The Chronicles of Spellborn

The Chronicles of Spellborn was a bold try to do something completely out of line from UO, Everquest or World of Warcraft. The studio from Netherlands licensed the Unreal 2.5 engine and created their own story, their own environment, their own world! Main focus was put on the fighting system, which features a complex looking but very special and good kind of active and live fighting, with skill-based tiers. Moving, jumping, attacking from behind gets more interactive and it encourages to test your skill-tiers, similar to Guild Wars, because of the alignment and limitations in the slots.
Unfortunately TCOS could not fully keep up to the (and my) expectations. It was polished but too little content was available. Some people also argued that the quest descriptions were missing concrete directions. I liked that, as it was no following arrows and points but really reading the quests, the logs, the text. As the quest and discussion system also features some kind of answer selection, sometimes you can change your stand and the mood of NPCs to you. Something I also like.

So, just head over to the official website and download the game. It is worth at least a quick look and maybe the community will bring Spellborn back to live, somehow like Ryzom.

Pictures taken from the official Website: http://spellborn.acclaim.com/

How? This cannot be possible. This must be a joke. Please be joking. In reality they finished Duke Nukem 4 Ever and will release it. Broussard told everyone that they hit a milestone. This must be marketing.

Update 5

Somehow the Duke still lives (of course)! Scott Miller posted at his Facebook site that the current state is more of a pause than the death of the Duke (who can never die as we all know ^^’). Also some new images emerged with the post. I think they are great and have to still believe that I will see the Duke again.

Update 4

Now, some new footage popped up. Actually it is no new footage but the full segment not shown on the Jace Hall show, when he visited 3DRealms and had the chance to play it. I think it looks actually good and somehow finished. The idea with the controlling tentacles look good and the weapons are awesome as always. I really hope we will see this game in some time…

Update 3

After more and more news about how 3DRealms possibly refused 30 Millions and Take 2′s action of suing 3DRealms for 12 Millions and Source Code as well as Assets the first, more or less official statement has been made by the remaining executives at 3DRealms. It seems that 3DRealms still exists as a company but had to let go of all their developers in the beginning of May. Everything stated can be interpreted in many ways but I still have hope. It was also reported that Miller, Broussard and other Executives will give a full official statement some time later. So let’s hope everything gets at least clarified.

Update 2

Voodoo Extreme got their hands on 28 Hi-Res Screenshots of the “probable” game. The screens also contain a set of Story Tables/World Chart offering what Duke Nukem Forever could have been. The video below already showed our favourite “Stadium” level (but I liked “L.A. Rumble” more ^^’) and it seems that this would have been the entry into the game, as Duke plays his “historical documents” as a game, in the game. I am sorry, but again I need a moment…*morphingtoweepingwillow*

Update

One of the 3DRealms Animators Bryan Brewer, who worked on Duke Nukem Forever, released a Reel of his work done for the game. If this is the real deal, and this is actual gameplay footage with some story hints and everything, this would have been exactly everything a Duke3D BNC-Net gamer could have wished for. I am sorry, but I need a moment…*cryingoutloud*

Tomorrow Telltale Games will release its interpretation of new Tales of Monkey Island. Based on its known Engine, with a new Storyline split into 5 episodes of enormous fun (at least I hope… and I am pretty sure about it). I will post more about it during the week as I pre-ordered it, of course. But for now, a small trailer…

Bow Street Runner – Crime Scene

The wonderful created game gives you the ability to search around, look at evidence, talk to people and try to chit-chat them into giving you clues. “Bow Street Runner” uses real actors playing their parts very well and are staged into the pre-rendered backgrounds you can traverse (basically like Myst, but with far more fluent and accurate controls).
In addition to simple pixel hunting there are extremely well designed action puzzles as you have to pick a lock with specific movements with your mouse or listen to a moving conversation with a jar.
While playing through the game you get the opportunity to try yourself on some mini games as well as you can achieve higher ranks with the Runners as you progress. These can be fasten up as there are special bonus achievements (e.g. save someones life).
As it is a Shockwave game you do not have the chance to save your progress but at the end of every episode you get a special progress code that gets saved onto your computer (probably through a cookie). Additionally you can send this code to your E-Mail address. And as the episodes have a moderate length it is no big negative point.

Bow Street Runner – Suicide?

I have to say the five episodes adventure impressed me. It is made in tradition to old games like Bad Mojo, Tex Murphy, Phantasmagoria, Gabriel Knight and others that were gaming hits in the mid 90s (I liked them!). But in contrary to some bad examples that just made you click yourself through pre-rendered or pre-filmed scenes this one motivates through its distinct art style, historical correctness and the interesting twist between detective work and action riddle solving.

