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Fully clickable version here - http://play.game.net/newsletters/28thNovember.htm
GAME.NET News
In an otherwise quiet week here at GAME.NET Deus Ex: The Invisible War stands out with a lot of content from the game made available over the last seven days, be it in the shape of the demo or trailers (see the Files & Patches section) or our extensive preview of what promises to be a one of the most talked about games next year. It seems odd to be paying this much attention to what is solely a single player game but with the it being lauded as a DooM III beater it is one that you must check out if you have any sort of interest in the FPS genre.
Over the past few months our news service at GAME.NET has been pretty quiet, whilst these newsletters have been filled to the brim with various gaming-related news & files we've not really been able to offer you a web-based resource of a similar nature, this largely due to the retiring of virtually all our volunteer news posters due to various real life reasons. Over the next couple of weeks we'll be seeking to get our gaming news back on track, I'll be starting to post to it daily and to ensure that we get a good variety of posts we are also looking for a few more volunteers to replace those who have hung up their virtual pens. If you happen to be interested in taking up a volunteer position (you get rewarded with lots of love and other good stuff) then head on over to our forums to read more about how to get more involved.
On a related content note our sister-hardware site TechNation this week has a couple of new reviews for you, one of which is a look at the rather lovely looking Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer v2. I've never been a fan of wireless kit but the review is pretty positive, meanwhile for those of you inclined to "mod" your case I would recommend reading this guide to putting a Window into your case, it is written by our Hardware bloke in the know Wilier and it has to be said that the end results do look quite impressive.
New to our service this week is BattleGroup42, a mod for BattleField 1942 that has been added to all Bookables & Clan Servers. As you would expect from a mod for this game there are many new / modified version of infantry and vehicles (land, sea and air), all this new stuff comes at a price though with a 455 MB download required. Fear not, if you'd like to have a look at the game we have the latest v0.9 on our speedy FTP.
What's On
Sunday 30th November 2003
Operation Flashpoint @ 14:00
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy @ 15:00
Counter-Strike @ 20:00
Monday 1st December 2003
Elite Force II @ 19:00
*New Event* Call of Duty @ 19:00 *New Event*
Half-Life: Team Fortress Classic @ 21:00
Tuesday 2nd December 2003
Battlefield 1942 @ 20:30
Vietcong @ 21:00
Wednesday 3rd December 2003
Medal of Honor @ 19:00
Natural Selection @ 19:00
Battlefield 1942: Desert Combat @ 21:00
Thursday 4th December 2003
*New Event* Call of Duty @ 19:00 *New Event*
Half-Life: Day of Defeat @ 20:30
Half Life: Team Fortress Classic (TFC) @ 21:00
Files and Patches
Trailers
Whilst we continue to be deluged by patches the trailers and demos section of this newsletter is a little quiet this week, most game companies having already now shipped their big Christmas releases so the need to promote things less urgent. That said, despite not being out until next year the pimp-machine is in full flow for Deus Ex 2, you will have seen the feature mentioned earlier and a very cinematic "release trailer" has also been unveiled this week. Coming in at 52 MB you can grab it here and it has to be said that the story aspect of the game looks quite interesting, even if there have been some murmurs about the actual gameplay. You can check out a demo for the game in the next section to see for yourself, of perhaps more interest to the FPS gaming fanatic will the Universal Combat, the second trailer for the game released this week with the emphasis firmly on the solider part of this land, sea and space combat title that, like Deus Ex 2, hits the shelves early next year.
Two "building" games to mention next with one being about manufacturing lives, the other about creating a place to live. First up we have a small trailer for The Sims 2, it featuring a pair of twins which will no doubt lead to much confusion for your little people. I've never been a huge fan of The Sims but there is no denying the appeal of the games to a certain type of PC owner and no doubt we will see much more of the sequel before it is released in March. Due out a couple of months before that is Castle Strike, an RTS game where you somewhat predictably build castles whilst fending off / attacking rival castles. Having had a look at the two movies released this week I think the 29 MB Building trailer actually looks more impressive than the 46 MB Battle trailer, although perhaps the upcoming release of Timeline (a medieval based action film) might stir the passion for you to invest in this game.
