GameTrailers uploaded an exclusive look at Halo Wars for the Xbox 360. Hard to say how great or how fail-y the game will be when it comes out, but it looks promising enough for those that enjoy RTS.

During the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, Rob Pardo, the Executive Vice President of Game Design, revealed a few tidbits about Blizzard’s upcoming sequel to StarCraft, the highly anticipated StarCraft II. Pardo started by stating that their goal with StarCraft II was to reimagine StarCraft and enhance the differences between the races in the game. He then went into detail about The Zerg, the Protoss and the Terran.

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Leaving it off the list of possible selections would have biased the poll to an unacceptable degree, but at the same time, is anyone surprised that World of Warcraft came out on top in the latest Play-Girlz poll, which asked:

Who Best Epitomizes Their Genre?

Over a third of you (35% to be exact) felt that World of Warcraft best characterized its genre. To call WoW a game might actually be downplaying the influence and immense reach of the Blizzard title. Phenomenon might be a better descriptor. It single-handedly exploded the MMO genre and brought not only these online games into the mainstream, but brought renewed interest from different sectors of the popular media and pop culture to the video game industry.

Hot on the heels of WoW was Final Fantasy, which 26% of respondents felt best represented a “genre definer” for its continuing, impressive grip on the scene. The franchise’s incredible stamina, identifiable characters and high profile releases have made it come to mind almost instantaneously when RPGs are mentioned.

Third up was a tie between the most well-known game of all time, and one near and dear to my 80’s child gaming heart. Receiving 10% each of all votes cast Super Mario Bros. and Doom have obviously made their mark on the Action/Adventure and FPS genres respectively.

Rounding out the list were:

• at 9% Command and Conquer (RTS) and Madden (Sports)
• at 1% Bejewelled (Casual) and EverQuest (MMORPG)

In the responses to the last poll, franchise loyalty and genre preferences played a large role in your buying decisions. So, let’s combine those and see who you think is the most iconic franchise in a given genre, and who best characterizes the qualities you love.

Here are your basic choices, feel free to add others:

• Mario Bros. (Action/Adventure) — while these games may have progressed from the simple 2D side-scrollers, there’s no doubt that the Mario Bros. crew was, and continues to be one of the most influential names in gaming
• Final Fantasy (RPG) — time after time, the anticipation for the next title in the franchise is at the rabid level within the RPG community
• World of Warcraft (MMORPG) — do I even need to say anything about this one? It’s big, real big.
• Doom (FPS) — Mixing sci-fi and legions of hellish demons, there was nothing more satisfying than squeezing that shotgun trigger. Not surprisingly, this game came under intense fire for its violence and gore.
• Command & Conquer (RTS) — I’ve lost track of what number in the series they’re on now, but it doesn’t really matter…this one is still going strong. For those who love to micromanage, and who enjoy a good war game, C&C is at the fore for RTS games.
• Madden (Sports) — Every year this title comes out and every year sports game fans are slavering hounds just waiting to pounce.
• Bejewelled (Casual) — Casual gaming exploded across all strata of the gaming community thanks in part to large portal sites and this little game that involved nothing more than matching colours. Frighteningly addictive!

Box art courtesy of EA Games.

Operation Straight Up, an evangelical group that sends care packages to U.S. soldiers overseas, has apparently decided that controversial video game Left Behind: Eternal Forces might not be appropriate to send to the troops. The organization, with the full endorsement of the U.S. Defense Department, planned to send socks, snacks, baby wipes (?) and copies of Left Behind as part of the America Supports You program.

Ingrid and I have a long-standing fascination with this game, myself mainly from the standpoint that with all the flak against violent video games these days, the use of similar tactics in a game design to destroy non-believers and save the Christian day.

Brief game plot recap:

In a post-Rapture society, where all that remains are those “left behind” when the righteous ascended to Heaven, you, as a soldier of God’s word, are in charge of converting as many lost souls as you can. The irredeemable are to be destroyed. Convert or kill.

Backlash against the violence and intolerance shown in the game has come from every corner: liberal, conservative, members of the Christian establishment, members of other faiths. I understand that Operation Straight Up, being a Christian organization, may include some semi-religious materials in their care packages, but I really have to tip my hat to whomever among them decided that it might not be the best idea to send free copies of these games overseas.