I recommend you go over to the “Bow Street Runner” site and get a picture of what I presented you here about the game. This is a wonderful example of how it should be done to motivate the player and to make a very well furbished game. I hope there will be more games of such caliber as I think these are great games especially to speed up the online game distribution. “You don’t know Jack!” is another example of a wonderful idea predestined for Flash games.

PS: Here is an engine that could be used or extended for such projects ^^’ (No, I would never self-advertise)

Today Telltale finally revealed the new brand: StrongBad! For all those of you who do not not StrongBad go and visit Homestarrunner to get your E-Mails answered!
I am a very big fan of StrongBad and “LIMOZEEN”, watching it every week! Therefore I am pretty excited (as you can tell, otherwise I wouldn’t post it ^^’). I recommend you to watch this episode about StrongBad in an Anime-Style if you do not know StrongBad at all as it is one of my favorites.

Not much is known at the moment I am writing this but the title will be fabulous Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People (SBCG4AP) and it will be some kind of classic adventure, like the Sam and Max Seasons but evolving around StrongBadia and its habitants. So a 3D Point’n'Click Adventure as we like it. Matt and Mike Chapman (the geniuses) will be involved in the development.
There will be five episodes released monthly starting June, downloadable through the WiiWare system by an unknown price. The game will feature WiiConnect24 (in what way nobody knows… but jesus!).

I hope we will be able to play other characters as StrongMad or do Crank Calls and use the Teen Girl Squad ^^’.

*update*
Telltale Games released the first Trailer with ACTUAL GAMEPLAY FOOTAGE and Images right on http://www.telltalegames.com/strongbad or watch it here..right NOW!

As delicacy a video of LimoZEEN Live in Atlanta after the jump!

I got my first computer in ’89, a AMIGA 500! My first very own computer which I loved and used year over year (and I still have it). I will never forget the classic Demo IRAQ by Animators which is one of my absolute favourites as I still follow the scene through the decades. Just got me more into computers as well as games like Giana Sisters, Silkworm, Maniac Mansion and many more. That’s why I am a big fan of all those emulators for different system out there.

Probably the most successful is the Nintendo Wii. Wait? What, the “New-Gen” Wii Console? Yes, this Nintendo Wii! With it’s Wii-Shop Channel it offers you the ability to download-to-own all those great old games from the NES, SNES, Turbografx, MegaDrive and many more. “The Legend of Zelda”, “Super Metroid”, The “Castlevania” Series, “Altered Beast”, “Golden Axe” to name some. Actually as I think the games are pretty expensive (5€ for the cheapest games, up to 10€) measured by their age, I already have spent to much money and time on them and probably will much more ^^’.
For those who do not own a Wii or want to play other old games I collected some common known good emulators.

ScummVM
To those who remember the SCUMM System I would point out the ScummVM Project. And to all you others: Damn scumbags ^^’! Read and learn!
Scumm was LucasArts’ (LucasFilm at that time) Adventure Scripting Engine. Fabulous games as Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island and Indiana Jones are based on it! Written also by Ron Gilbert, who just announced his new project, it was one surety for the success of LucasFilms at that time (besides Gilbert and Schafer). So who loved those old skool games and many more back then (Beneath a Steel Sky, Flight of the Amazon Queen to name a few), go ahead and download ScummVM.
ScummVM is a Virtual Machine that emulates all old gaming frameworks (mainly SCUMM but many have been implemented like Sierras AIG …) to allow you to play all those original Adventures that gave us so much fun. It is available for several platforms on the market, not only the PC but UNIX, MacOS X, NDS, Symbian, Amiga and so on.

PicoDrive
Another great emulator for PDAs and Symbian Phones is PicoDrive. It emulates an old Sega MegaDrive/Genesis System to allow you to play classics like Sonic – The Hedgehog or Golden Axe.
The Cyclone 68000 based emulator for WM PDAs is just one example of those many many emulators for nearly every system that was ever build. But especially on a good Symbian Phone this is just fun. To play Ghouls’n'Ghosts or Sonic or Streets of Rage (The Original) is sometimes better than playing through graphically great but boring nowadays games.