A couple of very different vehicle sims to end this brief trailers section with, the first being for the futuristic DEactivation where you take control of a droid in a 3D action adventure with various puzzles to solve and hostages to rescue. Plenty of combat is thrown in to the mix but it has to be said that this 3 MB trailer doesn't do the game any favours on the graphics front. At the other end of the technological scale are a pair of demos for IL2: Sturmovik Forgotten Battles expansion pack Combat over Europe, featuring hundreds of new missions, campaigns, aircraft and so forth this definitely looks like a wet-dream for you flight-sim lovers out there and if you fancy a sneak peak then you can download either the 21 MB Battle of Britain trailer or the 28 MB D-Day trailer.
Playable Demos
Adventure gaming of very differing natures start off the Demo section this week with the first to mention being for the Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna expansion pack, the sizeable 248 MB demo including a large section of the single player campaign from the game. Far less serious is the demo for Sonic Adventure DX, this PC conversion of the popular console title is hard to get your hands on in the UK but if you fancy having a little play then this 69 MB demo should provide some limited enjoyment. Also slightly limited is the demo for Gladiator-Management sim Coliseum, despite being very small in size it offers pretty much all you can expect from the full game with the exception of no game saving and it only lasting half a season. On a similar theme but larger in scale and download size is the 220+ MB demo for Against Rome, this RTS game is already out in parts of mainland Europe but until next year you will have to make do with the demo which features up to 3 hours of gameplay from one of the missions in the full game.
Similar RTS fun is to be had in Lords of EverQuest, out next Friday you can now download a 192 MB single player demo for what could be turn out to be one of the biggest PC Games of 2004. The demo itself allows you to play a tutorial and a full mission from one of the factions in the final game which has gone gold, look out for probable patch news in next week's newsletter. No news yet on when Space RTS game I of the Enemy will be released in the UK but if you fancy a look at this innovative game then you can download this 114 MB demo which includes three missions from the first campaign from the full game.
My final two demos for you this week are both what I suppose could be classed as survivalist in nature with Deus Ex: The Invisible War (Deus Ex 2) the more famous with this being your chance to get your hands on the game and make your own mind up as to whether or not it lives up to the hype. The demo itself comes in at 224 MB, is available to download here and is being discussed on our forums here. If you find it not meeting your expectations then you might want to try out the 160 MB demo for The Black Mirror, this lovely looking graphical adventure includes over 100 different locations and some neat effects, the demo being an updated version of a previously available one and featuring three playable areas, puzzles and a walkthrough guide.
Game Patches
More Vietcong patching this week with the release of the 8 MB v1.41, all our servers are updated to this version which includes further anti-cheat protection and further server-side tweaks. Fellow FPS game Dead to Rights has also been updated this week with a 40 MB Canister patch, the reason for the odd name being that it fixes an issue with the Tutorial "Canister" section which was bugged in the first mission of the game.
Some official map additions have been released this week with Iron Dragon available for Zero Hour, whilst Pacific Coastal is one for you fans of Railroad Tycoon 3. Both maps are very small in size and that is likely to also be true of any maps you create with the Etherlords 2 map editor that was released this week, you can download it by clicking here and if you are a fan of that game you should really get the small v1.02 patch, necessary to have installed if you do plan on using the map editor.
Two games trying to make their presence felt in the multiplayer community this week are Yager and Settlers 4, both having received patches that introduce a multiplayer element into these titles. The Settlers 4 patch is the smaller of the two at just 13 MB and takes the game to v2.50.1516 with a number of maps available to download from our FTP by clicking here. Yager I believe shipped on DVD's and as such it makes sense that the patch is a chunky 87 MB in size, taking the game to v5.24 it includes 10 new maps, 6 new fighters, various new features and two game modes of DeathMatch and Team DeathMatch.
