GamesRadar - PC Previews

1701 A.D. (1701 A.D.)

3/10/2006

We always feel a little left out when we think about all the fun we missed back in the days when Columbus and Magellan explored the New World (well, minus the dysentery and scurvy). But thanks to unhealthy doses of the History Channel and the beautiful new colony-building 1701 A.D., we're content to remain seated on our asses for good. 1701 A.D. is the third in the so-called "Anno" series of city-building and exploration-based strategy games. This series is hugely popular in Europe, and one ...

1701 A.D. (1701 A.D.)

10/07/2006

Some would say that the Portuguese, Spanish or French would be the best countries to ally with and conquer the New World. Instead, we were invited aboard with the Frankfurt, Germany-based developer, Sunflowers. Recently, they crossed the Atlantic to show us their upcoming 1701 A.D., a startlingly pretty New World city-builder that took us by surprise. First of all, the twilight of the Age of Exploration is a visual feast. 1701's artsy camera work piles on top of the luminescent oceans, emerald ...

2006 FIFA World Cup (2006 FIFA World Cup Germany)

30/03/2006

You wouldnt be remiss to consider EA Sports latest soccer game a quick sequel to the annual chart-topper, FIFA Soccer. No doubt the publisher wants to cash in on its massive investment in the worlds biggest sporting event. Curiously though, this games producer goes to great lengths to pitch 2006 FIFA World Cup as a sequel to the 2002 World Cup iteration, and not the recent FIFA Soccer 06. This matters why? Mainly because FIFA Soccer 06 was generally considered to be pretty stinky, particularly ...

Act of War (Act of War: Direct Action)

8/03/2005

A typical day in London. The American President's motorcade works its way along The Mall towards Buckingham Palace. The streets are paved with placard waving protesters and cheering tourists as the sleek limo pushes through. Your squad is waiting up ahead in the Queen's courtyard, having swept the area for trouble. As the limo approaches, shots are fired. Terrorists, using the crowd as cover, are downing civilians with their AK-47s. The motorcade speeds off, your squad mobilises to take on the ...

Act of War (Act of War: Direct Action)

7/01/2005

There's a general rule of game development: don't fight the established games on their own ground. You'll almost certainly lose and sell jack, because they've got momentum and you're nobody. But it's a rule that Eugen are shunning. They've seen Command and Conquer: General's crown and think they can wrest it from its bleeding fingers.And they might just have what it takes. Act of War plays like C and C from an alternate dimension, where the old RTS warhorse kept on pushing into new territory, ...

Plunder - hands-on (Age of Booty)

13/03/2008

Plunder is a casual real-time strategy game in which you take control of a pirate ship and battle other players for towns and resources. Players navigate around a Settlers of Catan-style hexagonal board in their pirate galleons. Ships have three attributes: cannon, armor and speed, which can be upgraded as the game progresses. Following the rule of threes, there are three resources required for upgrades: gold, wood and rum. Resources are ...

Age of Conan - Hyborian strongholds (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

16/05/2008

Before there was Conan the Barbarian, there was Robert E. Howard. The prolific author practically invented the sword-and-sorcery genre of pulp fiction in the early 20th century, and Conan was his most famous creation. In 1932, inspired by the lush hill country of central Texas, Howard envisioned the ancient land of Cimmeria and its champion, a brave and headstrong warrior named Conan. ...

Age of Conan week, day 4 - monster mash (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

15/05/2008

Like a medieval NCAA tournament, raiding in Age of Conan is about gradually making your way to the big showdown. Dungeons raids will be handled by groups of 24 (though 16 highly skilled players may get the job done) in three stages; completing each tier gets you access to the skills and equipment you’ll need to tackle those that follow.

Above: Guilds need to divide and conquer if they're going to beat back multiple bosses per ...

Age of Conan - Tortage Island guide (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

14/05/2008

Tortage Island is "the jewel of the Barachan Isles," but it's a gem with some sharp edges. You'll spend all of Age of Conan's first 20 levels in, around, and in some cases under the island's many and varied environments, all of which are populated by flora, fauna, and folks who'd like to see you six feet under. As in any MMO, travel time is also a factor - expect to do a fair bit of running between points - so the better you know your ...

Age of Conan - multiplayer (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

13/05/2008

Even the most solitary pre-level 20 young warrior will eventually have to dive into Age of Conan’s multiplayer mode in order to earn enough experience to progress in the main story line. Luckily, diehard soloists shouldn’t fear Age of Conan’s multiplayer side. Once you tell your trainer at the Thirsty Dog Inn that you’d like to adventure with others, the game will transition to daytime, bringing you together with all the other “day questers” on your server. ...

