Director’s Cut of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Now Available in North America
By admin | need4freegames.com
Atari, Inc. announced today that new content will be available for The Witcher: Enhanced Edition for Windows PC.
The game as the developers, CD Projekt RED, intended with mature content only released outside of North America – until now! The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director’s Cut is now available for download at www.atari.com and other major digital distribution outlets. This new Director’s Cut content is available as both a patch for The Witcher: Enhanced Edition as well as a full game download.
The Witcher, originally released October 2007, has won more than 100 awards and has sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition brought the game close to perfection, with more than 5000 lines of re-written and re-recoded dialogue, more than 200 new dialogue animations, a new character differentiation system for NPCs, an enhanced inventory with improved alchemy, reduced loading times, improved combat responsiveness and two new adventures. With the release of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director’s Cut, the game is available in its entirety to North American audiences.
Representing the pinnacle of storytelling in role-playing games, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director’s Cut shatters the line between good and evil in a world where moral ambiguity reigns. In a beautiful, rich game universe, the player takes on the role of renowned monster slayer, Geralt of Rivia, in an epic, action-packed narrative in which his decisions have a major impact on how the story plays out. The Witcher emphasizes story and character development in a vibrant world, while incorporating tactically-deep real-time combat like few games before it.
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Bethesda Softworks to Release A2M’s Highly-Stylized Shooter for Xbox360 and PlayStation 3 on September 15
By admin | need4freegames.com
Bethesda Softworks announced today that WET will hit North American retail shelves on September 15th for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3. The game’s highly-stylized mix of action and acrobatics is showcased on the newly revamped web site that can be found at http://wetthegame.com.
“We are extremely excited to bring WET to gamers on September 15th,” said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. “A2M has created an explosive gaming experience and the action is non-stop from start to finish.”
Developed at Artificial Mind and Movement, WET throws players into a heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping adventure of double crosses and paybacks in which they’ll take on the role of problem fixer, Rubi Malone. Use Rubi’s dual pistols or samurai sword during any acrobatic move as you take on countless enemies in a number of exotic locations around the globe.
“We’ve worked really hard to make WET different from any other action game available”, said Patrick Fortier, Creative Director at A2M. “When players experience the game’s unique blend of gunplay, sword combat and acrobatics, they won’t want to put the controller down.”
On a mission to find the man that left you for dead, you’ll master the controls that will allow you to create the most incredible fight sequences – limited only by your own imagination. Once you are able to chain together a number of moves, including sliding down ladders, running on walls, jumping and flipping, you will be rewarded with auto-lock and slow motion advantages. Featuring the perfect mix of humor and violence, WET is a third-person shooter experience unlike any other.
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Turbine Announces New Launch Date for Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited
By admin | need4freegames.com
Turbine, Inc. announced today Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited (DDO Unlimited), a free digital upgrade for Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach will now launch on September 9, 2009 in North America.
“We’ve had a tremendous response to DDO Unlimited from the players and press who are participating in our beta program,” said Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer of DDO Unlimited. “We’ve been holding a series of live events as part of the beta program and have seen an unprecedented level of participation from players. While we are very pleased with the performance of the game and are excited about the response from the players, we are committed to delivering a high-quality experience. We feel that more time is needed to deliver on this commitment. As a result, we are delaying our launch to ensure that we can support the massive increase in players that we are expecting and deliver them a free to play experience like none other.”
DDO Unlimited will raise the level cap, introduce a new player class and add major new content, as well as make the game free to play for everyone. The new DDO Unlimited delivers heart-pounding game play featuring the industry’s best combat system, a massive world with state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, and a rich set of features that until now could only be found only in premium subscription-based MMOs. DDO Unlimited will introduce an innovative new pricing model that allows players to download and play for free, purchasing adventure packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new DDO Store, or to subscribe to get unlimited access to all of the game’s content. Turbine will provide DDO VIPs early access to the game to beginning September 1, 2009 and will provide free, unlimited access to everyone on September 9, 2009.
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Zoned In: Graphics can set the foundations of a good game experience
By admin | need4freegames.com
Tecmo sent along the latest demo for the upcoming PS3 title Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and while the gameplay was not blow-the-doors-off innovative, the game was still jaw-dropping gorgeous and a whole lot of fun to play.
But step back a moment and think about the latest iteration of the Prince of Persia title. Not exactly groundbreakingly innovative there, either, but the game was very well received, and a lot of that had to do with the graphical style and the interaction of the principle characters.
As games’ journalists, we often lament that too much emphasis is put on the graphics and not enough on story, but maybe it’s time to step back and look at that again. It has been argued that no original American novel has been published (original in idea) since Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Whether true or not, we have to face the inevitable conclusion that overriding themes are a constant and that no book, either now or then, can get away from one of those themes … which means that most of what we are getting are the same themes in new packaging. And video-games are all about the “video” element, hence the name.
Ok, as an example of retread themes … perhaps the most overused is the one where evil had threatened to take over the world, was vanquished and now things appear to be a portend of it returning, with you – as the player – the only hope of stopping it once again. Some games might tread into the shady areas of gray, where you are not quite certain what is good and what is evil, but essentially the games play out the same.
Is that a bad thing? Nope.
My youngest daughter made brownies this week, for the second time since Saturday. Everyone in the family had dove into the first batch, and are doing the same to the second. We might not have them again for a month, but that doesn’t mean we won’t enjoy them when we can. My almost-15-year old makes homemade spaghetti sauce and we seem to have spaghetti once a week. Each sauce she makes has the same basic ingredients, but is subtly different each time (no recipes are involved).
Many times when I talk games with others, I am told what games they enjoyed and what would I recommend that is similar. They are not looking for a game that is completely dissimilar, but rather a game that is a new experience with the same feel. And one has to look no further than sports titles to see games that are the same year after year in many regards. What makes them different? Subtle tweaks to the gameplay and graphical upgrades.
So while I’ve harped, in the past, about more immersive storylines, perhaps what I should have touted was the immersive nature of the game in the way it is visually presented.
Take Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, for example. The dark streets set the stage for the attacks and draw players into the game by giving them visual stimulus. An environment that is creepy is much more likely to make the player jump when an unexpected enemy pops out of the darkness.
A game’s visuals are the first thing that pulls us in. So much of our first impressions stem from that first look at the game, and that is often driven by the graphics. And much of what we think of the game builds off those first impressions. Yes, there are other elements that have to combine to make for a game that hits on all cylinders, but a weak story can often be overlooked if the graphics are stellar, or if the interaction of the main characters is first-rate.
So the next time you hear me spout off about how there is too much emphasis on graphics, feel free to toss a cyber-slap my way.
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