Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning—Feature Story

by John Gaudiosi

Electronic Arts purchased Mythic Entertainment a few years back because the massively multiplayer online (MMO) game developer had a proven hit with Dark Age of Camelot, as well a potential mass market license in Warhammer Online. That game, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, is now unleashed to the public.

"The first thing to bear in mind is that we're not making a computer game, we're making a hobby experience," said Paul Barnett, creative director at EA Mythic during an interview at the EA Studio Showcase. "We do the three things that all hobbies provide -- skill, commitment and imagination. You can play it lightly and have a really great time or you can attempt to be the best player in the world. Our commitment is time, money and an understanding that our game is joyous and wonderful.All great hobbies trigger your imagination. We make you think about the experience when you're not playing the game."

That experience offers players six races distributed across two alliances and three frontiers. Although there's general animosity between all of the factions, out of necessity, the humans, dwarves and elves have alligned to fight the greenskins (orcs and goblins), chaos and dark elves.

"If you come and play Warhammer Online, we have the next generation of the pen-and-paper game," said Barnett. "It has more to it than any other MMO. There's more texture, it's easier to play and it has a great world. It's 25 years of gameplay packed into one experience."

Barnett said Warhammer Online offers 80 percent of what gamers are used to, sort of like an MMO Greatest Hits, but it also adds another 20 percent of new ideas and concepts like public quests and the ability to partake in player versus player experience from level 1 to level 80.

"The world of Warhammer has great depth," said Barnett. "Our game is easy to get into and devilishly hard to give up."

According to Barnett, with every new generation of MMO game, the experience becomes easier to play. That accounts for how Blizzard Interactive was able to attract such a large audience of gamers with World of Warcraft.

"More people are getting used to committing time to these types of games," said Barnett. "It's been years since WOW was out and I believe gamers are looking for something new. We want to welcome you to our wonderful world. We want every opportunity for you to get your hands on our game to see how good it is."

One of the reasons EA purchased Mythic is based on Mark Jacobs' track record with MMO games. Barnett said Jacobs, who was the lead designer of Warhammer Online, has been designing these games since the '80s.

"Dark Age of Camelot was a wonderful learning experience and wisdom generator," said Barnett. "We've taken all the best fits of what we know and incorporated them with all of the new technology now available, to make the best iteration of an MMO."

Barnett has watched as the evolution of connected social gaming has exploded from the text-based days of MUDDs to the graphical extravaganzas of Age of Conan and Warhammer Online.

One of the reasons Warhammer Online is so robust is because of the technology developed under the hood. EA Mythic created a proprietary engine for this experience, while adding several third party software packages to the mix like GameBryo. They also worked closely with Nvidia.

"Nvidia's tool support for their hardware is unsurpassed," said Colin Shannon, technical director, EA Mythic. "As a result, this has allowed us to implement several features and diagnose problems in our own graphic systems that would have been extremely difficult to do without. This has allowed us to pursue features in our product that we simply would not have had the time to do otherwise.

Shannon said gamers will especially dig the new sky and lighting systems in Warhammer Online.

"Our advanced lighting system, detailed terrain, and scalability for hundreds of figures were all made possible thanks to Nvidia's GPUs," said Shannon. "They're the gold standard for performance while developing Warhammer Online. Their tools and support are unsurpassed."

"Nvidia GPUs provide the best visual effects and performance for Warhammer Online," concurred Matt Shaw, CTO, EA Mythic. "Warhammer Online takes full advantage of the incredible performance that NVIDIA's GeForce 200 series delivers to maintain high framerate at high resolutions."

Now gamers can explore this rich world with the latest Nvidia GeForce cards.

Dead Space

Dead Space—Interview

by John Gaudiosi

Electronic Arts is launching a new franchise with Dead Space. Not only is the new game shipping for PC on October 20, it's debuted as a comic book series and also appearing as an animated feature on Starz Entertainment. Chuck Beaver, producer of the game, talks about the new survival horror experience and what gamers can expect in Dead Space.

NVIDIA: Can you talk about the Dead Space movie from Starz Entertainment and how that ties into the game?