A trio of strategy / resource management games get patches this week with the Rush Hour expansion pack for Sim City 4 having a 17 MB v1.1.638.0 update released that fixes a number of video card issues (something of a trend in recent patches) along with general bug fixes and gameplay tweaks. There is less to the v1.01.0011 patch for War of the Ring, the LoTR-based RTS game, but the tiny update is required if you intend to play the game online with it fixing some issues with regards to network play. The similarly mythical Spellforce has been patched this week to v1.02, like a couple of other games from JoWood it seems that this 19 MB file is required to fix some installation issues but will also improve general game performance and fix a few other bugs.
My copy of PC GAMER dropped through the door today and in it was a rave review for Pro Evolution Soccer 3, claiming it was superior to FIFA 2004 which is a game I personally found to be a bit of a disappointment after playing with it for a while. If you do happen to own a copy of Pro Evo 3 then you'll be happy to hear a patch has been released for the game, it is wholly a bug fix with some graphical and performance issues sorted out, the patch being very small and taking the game to v1.10.2. If you like your fun less sporty then you may own a copy of Worms 3D, if you do then you will want to get the 54 MB Service Patch 1 as it massively revamps the network / multiplayer aspect of the game.
I mentioned graphical fixes in an early patch and the 20 MB v1.2 patch for Uru: Ages Beyond Myst primarily is concerned with fixing some issues that owners of ATI Radeon patches have been experiencing, even if you don't own that brand of GFX card I'd still recommend getting the patch as it includes a few other bug fixes. If you prefer your point-and-clicking to have more gore (remember you cannot die in Uru: Ages Beyond Myst) then you might own a copy of Korea: Forgotten Conflict and if you do then you will want to get the 21 MB UK only v1.0p patch with it fixing various technical, gameplay and control issues that were in the retail version of the game.
Mods
The theme of mod kits being released continues this week with the public Software Development Kit (SDK) and mod-making Tools for Jedi Academy made available to Joe Gamer, at just 6 MB you can download them here and let us hope that they get put to good use. On a similar FPS note the Excessive Overkill mutator for Unreal Tournament 2003 has been updated to v2.1, this mutator ramping up the weapon power and health / armour to create pure carnage in a bottle.
A couple of mods to mention this week for games that don't normally feature in this section, the first being the RezzieMod for the Game of the Year contender Max Payne 2. This mod basically overhauls most aspects of the game from bullet-time changes to weapon tweaks, sound changes and graphical alterations, the 16 MB v3.5 the latest version but the mod has already been updated twice this week so make sure you look out for further updates. Modifying weaponry is something that the BattleMech Mod for C&C Generals is concerned with, this mod introducing some of the classic Battletech machinery into the C&C universe. I really like this idea and hopefully future versions will expand on this further, if you want to have a look yourself then you can grab the 7 MB v1.0.
Special Offers
With less than four weeks to go until Christmas it is time to start thinking about what gifts to get your family and if you happen to be console-inclined then we've got a lot of great offers on at the moment, not least the Deal of the Day which finishes up on Sunday with a very nice driving-themed offer. Other bargains include a free Gladiator DVD when you buy Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance on either the X-Box or PS2, a similar offer available for Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo, whilst if you'd like to take your console online to show all those console newbies what skillz a PC gamer has then you'll be interested to hear about our offer on the X-Box live starter set. Oh and remember to check out our Christmas Advent Calendar, the last bit of which will be unveiled at noon on Monday.
For after-office-party drunkenness fun you could always get yourself one of the array of Dancing games / mats for your console, we've put together a handy list of the various options open to you here, but if you'd rather just slump in front of the TV and put a film on you can take advantage of our updated 3 for £20 DVD range, or even pretend to be the permanently drunk Jack Sparrow in Pirates of The Caribbean.
Regards,
Dave "BigFoot" Angus
GAME.NET Community Liaison
If you need any help or have any questions, we have a page set up to help you.
Please don't reply to this e-mail - we have all the support you need ready for you elsewhere.
http://www.game.net/
http://www.game.uk.com/
To Unsubscribe from this Community Newsletter simply go to this page, Logon and click the Unsubscribe button.
