as a born again rally nut coming fresh from the joys of Rallisport Challenge, I was cautiously looking forward to getting back on to the dirt tracks again. Little did I know what I was letting myself in for, although my assistant's eagerness to give me our sole review copy of the game should have served as a warning.

Square has officially announced Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II for the PSone, to be made available separately for 3,800 yen (£20 / €32) each, and together as part of a bundle with some action figures, books and other trinkets. Both games will be spruced up beyond the changes made to the publisher's previous PlayStation releases, with the promise of improved audio and visual treats. A Quick Save feature is also to be included, along with new CG intro and ending movies (ala previous releases) and a 3D field map with Mode 7 graphics equivalent to the one in Final Fantasy V. The forthcoming release of FFs I & II means that every game with the exception of FFIII (the Japanese edition, as opposed to FFVI which became the American FFIII - confusing, I know) will have appeared on Sony's PlayStation consoles.

Eagerly anticipated first person role-playing game Arx Fatalis will finally see the light of day on September 27th, courtesy of Austrian publisher JoWooD. Arx Fatalis is set in a (literally) dark fantasy world where the sun has disappeared, plunging the city of Arx into darkness and leaving its inhabitants scurrying underground into the old dwarven mines beneath it. Now it's up to you to brave goblins, ratmen and giant spiders in a bid to defeat the evil cult of Akbaa and save the world from ruin. And as if that's not pressure enough, there's also the slight matter of uncovering your own true identity, because your character is (you guessed it) suffering from amnesia. We've been looking forward to this one for some time now, and the preview code we took for a spin a few months back was already looking promising. With a novel setting, a lengthy storyline, varied locations to explore, and a novel gesture based magic system (which looks vaguely reminiscent of the flawed interface used by Black & White but proved easier to control in practice), it should be well worth a closer look come September. In the meantime you'll have to make do with a batch of new screenshots of the game in action. Related Feature - Arx Fatalis screenshots

Driver 3 is to be released on Xbox, PS2, GameCube and PC, publisher Infogrames has revealed this evening. Not much is known about the game other than its developer, Newcastle-based Reflections, makers of the previous two games in the series. Driver was originally an excellent fully 3D crime caper in the style which GTA3 would eventually claim for its own. After a disappointing sequel which failed to recapture the essence of the original, Driver 3 will be aiming to re-establish itself, and Infogrames will be hoping that Reflections can deliver something to help sooth its wallet troubles. Infogrames recently (and reluctantly) released a video trailer for the game, showcasing the three main locations - Miami, Nice and Istanbul - and introducing us to incredibly detailed streets and cityscapes, although we've learnt our lesson from The Getaway about how to treat these teaser campaigns. Interestingly, Reflections has chosen Miami for one of its locations - which is also obviously the basis for GTA Vice City. One might have expected the developer to try and avoid comparisons with Rockstar's upcoming PS2 release, but by the looks of things, Reflections are bold enough to take them on.

Proving once again that rumours of the PlayStation's demise have been greatly exaggerated (as they have been for the last two years, come to think of it), JoWooD have announced that their PC karting sim Michael Schumacher World Kart Racing 2002 will be getting a release on Sony's antique console. Due out on August 30th for the princely sum of £19.99, the PSone port will mirror the PC original, featuring eight tracks and a variety of 100, 125 and 150cc karts to pilot around them, and of course the Regenmeister himself to race against as your ultimate challenge. A two player split-screen mode is also being added for a little (literally) wheel to wheel action. Related Feature - Schumacher Kart Racing screenshots (PC)

Earlier today, publisher Metro3D announced an aquatic adventure for PS2 owners entitled Sub Rebellion. Normally, when faced with such a strikingly original concept as an underwater combat sim, we leap about in the throes of sheer joy and excitement, but on this occasion we were a bit mute. Fortunately, a quick glance over the obligatory fact sheet revealed that Sub Rebellion is the work of erstwhile R-Type developers Irem Software, and their credentials speak for themselves. Known as -U- Underwater Unit in Japan, Sub Rebellion is an underwater adventure with a detailed near-future storyline. The idea is that in the year 2139, the earth's tectonic plates began to shift, changing the face of the planet, and that by 2145 only two surviving and opposing factions remain; the Melgis Empire and the Alliance Army. By deploying the Clonus attack sub (your ride), the Alliance hopes to "turn the tides on the war". [Ooh, that's a nasty one! -Ed] Clonus will be able to move swiftly and players will be able to bask in dazzling light effects - in essence, Sub Rebellion seems like an aquatic 3D version of R-Types, which isn't exactly bad by any stretch of the imagination. If the oceans of Sub Rebellion teem with hostile encounters, torpedoes, depth charges and surface-launched homing missiles as Irem claim, then it could be one of the first truly defining underwater blasters. Most of the rest have been (how shall we put it?) ... sinkers. Sadly, the fate of Irem's other prospect, the universally acclaimed and deeply innovative Zettai Zetsumei Toshi - a game about escaping an earthquake in Japan - is not so good. Our understanding is that the UK publisher interested in bringing the game to Europe has dropped all attempts to do so, and that Zettai will remain a popular import and nothing more.