Chuck Beaver: The animated feature, titled Downfall, was written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, and animated by the team at Starz/Film Roman. It picks up where the 6-issue comic series by Antony Johnston and Ben Templesmith leaves off, which shows the infection of the colony on Aegis 7, the planet being mined. Downfall shows the necromorph infection vector getting from the colony to the Ishimura, and chronicles the downfall of the ship. The game picks up then where Downfall leaves off, and Isaac Clarke is introduced into the storyline, and we go from there. So, there are quite a few events and plotlines in motion before Isaac even shows up in the series.

Once he does, he needs weapons. Can you talk about the weapons and gadgets players will have access to in Dead Space?

We wanted to immerse literally everything inside the world, so the weapons became mining tools, but “of the future." There are small plasma cutters with blades that rotate vertically or horizontally, depending on how you need to blast a chunk off a boulder to get it to fit into a smelter. There are large ore cutters that shear off whole sides of rocks, flamethrowers for melting ice off rocky comets, and so on. We have a "telekinesis" that is not psionic in nature, but mechanical, so we just call it "kinesis." It's a device that basically grabs any inanimate object, pulls it towards the user, where you can then propel it away from you with great force. This is handy if you run out of ammo and need to catch the exploding organic pods some creature is lobbing at you and throw them back before they detonate.

That's a lot of weapons.

There is also a stasis device, which temporarily slows time in a small area around the projectile's detonation point. This has obvious uses outside of mining. Also, engineers carry standard equipment such as gravity boots, basic environment suits that provide oxygen and life-support, and a holographic 3D map with an accompanying locator system which projects holographic lines on the floor leading to your next destination.

What's your favorite?

Stasis, by a long shot. It never gets old freezing a leaping slasher in mid-air, and then picking off his limbs with a plasma cutter and watching them fly away in slow motion, along with the blood.

Speaking of slashers, what types of creatures will players encounter?

Some of the necromorphs are basic slashers with giant talons arching over their shoulders. Others are cloning samples from the medical deck that have gone haywire from the infection, turning into baby-like, tentacled nightmares. Others are just tentacles. Some are pregnant with smaller swarms of enemies waiting to burst forth if you shoot the host’s belly. Some guard doors and hallways, stuck to walls with a barbed tentacle that can one-shot your head off.

What's the creature that really stands out to you?

My favorite is the exploder. He's got a glowing, explosive puss sack for a right forearm. If he gets near you, he slams it on the ground, detonating himself and you in the process. If you can cut if off before that, you can grab it with kinesis and propel it as a bomb. Or, you can stasis the exploder and wait for approaching enemies to get near him and then shoot out the sack, taking the whole group out. Or let the exploder catch up to a group of enemies, and let him have it. He adds a great tactical element, except for when he blows you up into little pieces.

Where did you come up with the idea of strategic dismemberment?

Glen Schofield, our executive producer, was always obsessed with the idea of hacking off limbs and arms and tentacles, so it was pretty much the very first mechanic we prototyped. I don't think we even took it as far as he wanted, and we took it pretty far.

How does this play into the game?

Strategic dismemberment pretty much requires you to chop off every limb before they stop coming at you -- and there’s a huge variety of states in which they can still come after you. This is fine if just one is around, but becomes quickly panicky in a crowd. Plus, there’s restricted ammo, so if you waste shots on the body, you’ll be standing there with an empty clip being torn into pieces really fast. And of course, we mess with your head as the game progresses. Just as you get dismemberment down, new enemies appear that put a twist on it. They burst open with other enemies if you get it slightly wrong, or flat out surprise you even if you get it right. And even when you think they’re dead, maybe they’re not. It’s a very addictive mechanic. You can even take it so far as to pick up their own body parts and throw them back at them as weapons.

Need for Speed Undercover

Need for Speed Undercover—Interview

by John Gaudiosi

Electronic Arts' Black Box Studio has gone back to the racing franchise's roots with its latest installment, Need for Speed Underground. Players go undercover as Lieutenant Keller and infiltrate organized crime syndicates in Tri-City. The game's producer, Scott Nielsen, was on hand for the official launch party at San Francisco's Bubbles champagne lounger -- along with two Lamborghinis and Hollywood actress Maggie Q, who plays Federal Agent Chase Lyn. Nielsen talked about the new game, which ships for PC and consoles November 18.

What went into the decision to go back to your roots with this game?
We are tremendously proud of ProStreet, we set out to make a more sim-oriented racing game and we believe we succeeded. This year, with Need for Speed Undercover, we wanted to build a true next generation action driving game utilizing innovative gameplay like highway battles and our all-new Heroic Driving Engine all woven into an engaging cinematic story with top tier acting and directing talent.