GAME.NET News
In an otherwise quiet week here at GAME.NET Deus Ex: The Invisible War stands out with a lot of content from the game made available over the last seven days, be it in the shape of the demo or trailers (see the Files & Patches section) or our extensive preview of what promises to be a one of the most talked about games next year. It seems odd to be paying this much attention to what is solely a single player game but with the it being lauded as a DooM III beater it is one that you must check out if you have any sort of interest in the FPS genre.
Over the past few months our news service at GAME.NET has been pretty quiet, whilst these newsletters have been filled to the brim with various gaming-related news & files we've not really been able to offer you a web-based resource of a similar nature, this largely due to the retiring of virtually all our volunteer news posters due to various real life reasons. Over the next couple of weeks we'll be seeking to get our gaming news back on track, I'll be starting to post to it daily and to ensure that we get a good variety of posts we are also looking for a few more volunteers to replace those who have hung up their virtual pens. If you happen to be interested in taking up a volunteer position (you get rewarded with lots of love and other good stuff) then head on over to our forums to read more about how to get more involved.
On a related content note our sister-hardware site TechNation this week has a couple of new reviews for you, one of which is a look at the rather lovely looking Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer v2. I've never been a fan of wireless kit but the review is pretty positive, meanwhile for those of you inclined to "mod" your case I would recommend reading this guide to putting a Window into your case, it is written by our Hardware bloke in the know Wilier and it has to be said that the end results do look quite impressive.
New to our service this week is BattleGroup42, a mod for BattleField 1942 that has been added to all Bookables & Clan Servers. As you would expect from a mod for this game there are many new / modified version of infantry and vehicles (land, sea and air), all this new stuff comes at a price though with a 455 MB download required. Fear not, if you'd like to have a look at the game we have the latest v0.9 on our speedy FTP.
What's On
Sunday 30th November 2003
Operation Flashpoint @ 14:00
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy @ 15:00
Counter-Strike @ 20:00
Monday 1st December 2003
Elite Force II @ 19:00
*New Event* Call of Duty @ 19:00 *New Event*
Half-Life: Team Fortress Classic @ 21:00
Tuesday 2nd December 2003
Battlefield 1942 @ 20:30
Vietcong @ 21:00
Wednesday 3rd December 2003
Medal of Honor @ 19:00
Natural Selection @ 19:00
Battlefield 1942: Desert Combat @ 21:00
Thursday 4th December 2003
*New Event* Call of Duty @ 19:00 *New Event*
Half-Life: Day of Defeat @ 20:30
Half Life: Team Fortress Classic (TFC) @ 21:00
Files and Patches
Trailers
Whilst we continue to be deluged by patches the trailers and demos section of this newsletter is a little quiet this week, most game companies having already now shipped their big Christmas releases so the need to promote things less urgent. That said, despite not being out until next year the pimp-machine is in full flow for Deus Ex 2, you will have seen the feature mentioned earlier and a very cinematic "release trailer" has also been unveiled this week. Coming in at 52 MB you can grab it here and it has to be said that the story aspect of the game looks quite interesting, even if there have been some murmurs about the actual gameplay. You can check out a demo for the game in the next section to see for yourself, of perhaps more interest to the FPS gaming fanatic will the Universal Combat, the second trailer for the game released this week with the emphasis firmly on the solider part of this land, sea and space combat title that, like Deus Ex 2, hits the shelves early next year.
Two "building" games to mention next with one being about manufacturing lives, the other about creating a place to live. First up we have a small trailer for The Sims 2, it featuring a pair of twins which will no doubt lead to much confusion for your little people. I've never been a huge fan of The Sims but there is no denying the appeal of the games to a certain type of PC owner and no doubt we will see much more of the sequel before it is released in March. Due out a couple of months before that is Castle Strike, an RTS game where you somewhat predictably build castles whilst fending off / attacking rival castles. Having had a look at the two movies released this week I think the 29 MB Building trailer actually looks more impressive than the 46 MB Battle trailer, although perhaps the upcoming release of Timeline (a medieval based action film) might stir the passion for you to invest in this game.
