News Archive for July 2001
July 30, 2001
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Visions of Reviews -- Diablo II: Lord of Destruction |
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Today we take a look at the Diablo II expansion set, Lord of Destruction. D2: LoD promises to change gameplay with a new act, two new player classes, new items, and new item types. But does it succeed, or does it need to be smashed at the forge?
From the review:
The new act consists of three major section types. The above-ground which acts like a continuing battle with imps, slayers and crush beasts is the first area you go do. Barbarians are also running about and fighting as well. There are catapults around which hurl large balls of magical damage across the map at you, there are siege towers that an imp can hop into and cast Inferno at you. They also do the same by hopping into the basket carried by crush beasts. There are fortified walls lining the area and you can break down doors and barricades in the walls to advance. It's a very different feeling from the rest of the game.
To check out the full review, click "Review" below, or simply click the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction logo in the "featured bar"!
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Dark Places Moves to GVN |
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I'd like to welcome the newest member site of the GameVisions Network, Dark Places. Dark Places is a game engine based on the Quake source developed by Lord Havoc, our senior editor here at GV. The DP is already being used in several free and commercial games, including one Havoc and I are working on together (more details definitely coming at a later date.)
Check out what the engine is all about at darkplaces.gamevisions.com by clicking "Visit Site" below!
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July 26, 2001
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New Game Controller a Shock to Community |
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This recently released photo shows the Mad Catz Bioforce controller that will be on store shelves in time for the holiday rush. The Bioforce will deliver a shock to the player when taking fire from enemies in a game. This pain inducing controller controller promises to bring a new level of realism to games.
Critics argue that the controller may cause momentary paralysis of the hands, and cause neurological problems if used extensively.
Maybe it's me, but it makes sense that you could really mess yourself up with this thing. There's a reason you shut the power off before doing electrical work. I don't think GameVisions will be reviewing the Bioforce, I actually value my nervous system, but I must admit the concept is somewhat intriguing. Really, when was the last time you actually wanted to feel the pain as the Quake guy gets ripped up by a shambler? It sort of ruins to fun of it only being a game, doesn't it?
To take a look at the Bioforce shock pad in action, click "More" below!
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July 23, 2001
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Visions of Reviews -- Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal |
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Throne of Bhaal is the expansion pack that concludes one of the most popular RPG game series ever created. But is it worthy of its rightful place, or should its taint be sent back from whence it came?
From the review:
One of the major improvements in here fixes the one thing that at times makes the D&D games unbearable. Anyone who loves playing with a lot of mages knows that the need for sleep is a devastating and annoying attribute of D&D. In the Throne of Bhaal, that is remedied in a most interesting way. As the story goes, your character creates his own protective plane out of the abyssal plane to test himself as he goes through his journey (I'm mentioning "him" simply because my character was male.) With this ability, the character can teleport to the "pocket plane" any time he wants to rest and be safe from monsters.
Check out the entire review by clicking "More" below, or simply by clicking the "Throne of Bhaal" logo in the "featured bar."
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July 19, 2001
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Mech Commander 2 Hits Shelves |
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Microsoft announced today that Mech Commander 2 is already on store shelves. Some time ago I got a sneak peek at the game during our Mech Commander 2 preview and can say first-hand, there certainly is much to look forward to.
From the press release:
MechCommander 2 gives gamers more than amazing gameplay -- it draws them into the rich, 16-year history of the BattleTech Universe. Players will simultaneously command up to 16 enormous BattleMechs in real-time combat, where outsmarting the enemy is the key to victory. MechCommander 2 is fully 3D, with state-of-the-art terrain that influences player tactics. Players knock down trees, blow through walls, jump jet onto cliffs and crush anything standing in their way to victory.
If you'd like to read the entire press release, click "More" below.
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July 17, 2001
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Arcanum Soundtrack Released |
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It's nice seeing some activity with games again, isn't it? It's been a fairly dead week.
In my favorite kind of news, freebies, Sierra announced today that it will be releasing the soundtrack for Arcanum, their new RPG, one track at a time on the website. The first one is already up.
If you'd like to take a look at the full press release, click "More" below.
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Geeks in Freeware |
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Certainly GV isn't exactly the source for all your freeware needs, but in this case, I figured this is certainly worth a mention.
Verado: The IT Security Game 2.0 is a freeware title that appeals to the geeks out there who slave over network administration and seem to take two steps back every time you solve one problem. It's something of a DOOM clone, but certainly takes out the aggressions of net admins everywhere!
From the game description:
As an overworked, underpaid IT supervisor, you're in charge of your company's data, yet no one has given you specific instructions on how to take care of it. You have some tools at your disposal, but what are they? What do they do?