Can you explain what the heroic driving engine is?
This year, we have created the all-new Heroic Driving Engine. This physics engine gives the player the ability to complete high-performance driving maneuvers as they push the car offensively and defensively to the limit as they compete against racers, cops and other opponents.

How big is this world for Need for Speed Undercover?
Need for Speed Undercover is a free-roaming environment featuring three distinct cities connected by an enormous highway system. In total, players will take out opponents and evade cops as the race along over 80 miles of roads.

How many different types or kinds of vehicles will be in the game? You had Lamborghinis at your launch, are they in the game?
Need for Speed Undercover continues the tradition of featuring some of the world’s best licensed cars. We’ll be talking more about the specifics later on but I can confirm we will have some exotics like Lamborghinis.

Can you talk about the type of experience a gamer with an NVIDIA card will get from this game?
High-end PCs with the latest video cards will enjoy all the bells and whistles that the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game have to offer – all the models in high definition, all the hi-res texturing, and all the rendering shaders and f/x. It will be a state-of-the-art experience, to be sure.

How do you work with NVIDIA on projects like this?
We’re very proud of our relationship with the NVIDIA folks and they work quite closely with us to ensure that our code is optimized for performance on these devices. They provide us with access to their testing facilities and talk regularly with our engineers to discuss solutions to all kinds of rendering issues and challenges.

How much depth is packed into the game?
There are literally hundreds of race experiences in Need for Speed Undercover across multiple race modes. The most dramatic new modes is the all-new highway battle. We wanted to push the chase concept to the limit so we created highway battles. These pulse-quickening multi-car chases require steady hands and split-second timing for players to take out their prey while fighting off cops and other adversaries.

What kind of online gameplay will there be?
We are very excited about our online and multiplayer modes this year. I think we’ll be delivering something quite unique this year. We’ll be talking more about the details later on.

Did you create this game's engine from scratch or build from previous games?
The Need for Speed team is continually enhancing and improving its driving engine. For example, in Hot Pursuit there were 4 tuning points that impacted a vehicles performance this year with Undercover there are 400 individual tuning points that are being utilized to create a realistic action driving experience.

What role do steering wheel peripherals play in developing a franchise like this? Any idea how many people play games like this with a wheel?
We are cognizant that gamers play our game across multiple systems using a variety of controllers, including steering wheels. Our focus is to create a game that is an exciting action driving experience regardless of controller.

What do you think PC gamers will be most excited about with this new game experience?
Need For Speed Undercover gives the PC player a chance to enjoy a truly “next gen” action driving experience with an amazing new Heroic Driving Engine, new race modes such Highway Battle, and a contemporary Hollywood-quality story. Its best of breed on every level and PC players will feel and enjoy that from start to finish.

Tomb Raider Underworld

Tomb Raider Underworld Playable at NVISION 08—Feature

by John Gaudiosi

Crystal Dynamics was on hand for the inaugural NVISION 08 showcase to offer gamers a sneak preview of Eidos’ Tomb Raider: Underworld game on PC at Microsoft’s Games for Windows booth. Matt Knowles, product manager for the game at Eidos, took part in an exclusive demonstration of the game at the HD Theater inside the San Jose Convention Center.

Knowles showed off a new level of the game, which takes place on the West coast of Thailand level. To illustrate just how far Lara Croft has come since she made her PlayStation debut 12 years ago, she’s gone from 350 polygons then to 30,000 polygons today. Along the way, her assets have gone from Barbie-exaggerated to more realistic, but still sexy.

As soon as Lara is seen in motion, it’s obvious something is different. Her movements have been motion-captured for the first time in the history of the franchise. Crystal Dynamics hired a professional gymnast and Hollywood stunt double to perform all of Lara’s moves. Knowles said it gives her the feeling of being an adventurer and an athlete.

The Thailand level starts off with Lara on a speedboat just off the shore of a rocky cliff that features a breathtaking waterfall. She jumps off the boat and swims for shore, looking for the best place to make her way up the cliff wall.

“Lara has the ability to free climb up walls,” said Knowles. “In the past, you had one path, “Now you have more freedom of exploration and more play paths with every level in the game. She can also wall hug, which helps navigating.”

Once atop the precipice, Lara looks down at her boat in the glistening blue sea. The level of detail is so great that sharks are visible swimming beneath the clear water. After some brief sightseeing, Lara makes her way through a lush tropical rainforest in search of ancient ruins.