A couple of very different vehicle sims to end this brief trailers section with, the first being for the futuristic DEactivation where you take control of a droid in a 3D action adventure with various puzzles to solve and hostages to rescue. Plenty of combat is thrown in to the mix but it has to be said that this 3 MB trailer doesn't do the game any favours on the graphics front. At the other end of the technological scale are a pair of demos for IL2: Sturmovik Forgotten Battles expansion pack Combat over Europe, featuring hundreds of new missions, campaigns, aircraft and so forth this definitely looks like a wet-dream for you flight-sim lovers out there and if you fancy a sneak peak then you can download either the 21 MB Battle of Britain trailer or the 28 MB D-Day trailer.
Playable Demos
Adventure gaming of very differing natures start off the Demo section this week with the first to mention being for the Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna expansion pack, the sizeable 248 MB demo including a large section of the single player campaign from the game. Far less serious is the demo for Sonic Adventure DX, this PC conversion of the popular console title is hard to get your hands on in the UK but if you fancy having a little play then this 69 MB demo should provide some limited enjoyment. Also slightly limited is the demo for Gladiator-Management sim Coliseum, despite being very small in size it offers pretty much all you can expect from the full game with the exception of no game saving and it only lasting half a season. On a similar theme but larger in scale and download size is the 220+ MB demo for Against Rome, this RTS game is already out in parts of mainland Europe but until next year you will have to make do with the demo which features up to 3 hours of gameplay from one of the missions in the full game.
Similar RTS fun is to be had in Lords of EverQuest, out next Friday you can now download a 192 MB single player demo for what could be turn out to be one of the biggest PC Games of 2004. The demo itself allows you to play a tutorial and a full mission from one of the factions in the final game which has gone gold, look out for probable patch news in next week's newsletter. No news yet on when Space RTS game I of the Enemy will be released in the UK but if you fancy a look at this innovative game then you can download this 114 MB demo which includes three missions from the first campaign from the full game.
My final two demos for you this week are both what I suppose could be classed as survivalist in nature with Deus Ex: The Invisible War (Deus Ex 2) the more famous with this being your chance to get your hands on the game and make your own mind up as to whether or not it lives up to the hype. The demo itself comes in at 224 MB, is available to download here and is being discussed on our forums here. If you find it not meeting your expectations then you might want to try out the 160 MB demo for The Black Mirror, this lovely looking graphical adventure includes over 100 different locations and some neat effects, the demo being an updated version of a previously available one and featuring three playable areas, puzzles and a walkthrough guide.
Game Patches
More Vietcong patching this week with the release of the 8 MB v1.41, all our servers are updated to this version which includes further anti-cheat protection and further server-side tweaks. Fellow FPS game Dead to Rights has also been updated this week with a 40 MB Canister patch, the reason for the odd name being that it fixes an issue with the Tutorial "Canister" section which was bugged in the first mission of the game.
Some official map additions have been released this week with Iron Dragon available for Zero Hour, whilst Pacific Coastal is one for you fans of Railroad Tycoon 3. Both maps are very small in size and that is likely to also be true of any maps you create with the Etherlords 2 map editor that was released this week, you can download it by clicking here and if you are a fan of that game you should really get the small v1.02 patch, necessary to have installed if you do plan on using the map editor.
Two games trying to make their presence felt in the multiplayer community this week are Yager and Settlers 4, both having received patches that introduce a multiplayer element into these titles. The Settlers 4 patch is the smaller of the two at just 13 MB and takes the game to v2.50.1516 with a number of maps available to download from our FTP by clicking here. Yager I believe shipped on DVD's and as such it makes sense that the patch is a chunky 87 MB in size, taking the game to v5.24 it includes 10 new maps, 6 new fighters, various new features and two game modes of DeathMatch and Team DeathMatch.