PCSX2
A more modern approach for emulation is PCSX2, a Playstation 2 emulator for Windows PCs. Playstation 2? you might ask. Yes, the PS2! The PS2 that still is being sold by Sony Computer Entertainment to compensate the PS3 sales. And as such the emulator works better every new release but has the flaw that it needs an original PS2 BIOS, and those are solely copyrighted to Sony. Therefore the emulator is somewhat legal but delivered without a PS2 BIOS. But today’s computer generation probably know enough possibilities to find these, but I am so not encouraging this ^^#.
As said the emulator works good. Not perfect, but good. An overview of the games that are playable, PCSX2 has put up a compatibility chart. There are many games like Final Fantasy or Metal Gear that are nearly flawlessly playable. But one requirement is a very good computer as the emulator and it’s plugins need a good load of CPU Power!

WinUAE and TBL Demos
As introduction I told you about my old Amiga500 and the Demos I loved to watch. I still love the Scene and it’s outcome. One of my favourite groups throughout the years are TBL, The Black Lotus.
Those magicians at the keyboard have created more masterpieces than Kubrick or Spielberg. And even if they made some PC Demos over the years, there best works are on the Amiga System. Silkcut, Starstruck, Ocean Machine or Little Nell to point my favourites out (more on pouet.net). They fascinate by teasing out even the last crunch of the System, the last breath it can bare.
To watch those Demos you must have a Amiga System or you must stick with the screen caps. But there is one alternative: The WinUAE! The Amiga Emulator is commonly known to play most TBL Demos at a decent speed rate. Besides Demos you can also play games like those old Cinemaware classics. So this is probably a good solution to feel this old AmigaOS feeling.

Again THX to all Site- and Emulator-Makers for their time and effort to give us this fun (and images). For a very good overview of all those Emulators around have a look at AEP Emu.

Two of those things that troubled me the last weeks (besides Christmas and New Year) were the announcements or better first/new materials of Street Fighter IV and Duke Nukem Forever (And YES! I always believed it will be released…).

Street Fighter IV
First of all Street Fighter IV was announced some weeks ago with a very stylish trailer.
After much speculation about which dimension Street Fighter IV will conquer (3D like Street Fighter EX3 or 2D like the old Street Fighter World Games, which we liked so much) two weeks ago 1UP (better EGM) had an exclusive first look at an early development stage of the game… and damn, it looks very very good.

It will be a 2.5D fighting game as the whole graphics are 3D (not really classic Cel-Shading but very pastel like texturing and colouring) but the fighting will be on a traditional 2D layer with some additional special effects and environment interaction. Not much is known at this moment as the Capcom states that the development has just started, so the release won’t be before the end of 2008 (and a new “Happy New Year” post ^^’) but EGM managed to get some information out of the developers.
The characters of Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Dhalsim are already somehow integrated. No final word on the character selection later on. Additionally to classic “Hadokens” and fighting there will be Ultra Combos integrated (probably known from games like “God of War”) and a “Rescue System” that will allow players on the edge to come back with some kind of blowout. For the whole story (I am too lazy to retell it here) have a look a the 1UP Feature.

Besides a new game in the franchise the rumour about a new movie (after the disaster movie with Jean-Claude) was spread month ago and they came out true. With “Street Fighter – The Legend of Chun-Li” Andrzej Bartkowiak (director of DOOM and respected for his camera work) will helm a new movie starring Chun-Li (hard to tell). Less than for the game is known what the movie will deal with (but Chun-Li) but what is known already is that the main actress will be Kristin Kreuk. Most people probably know here as Lana Lang from the Superman-Series “Smallville”. And actually as much as I think she looks lovely I cannot really think of here as Chun-Li.
But until we know more, see the first trailer and watch the final cut we can kill time by watching the hilarious Later Years of Street Fighter!

Duke Nukem Forever
Another bit news story made our Christmas more wonderful than the last 6 years. As Broussard lashed his men to finalize the first trailer since E3 2001 Duke Nukem Forever lives again. Declared dead by many, honoured with a Vaporware Lifetime Achievement Award but the Duke IS Forever.
Much could be said to this achievement, a recap of the last ten years with Duke Nukem Forever has been summed up by Shacknews so I let them do the writing and just give you the trailer.
But remember: Broussard once declared on the 3DRealms Board that the first new material will be shown if the release is within the next 12 months. So let’s hope he is right and is true to his words!

I prepared the Duke Nukem Forever Trailer from ’98 and ’01 for your pleasure after the jump!
Thanks to 1UP/Gamevideos, Gametrailers and the developers for those great resources!

“The Hero that is FOREVER!”