“We sent a team to Cambodia to take pictures of ancient ruins and we’ve used those for all of the ruins in this game,” said Knowles. “The textures are just like what you’d find on real ruins.”

Before making her way through the ruins, Lara comes face-to-face with a Bengal tiger. Underworld offers plenty of real-world and fantastical animals for Lara to fight in this game.

“We’ve introduced new evasion moves,” explained Knowles. “Lara gets an adrenaline shot, which slows down time. You can use the right analog stick to aim your guns at the tiger. The adrenaline shot breaks down to one shot, one kill.”

Anyone who has a conscience about killing endangered species can forego Lara’s dual machine guns, which are always hanging behind her neck, and use a tranquilizer gun to put the animals to sleep instead of shooting them.

Although it’s not noticeable until Knowles mentions it, there has been no soundtrack in this game’s level other than natural sounds like the lapping waves on the shore or the caws of tropical birds.

“We’re using new sound technology that eliminates musical soundtracks in certain levels,” said Knowles. “We’ve carefully orchestrated this because we wanted it to add to the emotion of what’s going on – being isolated in this ancient place.”

Since she’s an archeologist at heart, Lara takes pictures and talks into her camera/recording device at key points in each level. One such point occurred when she arrived at a clearing with a large stone statue from Norse ruins. The game focuses on ancient Norse mythology.

“We wanted to create an accessible experience for any level of gamer,” said Knowles. “We have a PDA that gives assistance if you need it. By clicking a button an inexperience player will be told what he or she needs to do to solve a puzzle.”

In this case, ropes are being blocked and Lara must find a way down into the ruins to clear them and then lowering an elevator. Bats attack her as she climbs down the wall, but she has her trusty machine guns for defense.

“Lara can fire while hanging from objects or standing on beams,” explained Knowles. “If she’s hanging from something with one hand, she should be able to use the other hand.”

Lara will be globetrotting in her new adventure, trekking to the arctic, exploring Mexican ruins, and diving underneath the Mediterranean sea. Tomb Raider: Underworld ships for PC and consoles on November 18.

Fallout 3

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Fallout 3

Eyes on with Bethesda's awe inspiring entry into the classic Fallout franchise.

Imagine for a moment that the world as you know it has ended. Nuclear war between nations has rendered the planet into a dead and barren wasteland. In order to survive, the last remaining humans in the world lock themselves down in underground shelters called vaults while all kinds of mutants and monstrosities roam on the surface. Welcome back to the world of the Fallout series.

While the original Fallout games were developed by the now defunct Interplay Entertainment, Fallout 3 is being developed by the very capable hands over at Bethesda, whom you may know from a little game franchise called The Elder Scrolls (More specifically Morrowind and Oblivion). Bethesda was kind enough to invite us to their E3 meeting where they walked us through an hour long demo of Fallout 3.

Welcome to the post apocalyptic world of Fallout 3.

Fallout 3 takes place 30 years after the events of Fallout 2, but this time the action is centralized in the shattered remains of Washington DC, or as it is now called, the Capital Wasteland. While the vast majority of humans in the area have been long dead, a handful managed to find refuge in the underground shelter known as Vault 101. However, for some reason, the doors that lead in and out of Vault 101 have been shut ever since the world ending disaster that took place 200 years ago. It’s here in Vault 101 where our demo begins.

The first thing that we noticed and the first thing that was pointed out to us by our guide, Todd Howard, is that Fallout 3 is primarily played from the first person perspective. However, much like Oblivion, a simple press of the button will cause the camera to zoom back and present you with a third person camera that appears over the shoulder ala Resident Evil 4. The option to go into a third person camera isn’t just for showing off how your character looks either, as Bethesda assured us that the game would be entirely playable in both third person and first person modes. It’s simply a matter of preference.

After taking some time to explain what was just mentioned above, we moved out of the medical clinic and spoke with the main character’s father. Conversing with NPCs is entirely reminiscent of Oblivion right down to the camera zooming in on the character’s face and the various responses that you can choose to reply with. What response you choose can actually play a huge role in what direction the story will go and what quests you receive, but we’ll get into that a little later. Another interesting point to make about your character’s father is that his appearance will be based on what you make your character look like when you create him.