A trio of strategy / resource management games get patches this week with the Rush Hour expansion pack for Sim City 4 having a 17 MB v1.1.638.0 update released that fixes a number of video card issues (something of a trend in recent patches) along with general bug fixes and gameplay tweaks. There is less to the v1.01.0011 patch for War of the Ring, the LoTR-based RTS game, but the tiny update is required if you intend to play the game online with it fixing some issues with regards to network play. The similarly mythical Spellforce has been patched this week to v1.02, like a couple of other games from JoWood it seems that this 19 MB file is required to fix some installation issues but will also improve general game performance and fix a few other bugs.
My copy of PC GAMER dropped through the door today and in it was a rave review for Pro Evolution Soccer 3, claiming it was superior to FIFA 2004 which is a game I personally found to be a bit of a disappointment after playing with it for a while. If you do happen to own a copy of Pro Evo 3 then you'll be happy to hear a patch has been released for the game, it is wholly a bug fix with some graphical and performance issues sorted out, the patch being very small and taking the game to v1.10.2. If you like your fun less sporty then you may own a copy of Worms 3D, if you do then you will want to get the 54 MB Service Patch 1 as it massively revamps the network / multiplayer aspect of the game.
I mentioned graphical fixes in an early patch and the 20 MB v1.2 patch for Uru: Ages Beyond Myst primarily is concerned with fixing some issues that owners of ATI Radeon patches have been experiencing, even if you don't own that brand of GFX card I'd still recommend getting the patch as it includes a few other bug fixes. If you prefer your point-and-clicking to have more gore (remember you cannot die in Uru: Ages Beyond Myst) then you might own a copy of Korea: Forgotten Conflict and if you do then you will want to get the 21 MB UK only v1.0p patch with it fixing various technical, gameplay and control issues that were in the retail version of the game.
Mods
The theme of mod kits being released continues this week with the public Software Development Kit (SDK) and mod-making Tools for Jedi Academy made available to Joe Gamer, at just 6 MB you can download them here and let us hope that they get put to good use. On a similar FPS note the Excessive Overkill mutator for Unreal Tournament 2003 has been updated to v2.1, this mutator ramping up the weapon power and health / armour to create pure carnage in a bottle.
A couple of mods to mention this week for games that don't normally feature in this section, the first being the RezzieMod for the Game of the Year contender Max Payne 2. This mod basically overhauls most aspects of the game from bullet-time changes to weapon tweaks, sound changes and graphical alterations, the 16 MB v3.5 the latest version but the mod has already been updated twice this week so make sure you look out for further updates. Modifying weaponry is something that the BattleMech Mod for C&C Generals is concerned with, this mod introducing some of the classic Battletech machinery into the C&C universe. I really like this idea and hopefully future versions will expand on this further, if you want to have a look yourself then you can grab the 7 MB v1.0.
Special Offers
With less than four weeks to go until Christmas it is time to start thinking about what gifts to get your family and if you happen to be console-inclined then we've got a lot of great offers on at the moment, not least the Deal of the Day which finishes up on Sunday with a very nice driving-themed offer. Other bargains include a free Gladiator DVD when you buy Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance on either the X-Box or PS2, a similar offer available for Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo, whilst if you'd like to take your console online to show all those console newbies what skillz a PC gamer has then you'll be interested to hear about our offer on the X-Box live starter set. Oh and remember to check out our Christmas Advent Calendar, the last bit of which will be unveiled at noon on Monday.
For after-office-party drunkenness fun you could always get yourself one of the array of Dancing games / mats for your console, we've put together a handy list of the various options open to you here, but if you'd rather just slump in front of the TV and put a film on you can take advantage of our updated 3 for £20 DVD range, or even pretend to be the permanently drunk Jack Sparrow in Pirates of The Caribbean.
Regards,
Dave "BigFoot" Angus
GAME.NET Community Liaison
If you need any help or have any questions, we have a page set up to help you.
Please don't reply to this e-mail - we have all the support you need ready for you elsewhere.
http://www.game.net/
http://www.game.uk.com/
To Unsubscribe from this Community Newsletter simply go to this page, Logon and click the Unsubscribe button.