As with all-but-one of the Castlevania games, the hero is a Belmont, in this case by the name of Juste, the latest in a long and famous line of vampire slayers. Although the language barrier masks the game's no doubt delightful dialogue and storyline, it cannot mask the basic underlying virtues of the Castlevania series. It's a 2D platformer with advanced character development, superb level design and - in this case - it makes inventive use of the GBA's hardware to produce some lovely visual effects, all to the sound of a haunting soundtrack.

Worms. It's been a long time since we've enjoyed their company. Worms 2 was excellent - a cartoony turn-based tour de force, and we obviously loved the original, but after that things got a bit silly. [Sillier than invertebrates with bazookas? -Ed] Worms Armageddon was Worms 2 with a silly interface, although the charm remained and shone through. Worms World Party, on the other hand, was Worms 2.2-and-a-bit, and the joke was starting to wear a little thin - by the time Worms Blast arrived in all its spin-off puzzle mutation boredom, we'd lost interest. Fortunately, Developer Team 17 knows this. They're quite probably sorry. Worms 3, they promise, will be completely redesigned from the ground up, with a new engine, new character animations, a new round of amusing (and hopefully inventive) FMV cutscenes to pop up here and there and all sorts of other foibles. The game is reportedly fully three-dimensional, and the ever-pulsating Worms community has already thrust up an unofficial FAQ with lots of detail. If you think there's a space in your life for some more annelidical shoot 'em ups, then take a gander.

In an unusual reversal of fortunes, Nintendo found itself able to announce a 23rd September release date for the American version of Star Fox Adventures yesterday, although the firm has yet to announce a new date for Europe. Other titles pushed up the roster include Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, which will saturate the market on the same date, and Mario Party 4, which is now due out on the 21st October in the US. Star Fox Adventures is evidently very close to completion, and perhaps once the loveable Arwing-manning rogue is fresh out of the door, notoriously press-shy developer Rare will reveal what else the firm is working on. Related Feature - Star Fox Adventures preview

Just when you thought you'd seen the back of the Y2K quiz show craze, up pops another videogame promising to let you win virtual money. This time it's the turn of the GameBoy Advance to enjoy (endure?) the delights of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, with the handheld adaptation due out some time later this year. Once again Hothouse are in the driving seat, but this time it's Zoo Digital who will be handling the publishing duties for the game in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Punters can look forward to a pixellated rendition of the famous Millionaire studio set, along with all the traditional graphics from the TV series and lots of tiny text to squint at. The usual selection of life-lines will be on offer to help you through the game's thousand plus new questions, while the annoying theme music tinkles away in the background. And as if that's not enough to drive you insane, a multiplayer mode is also being promised, giving you the perfect opportunity to drive friends and co-workers up the wall as well. Whether the game will reach the dizzy heights of the original Who Wants To Be A Millionaire or flounder at the bottom end of the charts like most of last year's quiz game crop remains to be seen, but in the meantime you can clap your eyes on a batch of early screenshots of the game to get yourself in the right mood. What's that, you don't want to look at them? Are you sure? Is that your final answer? You wouldn't like to phone a friend first? Related Feature - Who Wants To Be A Millionaire screenshots (GBA)

Owners of the latest generation of Java compatible mobile phones can look forward to playing new versions of Metal Slug, King Of Fighters and Samurai Showdown, thanks to a licensing deal which sees Digital Bridges buying the rights to bring the popular SNK arcade games to a whole new audience. The games will be distributed by more than 40 mobile networks, with a combined reach of around a quarter of a billion users. And although only three games have been announced so far, further SNK mobile phone conversions are apparently possible in future. "Mobile gaming is a very exciting new area for games companies and promises to reach a new and potentially enormous audience, outside the normal console market", according to Ron Czemy of MJ Entertainment, the company that brokered the agreement. "We are very pleased to be working with Digital Bridges to bring many of the SNK-NeoGeo games to a new generation of gamers - and cell phone owners - throughout Europe, North America and Latin America." Related Feature - Java In Your Hands