Fans of the Fallout series should be happy to know that the S.P.E.C.I.A.L stat system and Pip Boy are both back.

In the interest of time, our demonstrators skipped past what would normally be about an hour or two worth of character building and opened the gate that led to the outside world. Why would our character leave the comfort and safety offered by Vault 101? It turns out that his father had mysteriously fled the Vault for unknown reasons. Eager to learn the reason why his father left both him and the only home he’s ever known, our character steps out into the vast wasteland that is the surface world of Fallout 3.

And when I say vast, I mean vast. You know that feeling you got when you first stepped into the enormous and beautiful world of Oblivion? It’s like that, except there are no trees, no grassy fields, no rivers, no castles, nothing except for the remains of something that used to be considered civilization. As our demonstrator walked around the wasteland he came across a mailbox, from which he pulled out an old rifle. He also noticed a puddle of water and noted that survival is a big theme in Fallout 3. In order to survive you will have to find water sources that may or may not be contaminated with radiation. Later on in the demo he actually drinks water out of a disgusting looking toilet citing that it was actually better because of the fact that it was underground and therefore was not exposed to radiation.

Conversations in Fallout 3 will play out exactly like they would in Oblivion.

After wandering around in the wasteland for a little we finally saw our first enemy, a giant ant. Using the simple strategy of backing up and firing away while the ant gave chase, the ant was brought down in about four or five shots. As we approached our eventual destination, we were attacked by a pack of three ants at once. This was a good opportunity to show off the game’s V.A.T.S, or Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. With a click of the left bumper, time will come to a halt and various parts of the enemy’s body will be highlighted, complete with a life bar and a percentage.

The life bar obviously shows how much health that particular body part has, while the percentage shows the chance you have to hit it. What’s cool is that using this system, you can keep on queuing up consecutive attacks as long as you have enough Ability Points which recharge automatically when you’re not attacking. Once you’ve inputted your commands, just sit back and watch as the battle plays out in slow motion with the camera following the speeding bullet as it pierces through its target in all of its gory glory.

The demonstrator aimed for the ant’s antennae, saying that if it loses its antennae, there is a chance that it will become confused and start attacking it’s allies. Unfortunately this happened to be one of the smarter giant ants as it pushed forward even after losing its right antennae. Despite our character being out numbered three to one, the three ants fell with relative ease.

Grand Theft Auto IV

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Grand Theft Auto IV

It's crime and punishment on a whole new level.

A shadow looms over the horizon. It's a shadow that once every two years or so robs businesses of its employee productivity and turns normally trustworthy individuals into habitual liars, all claiming to have caught a rare illness or need time off from work due to "a family emergency." In truth, all these degenerates want to do is hit the streets and break all the rules. I know because I'm one of them.

Of course I'm referring to Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Originally slated for an October 2007 release, gamers everywhere let out a collective groan when it was announced that the game was delayed until Spring 2008. Apart from Halo, no other video game franchise can generate the type of frenzied anticipation that the Grand Theft Auto series does. And with the recent delays and industry murmurs that development of the game was not on schedule, the stakes have never been higher for Rockstar Games and developer Rockstar North.

Lower that index finger just a bit and well, you know...

It's no surprise then that Rockstar is keeping a tight lid on the majority of Grand Theft Auto IV's details, but have at least been kind enough to give gamers a glimpse of where they'll be perpetrating their virtual crimes. Thanks to the few trailers that have trickled out thus far, we know that gamers will be returning to Liberty City and that the spotlight seems to fall on a newcomer, an Eastern European named Niko Bellic. Niko comes to Liberty City in search of the American Dream and come April 29th, we'll all find out exactly what he has to do to acheive it.

While early indications are that the mission structure of previous Grand Theft Auto titles will remain intact, expectations are high that the more powerful technology of the Xbox 360 and PS3 will usher in a graphically superior and more well rounded title. While a veil of secrecy still surrounds the overall plot, we have begun to see the promise of an improved GTA gaming experience. First, the graphical improvement is something much needed in the series. While the first three titles offered lots of game play content, the visuals were never that impressive.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel

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Sacred 2: Fallen Angel

In a world full of demons and the undead, players must restore order in the world of Ancaria in Sacred 2: Fallen Angel.

In an age that has seen so many Diablo clones come and go, it’s sad to say that not too many games are entering the action-RPG genre as frequently as they used to. Now, four years after the original, the Sacred franchise returns in the form of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel in an attempt to revitalize the genre.