Check out the promo, and weigh in with your opinion.

The Nation via Kotaku

Sometimes I wish that big, secret, hush-hush announcements were occasionally…surprising. The rumour mill has been rife with claims that the next major Blizzard project would be StarCraft 2. Blizzard pulled a “neither confirm nor deny” sort of stance, which all but morphs a possibility into a probability. Still, we were all supposed to be waiting with baited breath as Blizzard was scheduled to make the official project announcement from South Korea, as part of the company’s 2007 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational event. With thousands of rapt Korean fans waiting outside the venue to cheer the announcement, it seemed like folks were very excited but not-so-surprised by Blizzard’s official schpiel.
The sequel to the rabidly popular StarCraft, released in 1998, will be a radical shift in gameplay and content, thanks largely to the explosion of new game styles and technologies in recent years. New units, abilities and gameplay mechanics will be offered up for use, as will a custom 3D-graphics engine with the 3D rendering power to more impressively detail the scope and scale of the StarCraft universe. The project has been worked on quietly since shortly after the completion of WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne, meaning that Blizzard has kept mostly mum for about four years (2003).

StarCraft 2 will have huge shoes to follow, seeing that the original remains one of the most beloved and long-played titles in gaming history, not to mention spawning a veritable army of associated memorabilia. Blizzard recognizes the challenges ahead, as Mike Morhaime said in South Korea:

“With StarCraft II, we’ll be able to do everything we wanted to do with the original StarCraft and more. We recognize that expectations are high following the long-running popularity of the original game, but we plan to meet those expectations and deliver an engaging, action-packed, competitive experience that StarCraft players and strategy gamers worldwide will enjoy.”

The official site is now live at StarCraft2.com, and versions for both the PC and Macs (woo!) are in the works. IGN Extreme have posted a 20 minute video of what you can expect, and further media tidbits abound at the official site.

Via | GamesPress

A while I ago, I posted about Left Behind, a Christian video game based on the Left Behind books. The purpose of the game: convert the sinners. Sounds innocent enough, but this RTS game is gaining backlash from the Christian community itself.

Killing non-Christians is probably not the right way to go about convicing them to turn to God.

Despite protests, retailers like Wal-Mart refuse to pull the game from the shelves. Why should they? It’s selling, and that’s all they care about.

“We look at the community to see where it will sell,” said Tara Raddohl. “We have customers who are buying it and really haven’t received a lot of complaints about it from our customers at this time.”

Clark Stevens, co-director of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, said the game is not peaceful or diplomatic.

“It’s an incredibly violent video game,” said Stevens. “Sure, there is no blood. (The dead just fade off the screen.) But you are mowing down your enemy with a gun. It pushes a message of religious intolerance. You can either play for the ‘good side’ by trying to convert nonbelievers to your side or join the anti-christ.”

The Rev. Tim Simpson, a Jacksonville, Fla., Presbyterian minister and president of the Christian Alliance for Progress, added: “So, under the Christmas tree this year for little Johnny is this allegedly Christian video game teaching Johnny to hate and kill?”

Both groups formed in 2005 to protest what their 130,000 or so members feel is the growing political influence and hypocrisy of the religious right.

Players can choose to join the anti-christ’s team, but of course they can never win on Carpathia’s side. The enemy team includes fictional rock stars and folks with Muslim-sounding names, while the righteous include gospel singers, missionaries, healers and medics. Every character comes with a life story.

When asked about the Arab and Muslim-sounding names, Frichner said the game does not endorse prejudice. But “Muslims are not believers in Jesus Christ” — and thus can’t be on Christ’s side in the game.

Right-o. Here’s a game that’s not on my wishlist.

Via | SQL Space

I’ve been playing the demo for an older game (2001) called Fate of the Dragon and if you’ve wondered why I haven’t posted yet today, well now you know.

Developed for Eidos by Overmax, Fate of the Dragon is a PC-based strategy game that can best be summed up by saying it’s a mix of Warcraft and a Zhang Yimou movie. Set in 2nd century China during the Three Kingdoms period, you are one of three figures in Chinese history, looking to unite the Three Kingdoms under your banner. It’s a nifty little RTS, with a different flair than fantasy or western history games. Even the little character responses (you know when you click an avatar and they grunt at you?) are in Chinese, much like the Orc horde in Warcraft acknowledged orders in Orcish.