Find out whether you have what it takes as you battle an oddball assortment of hackers, crackers, thieves, and phreaks with one goal: getting to your network data -- whether you cooperate or not. There's only one thing standing between your attackers and total network destruction, and you're it.
Certainly paralells life, doesn't it <G>? Click "More" below to check out the Verado site. For free, it's worth a shot.
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July 16, 2001
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Art of Magic Beta Testing Begins |
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Bethesda Softworks announced today that they are beginning selections for beta testers of Art of Magic.
From the Press Release:
Art of Magic is a unique blend of strategy, tactical combat, and role-playing brought to life with full 3D graphics and an epic storyline. As a wizard, you have the power to conjure terrifying creatures and devestating spells against your opponent. Before each battle, you choose which spells you will bring with you, and then use the spells in real-time tactical combat against your opponent in single and multiplayer play.
If you're interested in signing up to be a beta tester, click "More" below to find out how to apply and what is required.
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July 10, 2001
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Visions of Features -- New GV News Features |
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In our continuing effort to upgrade services and make GV a bit easier to use so you can spend less time fumbling with the mouse and more time shooting things, we've added a few new features to GV.
One of the "new" features isn't as much new as it is returned. The news archives are finally back! You can access the archives by clicking "Past News" below the most current news posts, or by simply selecting "News Archive" from the "General" menu at the top.
Our truly new feature, however, is the new news searh functionality. Simply select "Search the News" beneath all the news posts, or from the "General" menu at the top of each page to search through all of the GameVisions news posts.
Finally, you may have noticed that the poll has been modified. It came to my attention that Neverwinter Nights was pushed back to the fall since I last checked it's release date. I have replaced it with Emperor: Battle for Dune, since I know that's sure to be a favorite.
There's still more improvements coming, so stay tuned!
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July 9, 2001
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Visions of Reviews -- Emperor: Battle for Dune |
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GameVisions takes on Arrakis in a review of Emperor: Battle for Dune. Find out if Emperor is truly the supreme classic RTS of the year, or if it should just be fed to the worms.
From the review:
The single player campaign system is perhaps the most unique I've ever seen in an RTS. Unlike Starcraft and other predecessors whose campaigns featured a series of set maps in succession, Emperor takes something of a different approach. The campaigns are dynamic. After a few set missions required to develop the storyline, you are presented a map between missions. On the map, the Houses take turns, first with the player choosing who to attack, then both AIs take turns, and the player may have to defend a territory.
Click the "Review" button below, or simply click the Emperor logo in the "featured bar" to read the entire review.
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Microsoft's Mark Croft Interviewed |
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GameSpot UK has posted a new interview with Microsoft's Mark Croft who is currently the product manager for Microsoft's Windows XP.
From the interview:
GSUK: What will Windows XP offer gamers?
Mark Croft: I think the key things here are you get your in-built DirectX 8.1. Okay, you could put that on Win 98 or Millennium, but on a technical level, XP is running in a kernel mode driver. So, if you like its amazing implementation, when we get everything lined up with the graphics cards, that should give us really good performance.
There will be more stability. We do more work with error checking with graphics handling in Windows XP, than we've done in any version of Win 9x. [As for] the high end graphics card manufacturers - [they're focused on] people who are buying PCs now, and what gamers are using now. Does XP add any new features? No. But I can go for a high end machine which has good solid performance, but I'm not going to be rebooting, I'm not going to get any system hangs.
Its quite long and an interesting read, especially for gamers :) To read more, click the "Visit Site" button at the bottom left of this newspost.
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July 5, 2001
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Hi |
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| Hello, I'm Stephen Hewitt and I'll be helping around here at Game Visions. I look forward to working with Award & the other staff. If you need to contact me, you can e-mail me at sh20@gamevisions.com.
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Visions of Reviews -- Antaeus Rising |
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Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising takes one final shot at successfully combining the First Person Shooter (FPS) and Real Time Strategy (RTS) genres. This is certainly not a new concept in gaming, but it is one that has never before been successfuly done.
From the Review:
The way the game play works is fairly simple, in theory anyway. You begin the mission with a tactical briefing from HQ, and a few locations of the map are usually revealed. You have a limited amount of energy (EJ), the only resource in the game, with which to build some units to clear and secure a beachhead to land the rest of your forces on. Once down, you must use a recycling unit to search for some metal to convert into energy.
To check out the review, simply click "Review" below, or click the Antaeus Rising image on the "featured bar."
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July 2, 2001
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Welcome Back...Yet Again! |
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Two days of down-time wasn't so bad, was it? We're finally up and running on our permanent host (much sooner than we expected, no less!)
We're now a proud member of the Gaming Incite Network. Our sister-site is Square Incite, the best of the best in SquareSoft (Final Fantasy, Chronotrigger) fan sites.
We have quite a bit coming up at GV, so stay tuned!
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