Siegfried and Roy would never mess with this tiger.

Taking place two thousand years before the events portrayed in the original, Sacred 2’s storyline revolves around a war that is ongoing to regain control over T-Energy, a material that is the source of life and prosperity. The Ancient Elves of the world perished trying to seek power with the T-Energy and now the all the races of the world are out to claim T-Energy as their own. Who will prevail? Well, let’s hope the gamer does or else it’s going to be one dark day in the world of Ancaria.

What stands in the way of gamers in their attempt to resolve this pesky situation in Ancaria? First, and foremost, players will have to face off against special bosses – whether they are an elemental, dragon, and other various monsters – as they boost morale to their lackeys that assist them in their climatic battles with the player. Each species of monsters is unique as some may only attack if they are pestered with or may be hunting you down in a pack.

I, guardian of this campfire, will not let you cook your brats without a permit.

From the onset of the game, players will be able to choose between two different campaigns. As expected, the two vary by the player’s choice to play as a "light" or a "shadow" character. Having six character classes in the game will also open up different avenues for players to help the world of Ancaria. Players will have a choice between the following classes: Seraphim, Dryads, Inquisitors, Shadow Warrior, Temple Guardian and the High Elf.

Playing through the demo, Sacred 2 came off as an exceptionally well made action-RPG title. Sure, in parts it follows the straight line of other typical action-RPGs have done in the past, but with the ability to mount tigers, jump into coop with three of your friends, or duel with a rival in a PvP arena, Sacred 2 has a variety of entertaining options to captivate fans.

Greenhair? Check. Skimpy outfit? Check. Yeah, this is your standard "hot" elf action for nerds.

If players want the perfect satisfaction for being an ultimate combatant, they can enter into a PvP mode titled "Hardcore" mode where the loser’s character is permanently destroyed while the winner leaves knowing that he actually killed your character.

Expect Sacred 2: Fallen Angel late this September on the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3.

Hotest Games on 2007

Game PC yang paling ditunggu tahun 2007

Awal tahun 2007 merupakan awal memasuki era grafis yang lebih baik dalam bergaming di PC. Karena pada awal tahun 2007, Microsoft meluncurkan operating system terbaru, yaitu Windows Vista dengan fitur directX 10. Performa grafis pada directX 10 ini akan meningkat hingga mencapai 8 kali lipat dari directX 9. Maka mulai tahun 2007, gamer akan menikmati kualitas visual game PC yang lebih menakjubkan lagi. Namun sebelumnya, untuk menikmati performa grafis secara penuh, gamer mau tidak mau harus membeli video card terbaru yang telah didukung directX 10. Tapi, video card yang berbasis directX 9 ke bawah masih tetap dapat menjalankan game, namun kualitas visual tidak seistimewa kualitas visual directX 10. Berikut ini, adalah 10 game PC yang top dan patut gamer nantikan kehadirannya di tahun 2007:

1. COMMAND & CONQUER 3: TIBERIUM WARS

Publisher: EA Developer: EA LA Genre: RTS Release Date: Kuartal ke-1 2007

Game Command & Conquer seri pertama yang dirilis pada tahun 1995 mengisahkan konflik antara fraksi NOD dan GDI yang dikemas dalam sebuah permainan real time strategy dengan konsep pertempuran yang super cepat dan brutal. Kini, konflik tersebut terus berlanjut hingga pada seri ke-3 dengan judul game Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Game ini tetap mempertahankan konsep pertempuran yang ada dengan beberapa peningkatan baru selain grafis yang jauh lebih menakjubkan dan disertai berbagai efek visual yang membuat game RTS ini semakin menjanjikan, ada juga sistem di mana AI dapat menyesuaikan cara bermain gamernya. Kalo pengen berstrategi buru-buru, maka AI akan buru-buru juga, dan kalo pengen berstrategi bertahan, maka AI pun begitu pula.