Story
Steve Purcell’s Sam & Max, the Freelance Police, are still in business. And while Sam is playing Wilhelm Tell with Max whilst he is balancing on a ball they are waiting for all those criminals that need to learn a lesson. A hard, scary and brutal lesson if so has Maxs way. Suddenly the telephone rings but it is nowhere to be found because their very own house rat has stolen it and demands cheese, Swiss cheese. Meanwhile our (anti-)heroes are negotiating with a rat something odd is making its way through the city. Former child stars of the Soda Poppers are spreading out and act weird, very weird: Vandalism, impersonation and unwanted deliveries! Something is wrong and Sam & Max have to solve this riddle… but a much bigger evil is growing behind.

Graphics
“Culture Shock”, the first Episode in a six Episode series comes with a slight better Bone Graphics engine from Telltale itself. The graphics are not really bad or state-of-the-art but fit to the Sam & Max style. The complete 3D style is based on a colourful environment with winding buildings and interior. A lot is done with just colouring and shading but there are also lots of fine textures. Everything illuminates the whole scenario and leaves a great mark. Overall the designer were inspired by the old “Hit the Road” game. Even some specials and trivias have been transported into the new 3D environment. Every Sam & Max fan will feel itself home immediately. The graphics are no new Unreal but it is exactly the style Sam & Max needed. It reminds me of Grim Fandango, the best Adventure ever in my opinion.

Gameplay
Sam & Max is an oldskool Point’n'Click adventure where you control Sam (No Max this time, sorry!). Nothing more, nothing less. Everything is handled by the cursor. The interface is intuitive and most likely you will only need your left mouse button. The inventory is a little box (couldn’t think of that, could we ^^) in the corner and your gun is your best friend. You will never have to scroll through your inventory because of plenty of items. Inventory puzzles are present but only as much as needed. The whole scenario plays around their office. You play along the street, a psychologist and a corner shop. All places are small but filled with interesting stuff Sam & Max have to comment on. If you do not want to solve the big mystery you can even ride your car and catch some delinquents. A funny action sequence like Full Throttle! combined with some of the funniest lines of the game. Overall a very classy Adventure which warps you back in the nineties and a time where Lucasarts made good Adventures.

Humour
Most important for you probably is the humour. One word should be enough: Hilarious! There are so many funny lines you will piss yourself laughing. All those old references, continuous asking actions and the notes by a damn crazy Rabbit that wants to punish everyone will keep you laughing until you gasp for breath. Not only the conversations but the whole environment is filled with allusions to the old Sam & Max and much more. Some example:

Sam Take that you lawbreaking dairy products!

Max Sam, No! The cheese was innocent!

Sam Innocent!? I think not.

Every sentence if filled with analogies, word jokes and much more fun by those two damn cranks. Not only them but every character has some nice gags you will run into. But the bests are with Max of course ^^. Overall Culture Shock is much about talinkg. Some minor talking riddles but bascially just the jokes, the wits, the fun comes through those dialogues. Subjective I think that this Episode has more lines and jokes most fulltime games have. Just great!

Conclusion
In my opinion Sam & Max is the first “real” Adventure since Monkey Island 3. It’s not only about puzzles. No mechanic riddles. Not just inventory items to combine. No “Go get me this and you’ll get that!”. Do not get me wrong it has everything an Adventure needs but does not limit itself to that. All Adventures untill this day were copies of memories developers had from the time they played Indiana Jones and Monkey Island. With Sam & Max you feel that these guys made those Adventures back then (Telltale was founded by old Lucasarts developers).

If you have to criticise anything than it would be the playtime. About 3 hours is not much but enough compared to the price. With 5 more Episodes to come I cannot stand the wait. All I can say is “BUY IT DAMN IT!” It is worth every penny and if it would cost 100$. If you love Adventures then you will marry Sam & Max: Culture Shock! Otherwise Max will give you a Shock Treatment!

Source of Picture http://www.mobygames.com/, InGame Screenshots taken by myself.

You can purchase every Episode from the Telltale homepage for 8.95$ each. Or you buy the whole season for 34.95$ and will have access to every Episode at the day of release. That is a good price for the whole season so I bought it already ^^. The Episodes are going to be released monthly beginning from January (the first Episode is an exception). So it will probably be like a television series you like. I am currently downloading the first Episode and will give you my humble opinion later on. To get an idea of the game, the voices and the story for yourself just try the DEMO!!!

I have to get going, stuff todo, but I will play Sam and Max today!

Source of Picture: http://www.telltalegames.com/

]]> http://insanitydesign.com/wp/2006/11/01/sam-max-has-been-released/feed/ 0