This is good news, but it opens an old wound. There was much uncertainty surrounding the PC version of The Force Unleashed; gamers expected it, but Lucas Arts wasn’t talking about it. In May of 2008 producer Cameron Suey addressed the issue saying there would be no PC version of the game. He cited scaling issues:

“The PC being the gaming platform that it is, someone with a $4,000 high-end system would definitely be able to play the Euphoria, the DMM and really technical elements of the game. But someone with a low-end PC would have a watered down experience, they would have to turn all the settings down and it wouldn’t be the same game.”

That line was as much a load of bull then as it is now; if an Xbox 360 can run a game, so can a $500 PC built in the last two years. There’s a reason people are amazed to see CryEngine running on a console while still looking decent. The Force Unleashed is said to be coming this Fall, and I have a feeling I’ll be playing it using the PC I built in January of 2008 for $700.

The fangirl inside me is squealing right now.

“I understand you work for George Lucas, how has that prepared you for this loss here today?”

Sid Meier’s Pirates! is a genre bender of a game featuring aspects of real time strategy, turn based strategy, simulation, stealth, exploration, adventure, and even some even light role-playing elements. Though Pirates! could be described as an amalgam of “mini-games”, that would be selling it short. There’s more depth to it than that, and everything is tied together nicely by the main character’s objective which is tracking down the evil Marquis de la Montalban who has enslaved his family. Activities such as sword fights, ship-to-ship naval battles, upgrading ships, turn-based land battles, trading with port merchants, capturing cities, and earning fame and fortune surpassing that of nine historical pirates are the locus to reaching this goal.


Available in HD

It has been years since I sank a bunch of hours into Pirates!, but I spent some time with it recently to capture some video and refresh myself for this post, and I can safely say that it holds up. At just $9.99 from Steam (or for “free”, if you’ve got a GameTap subscription), Sid Meier’s Pirates! is a game that no one should ignore.

Not much more can be said without spoilers, which I’ll save for below, so give this game a play first by downloading the trial through Steam or, for Mac users, from this link. The entire game can be played in the trial, though $5 unlocks one feature. Think of it as a donation.

Personal Notes (Spoilers)

As for my thoughts… I like it. I hadn’t heard of it before, but The Graveyard was apparently met with high praise from critics after its release in 2008. I came to it when it was added to Steam a few days ago.

But the game is neat. I was impressed with its presentation; the sound effects and lighting do very well to set the mood straight away. Having time to empathize with the hobbling old lady before she even sits down was impactful. The song is wonderful, I only wish that it were available separate from the game.

I did buy the full version of The Graveyard. I wanted to see what death was like, which is the only difference from the trial. Apparently it can happen at random times, though I would imagine you always make it to the bench and sit down. I am not sure as I have only played the full version once. She died shortly after sitting down, right before the lyrics in the song began. The game took on a whole new meaning at that point. So for that reason, if you’re still interested after playing the trial, I would recommend dropping $5 on The Graveyard.

A postmortem of The Graveyard is available at the Tale of Tales blog. Everything that went in to creating the game, from day one of the concept, to funding, to post-release sales and site traffic data is detailed.

Alpha Protocol (Obsidian Entertainment): What I know about this game is that it’s a third-person action role-playing game where you play as a CIA agent, presumably in the future. I know that it’s coming out for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Other than that, and the fact that Alpha Protocol is a tragically generic name, I know that it is being developed by Obsidian Entertainment. I do not know much else, but Obsidian is the same developer that made Star Wars: Knight of The Old Republic 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2. That’s all I really needed to know, why are we still talking? Done. Sign me up.

Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor (Relic Entertainment): Though I have been too timid to jump into any CoH multiplayer, I’ve enjoyed the single-player immensely. There’s little room for World War II games in my life anymore unless they’re outstanding, and Company of Heroes has fit the bill. The campaigns give a feeling reminiscent of the original Call of Duty, but translated to an RTS. They were a big deal for me when I played them last year. In fact, you may have detected a bit of CoH influence in our Team Fortress 2 unlocks comic series.

As CoH was an evolution of Dawn of War, so was Dawn of War II an evolution of CoH. Now the cycle has begun anew. Tales of Valor promises to move CoH a bit in the direction of where Relic has taken the recently released Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. Relic’s ever-refining formula would have players focus more on using small groups of units effectively and less on getting caught up with base-building, teching up, and mass-producing units.

Rage (id Software): When he’s not trying to build rockets or oversee development of the browser-based-gaming revolution with Quake Live, John Carmack also writes game engines. Rage, id Software’s first new in-house developed game since Doom 3, will also be the first game utilizing id Tech 5. The engine’s code has been written from the ground-up and is being optimized for cross-platform development with the inclusion of the MegaTexture technology Carmack engineered for Splash Damage’s Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

Rage (you know, the “game” part) is set in a near-future, post-apocalyptic world. Gameplay will include first-person shootering as well as a strong driving component which is said to be influenced by games like Burnout and MotorStorm. Rage is set to release on Windows, OS X, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare): This game may be the one I’m looking forward to most of all this year. Dragon Age: Origins has been touted as the spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate. Now, I’m sure most of you understand what kind of implications a statement like this has. With Baldur’s Gate being what is probably my most beloved game series ever, that’s a lot of weight to be throwing around. I would not have the doubts that I do were it not for the fact that Dragon Age is being developed not just for PC, but for consoles as well. We’ve seen in the past what kind of effect that can have on games that have traditionally been on PC. In a recent interview with GiantBomb.com (embedded below), Dan Tudge (best name ever?), executive producer for Dragon Age: Origins told Ryan Davis that the game wasn’t always planned to be on consoles, but as they got into development for the PC, they saw how it could work out on other platforms. I don’t know how much of that I’m willing to believe, but honestly, BioWare hasn’t let me down yet.

Though originally to be released in early 2009 with its console counterparts following later on, Electronic Arts and BioWare have decided to release all versions of Dragon Age: Origins simultaneously, sometime in the “last half of 2009″. BioWare stated that although the PC version was shaping up well, they’ll use the extra development time for additional quality assurance. They’ve also dropped hints that the PC version will include a little something extra for players being patient.