2. WORLD IN CONFLICT

Publisher: Sierra Entertaiment Developer: Massive Entertaiment Genre: RTS Release Date: Kuartal ke-2 2007

Game RTS baru dari developer Massive Ent. ini mengisahkan sejarah ke belakang ketika perang dingin antara dua negara super power, yaitu Uni Soviet dan United State terjadi. Conflict bisa jadi sebuah RTS yang seru dan patut dimainkan, karena akhir-akhir ini gamer selalu mencicipi game RTS yang mengisahkan tentang perang dunia ke-2, nah di sini perangnya agak lebih moderen. Pada Conflict, gamer berperan sebagai jendral perang yang akan mengkomandoi pasukannya dengan memilih salah satu dari 3 tipe role, yaitu Infantri, Armor, Aircraft dan Support dengan sebuah konsep unik, di mana Anda semakin meningkatkan level role akan memberikan akses ke unit-unit yang lebih spesifik lagi. Meskipun tidak menutup kemungkinan mendapatkan unit dari role lainnya.

3. CRYSIS
Publisher: EA
Developer: CryTek
Genre: FPS
Release Date: Kuartal ke-3 2007

Developer Crytek yang dikenal sebagai pembuat game Farcry telah kembali membuat game yang lebih menghebohkan lagi. Pada game ini dikisahkan sebuah asteroid misterius yang jatuh ke bumi, tepatnya pada sebuah pulau pasifik yang sangat terpencil. Namun sayangnya, pasukan Korea Utara berhasil sampai terlebih dahulu dan segera memblokir pulau tersebut. Dan gamer yang merupakan anggota pasukan spesial US diberi misi untuk menyelidikinya. Game Crysis yang merupakan salah satu “the best looking game FPS” ini mendukung directX 9 dan 10. Jadi, gamer yang mengunakan PC berbasis windows XP masih bisa menikmati game ini dengan kualitas visual yang tidak seistimewa PC berbasis windows Vista dengan directX 10.

4. UNREAL TOURNAMENT 2007
Publisher: Midway
Developer: Epic Games
Genre: FPS
Release Date: Kuartal ke-1 2007

UT 2007 dikenal sebagai multiplayer FPS dengan aksi cepat. Kini game tersebut menghadirkan ras baru yang dapat dipilih, yaitu ras Necris. Sementara untuk kendaraan tempur, tim developer telah mengupgrade semua kendaraan tempur yang terdapat pada UT 2004 dan juga menambahkan beberapa kendaran tempur yang baru yang belum pernah gamer temukan pada seri sebelumnya. Seperti Dark Walker, yang merupakan mesin pembunuh yang bentuknya mirip Tripod dengan tiga kaki panjang seperti pada film War of the World. Kemudian dari segi visual, gamer sudah tidak perlu meragukan kemampuan Unreal Engine yang mampu membuat sebuah dunia 3D dengan begitu hidup serta efek pencahayaan yang realistis.

5. MEDAL OF HONOR: AIRBORNE
Publisher: EA
Developer: EA LA
Genre: FPS
Release Date: Januari 2007

Pada MOH terbaru ini kelihatan lebih menjanjikan daripada MOH sebelumnya. Karena, di sini menawarkan ide-ide baru yang belum pernah hadir. Gamer akan berperan sebagai anggota prajurit dari divisi Airborne yang mana setiap memulai misi, gamer dapat menentukan sendiri lokasi penerjunan dari pesawat terbang yang membawa anda dan pasukan. Gamer juga diberi kebebasan untuk menerapkan taktik dan strategi dalam menyelesaikan suatu objective. Jadi, tidak seperti pada seri sebelumnya, yang diharuskan mengikuti skenario yang telah tersusun dalam menyelesaikan objective. Kemudian, gamer juga dapat mengupgrade senjata dengan berbagai macam upgrade part yang ditemui di sepanjang medan perang. Kemudian segi visual, EALA mengunakan teknologi Unreal Engine 3 untuk menampilkan kualitas visual yang sangat menakjubkan.
6. FIELD OPS
Publisher: Freeze Interactive
Developer: Digital Reality
Genre: FPS - RTS
Release Date: Kuartal ke-1 2007

Game ini merupakan sebuah game yang berbeda dengan yang lainnya. Karena Digital Reality mengabungkan jenis permainan RTS dan FPS pada game terbaru mereka, tapi pihak developer tidak semata-mata sekedar menggabungkan 2 genre, mereka pingin memberi simulasi terbaik perang sesungguhnya pada gamer. Cerita game ini mengisahkan usaha United States dalam memberantas teroris di 4 lokasi yang berbeda yang meliputi Cuba, Ukraina, Afghanistan, dan Manhattan. Pada game ini, gamer dapat mengerakan pasukan secara berkelompok dan menyerang pasukan musuh seperti layaknya permainan RTS. Hanya menekan sebuah tombol, gamer pun terjun ke mode FPS dari salah satu unit yang dipilih. Dengan begitu, gamer dapat memberikan sebuah headshot kepada musuh. Cool khan?
7. EUROPA UNIVERSALIS III
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Paradox Interactive
Genre: Strategy
Release Date: 23 Januari 2007