Age of Conan - single-player (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

12/05/2008

There’s been no shortage of confidence from the Age of Conan camp, perhaps befitting the game’s namesake: the last press release we received from developer Funcom heralds the game as “one of the most highly anticipated MMO games in history” - and announces that the PC version’s gone gold, despite much Internet buzz among beta testers that it needs more polish than the remaining weeks to launch can possibly ...

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

29/02/2008

The good news is that Conan’s still different enough from every other MMO to be interesting. The better news is that it’s very easy to play. Perhaps even too easy. Every enemy in the Robert E. Howard-inspired game has three points where they can be attacked: left, right and above. These are shown by semi-circles floating about them when targeted. If you hit them on the left, they’ll defend that side, maybe leaving the right ...

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - updated impressions (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

24/01/2008

Based on our latest look at Age of Conan, we can safely say its looking pretty damn great. The combat system has been changed in a number of very definite, deliberate ways, and it improves the feel of the game immensely. The number of directions in which you can attack has been reduced, combos must now be activated instead of memorised and hopelessly recited, and enemies now display shield icons on either their front, left or right sides - a seemingly trivial inclusion but one that gives ...

Age of Conan - hands-on (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

3/07/2007

Conan. The name stirs images of ludicrously-huge muscles, furry pants, giant swords and the Governor of California gurning like a champ. It's a world, and a character, with an instantly familiar atmosphere. It's perfect for an MMO - a genre that lives or dies on the appeal and magnetism of its world. Let's face it, you can't go far wrong with a land populated by bloodthirsty warriors, evil sorcerers and vampy, buxom ladies clad in little more than a lick of paint. Another natural thing to ...

Age of Conan - hands-on (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

15/06/2007

As we played Age of Conan in a darkened room somewhere in developer Eidos HQ, lead designer Jason Allen Stone suggested the magnificently ugly face of our barbarian might be corrected by limiting the range of his facial customization. We do hope not: our frog-faced, beady-eyed, pseudo-Egyptian machete-wielding murderer was a glorious sight to behold. Few games allow you so much character in a single human face. You might only be able to play humans in Age of Conans online fantasy world, but ...

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - hands on (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

2/03/2007

Funcom have been doubly blessed while working on what were calling the 360s first, proper MMORPG. Firstly, Warner Bros announced a brand new movie based on Robert E Howards mighty Cimmerian meathead, which would take away the taste of Governor Schwarzeneggers 1982 B-Movie, and make Conan a far cooler character. But even better than that, Microsoft has given them the go-ahead to adapt their PC game for the truly mighty Xbox 360, taking away the taste of being a PC-only niche title… and ...

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - first impressions (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures)

20/12/2006

It doesn't matter whether or not you liked the Conan films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger or are familiar with Robert E. Howard's famous fantasy tales of the alpha-male Cimmerian. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures promises to provide a truly next-gen MMO experience with retina searing graphics and innovations in both gameplay and design that threaten to shake up many stale standards in the increasingly popular genre. Big talk, but after seeing a demo of the latest build of the game, we were ...

Age of Empires III (Age of Empires III)

6/10/2005

Familiarity breeds contentment. That seems to be the message from Ensemble Studios, the creators of strategy games whose successes are measured in millions of copies. This is the fourth Age game, and still its fundamental structure is the same: build structures, collect resources, churn out soldiers, attack the enemy."We wanted it to be familiar but not the same," admits Bruce Shelley, Age senior designer. "It's the Age of Empires II gameplay that'll keep you coming back." It's surprisingly ...

The Agency – hands-on (The Agency)

13/08/2009

Following in the footsteps of 2003’s PlanetSide, The Agency is an espionage-themed MMO that blends the salty grit of your average shooter with the smooth concoction of your World of Warcrafts and EverQuests. ...

The Agency (The Agency)

22/04/2008

Sony Online Entertainment have been behind the mighty EverQuest, the thoroughly messed-up Star Wars Galaxies, and the innovative online FPS PlanetSide, so you can be sure it was a big deal when they announced a brand-new MMO late last year. In The Agency, you get to live the life of a James Bond-style agent taking sides with one of two organisations, arming yourself with some cool gadgets and modern weaponry to defeat ridiculous world-domination plots in a fast-paced shooter with the persistence of an online game. ...