There were a couple things that warrant pointing out, such as the fact that there are two separate game maps, one showing the layout of the city you’re currently in, and the other displaying the more traditional “world map”. It’s a nice idea that should have made it easier to navigate maps and move your troops, but I actually found it more confusing to have to click cities, change maps and then find your units. I prefer the one massive map so that I can have some sort of idea about what’s going on everywhere. There are times in Fate of the Dragon when you can’t see your units because they’re in another city (and hence another map) and so you’re forced to click around madly (particularly when there are several cities) to try and figure out what is going on.

One addition that made things a little more challenging was the necessity of keeping your troops supplied on the road. In the old Warcraft games, you could send your soldiers to the far reaches of the map without fear that they would get sick of marching and complain. In Fate of the Dragon, it’s in your best interest to flawlessly manage your supply train by setting out a chain of supply wagon encampments along the route you plan to send your troops because in addition to a health bar each unit has what I’ll call a “wellness” or strength bar. Keep your troops without food and wine too long and they get a little cranky, not to mention weak and likely be trampled easily by any enemies encountered.

Fighting and killing isn’t the only way to win the day in this game. In a great move, Overmax has made it possible to also use less overtly hostile means to conquer your neighbours. Use trade and technological advancement, or if you want to play the politician, try for a diplomatic spin on things by creating alliances.

It’s got all of the typical RTS features we would expect, from constructing farms to feed the masses to building temples, barracks and administrative buildings. In most of the goal-oriented missions, the scale of the attack needs to be on a grand scale in order to penetrate the enormous stone walls that surround each city, and in so doing Fate of the Dragon falls into the RTS tedium trap on several occasions. The graphics aren’t great by today’s standards, but they’re more than passable. If you liked the old school Warcraft games and are looking for something a little different, give Fate of the Dragon a try. The demo is available for download at FilePlanet.

Okay, I think this borders on the George Lucas level of unnecessary tinkerings and re-releases, but I know that some of you out there have been bitten by the collectable bug, so this one’s for you.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first C&C game, EA has announced that we’ll all be able to run out and buy a bundle pack of twelve, yes twelve, C&C games. Perhaps I’m just not into the collectables as some people, but it strikes me that almost anyone who would have wanted to play the C&C games probably would have gone out and bought any of the twelve that interested them, making this entire vehicle an excuse to rake in more money while offering very little of additional value (hrm….sounds like their sport franchises to me). We will get, oh happy day, a whole disc of additional materials, including an interview with the co-founder of Westwood Studios.

The games on the collection roster are:

Add it to your wishlist if you missed out on a few C&C games and would like to round out your collection. No word on the pricing as of yet, but I’m figuring for a bit of a rip-off.

Those of you looking for a new real-time strategy game to test drive might want to give Atari’s Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard a try. I’ve yet to beta test it myself, not being much for strategy games, but I thought I’d pass it along to anyone who might be interested. The game looks appealing even to a non-RTS player like myself, so I can only imagine its allure to the RTS/D&D fanbase. Decide for thouselves, mes amies.

The site describes the game as follows:

Dragonshard™ is a real-time strategy experience based in the mystical world of Eberron, the acclaimed new DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® realm. Within this wholly imaginative setting lives an inventive gameplay fusion: dramatic RTS play is affected by the risks and rewards of a thrilling RPG-styled underworld.

As players direct troops over the land, they also plunge smaller, hero-led parties below ground to an RPG-modeled world of beasts, battles and bounty. Experience and items gained in this underworld result in great powers and abilities above ground.

Using magic, weaponry and skilled maneuvers, players command armies from varying races to control, protect – or destroy – the powerful Heart of Siberys. Obtaining this omnipotent artifact will unleash its full forces, good or evil, upon the entire world.

The graphics look pretty impressive, if I do say so. I’m almost tempted to give it a try for the graphics alone (I really am that easy). Besides, I’ve yet to hear back from the CoV and PotBS (hahaha, best acronym ever!) betas - *sniff*