Europa Universalis III merupakan sebuah game strategi yang berambisi besar dari yang pernah ada. Game ini menawarkan konsep gameplay yang sangat mendalam, di mana gamer bermain sebagai pemimpin salah satu dari 250 negara yang ada sejak tahun 1453 hingga 1789. Di game ini, gamer akan mengontrol semua aspek penting dalam pembentukan negara, mulai dari militer dan diplomasi hingga perekonomian dan keagamaan. Game ini juga menawarkan beberapa tipe pemerintahan yang dapat diterapkan pada negaranya. Dan jika negara yang dibangun sudah cukup kuat, maka gamer dapat mencoba mengusai negara lain yang terdapat pada peta. Game Europa Universalis III telah mengalami peningkatan yang cukup besar daripada seri sebelumnya, mulai dari grafis hingga AI yang tinggi yang membuat gamer merasa tertantang.

8. ALONE IN THE DARK 3
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Eden Studio
Genre: Horor - Adventure
Release Date: kuartal ke-3 2007

Game Alone in the Dark seri terbaru tampil lebih seru dan mencekam dibandingkan dengan seri sebelumnya. Tim developer mengunakan lokasi Central Park di kota NewYork yang merupakan sebuah taman yang damai bagi warga kota NewYork. Kini, dalam game ini telah berubah menjadi sebuah tempat yang sangat menakutkan. Tim developer berusaha membuat taman ini semirip mungkin dengan mengunakan data dari foto satelit untuk membangun lebih detil, mulai dari letak posisi situs hingga pepohonan. Dan pada game ini, gamer diberi kebebasan untuk bergerak dan menjelajahi lokasi serta berinteraksi dengan lingkungan dengan efek fisik yang didukung engine Havoc, seperti mengunakan berbagai macam objek untuk mempertahankan hidup yang belum pernah gamer temukan pada game horor-adventure lainnya.

9. SILVERFALL
Publisher: Deep Silver
Developer: Monte Cristo
Genre: RPG
Release Date: kuartal ke-1 2007

Bagi gamer yang ingin mencari game action-RPG sekelas Diablo dan Dungeon Siege. Maka, game Silverfall merupakan game yang tepat untuk Anda. Game ini menawarkan tipe permainan Hack & Slash dengan grafis yang indah dan dunia fantasi yang sangat besar dan luas untuk dijelajahi gamer. Akan terdapat 4 ras yang dapat dipilih yang meliputi Human, Elf, Goblin dan Troll. Gamer dapat membuat karakter sendiri dengan mengunakan mode create character yang disertakan dalam game ini kemudian mengembangkannya menjadi karakter yang lebih kuat seiring petualangan. Seperti game action-RPG lainnya, gamer juga dapat merekrut karakter lain yang dikontrol oleh komputer hingga mencapai 8 karakter untuk membantu Anda bertarung dengan musuh. Silverfall dikembangkan dengan art style yang tebal di garis luarnya, agak kartun tapi unik dilihat.

10. LEGEND: HAND OF GOD
Publisher: Anaconda
Developer: Master Creating
Genre: RPG
Release Date: kuartal ke-2 2007

Cerita game ini ditulis oleh Susan O’ Connor, yang mana pernah menulis cerita game Dungeon Siege 2 dan Gears of War. Game RPG ini mengunakan sistem gameplay Point & Click, di mana gamer bergerak dengan mengklik di sekitar peta dan menyerang musuh hanya dengan mengklik musuh yang dipilih. Dan game ini juga memungkinkan gamer untuk membunuh siapa saja yang Anda temui dan tentu saja akan berpengaruh pada moral karakter Anda nantinya. Dan yang lebih unik pada game ini adalah animasi karakter saat bertarung sangat bervariasi, seperti saat bertemu dengan Troll raksasa, karakter gamer akan melompat ke udara dan mengayunkan pedang kebagian kepala dan tubuh Troll dibandingkan dengan game lain yang hanya berdiri dan mengayunkan pedang ke kakinya saja.