Weekly Newsletter 31st October 2003

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GAME.NET News
It'll be late evening by the time this newsletter drops into your inbox but there will still be a couple of great offers to take advantage of in our Trick or Treat giveaway that we are running on our shop site for today only as a celebration of Halloween. Trick or Treat is a series of twenty-four bargain-priced offers, each on the site for an hour, there being limited stock for each offer and an offer will end when either the available stock is depleted, or when the hour is up. You can find out more about the sale by reading the FAQ, or alternatively just drop by the re-designed shop site to see the current bargain on offer.

Server & Mod updates this week are as follows, links to files you need to download can be found in Files & Patches section of this Newsletter:

Tactical Ops anti-cheat software TOST updated to v4.1.6.6
Tactical Ops anti-cheat software Xprotect updated to v2.7
Unreal Tournament 2003 Community Bonus Pack added
Quake 3 mod True Combat updated to v1.1
Half-Life mod Action HL updated to v1.0
BattleField 1942 updated to v1.5

What's On
Sunday 2nd November 2003
Operation Flashpoint @ 14:00
New Event >>> Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy @ 15:00 <<< New Event
Counter-Strike @ 20:00
Monday 3rd November 2003
Elite Force II @ 19:00
Half-Life: Team Fortress Classic @ 21:00

Tuesday 4th November 2003
Battlefield 1942 @ 20:30
Vietcong @ 21:00

Wednesday 5th November 2003
Medal of Honor @ 19:00
Natural Selection @ 19:00
Battlefield 1942: Desert Combat @ 21:00

Thursday 6th November 2003
Half-Life: Day of Defeat @ 20:30
Half Life: Team Fortress Classic (TFC) @ 21:00

Files and Patches
Trailers
A really busy week for files of all kinds and I'll start the trailers section with a game that has "imminent" stamped all over it, that is of course the much-hyped Call of Duty which will drop through the letterboxes of those of you who pre-order it on the morning of next Friday. There is another playable demo in the next section but if you do not fancy downloading that then you can check out a couple of movies featuring in-game footage. Their names are pretty descriptive, Armory and Intensity both come in at under 30 MB and should give you a nice taster of what to expect, I've just read my copy of PC Gamer and they seem to love the game (gave it 91%) so I'm off to pre-order it myself now.

One step up the technology ladder from Call of Duty is Pacific Assault, the sequel to the hugely popular Medal of Honor will not be available until next year but in an effort to take a bit of the shine off Call of Duty we have seen some impressive technology trailers released in the past couple of weeks, #3 and #4 hitting the FTP in the last few days and certainly keeping up the high level of expectation for what is, after all, yet another WWII based FPS game, all be it one that is looking to try and give Half-Life 2 levels of graphical detail. I'm certainly not as impressed by the trailers we have seen for Tribes Vengeance but the game I guess is not aiming more for playability above superb looks so the graphics don't really need to be as tip-top, indeed the game does look like it will be pretty fun and you can download a couple more small movies showing in-game footage this week, the Chase sequence showing off the vast scale of the maps and the Termin-8 trailer showing what happens when you lose your connection to the server.

If you are looking for a more immediate challenge in the FPS genre then Turok: Evolution is out now, this latest installment of the popular series includes flight sequences where you soar through the skies attached to a Quetzalcoatlus (yes really!). If you don't want to take my word for it you can view a small trailer that shows a great deal of air-to-air combat & carnage for what is primarily an FPS game and it could well offer a nice distraction from the day-to-day ground killing of those poor old dinosaurs. Carnage is a word that fits nicely with the next two trailers I have for you which both feature the upcoming console-based adaptation of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. I don't normally feature console-based games in these newsletters but as there is a PC version due out shortly along similar lines so I thought you might like to see these, coming in a mini (15 MB) and extended (90 MB) version the trailers give some background to the game and interestingly enough show some filmed-for-the-game sequences that never made it to the movie, including some Terminator-lore as to how the Terminator came about looking like it does, along with its distinctive voice :>.

A wider variety of genres are covered by my next batch of trailers and the first sees a welcome return to action for Leisure Suit Larry. Those of you around my age (25+) will remember the Leisure Suit Larry games from the earlier days of PC gaming, having disappeared from our screens for a while he's back now having received a lick of paint to give him a more youthful appearance, his latest adventure the innuendo-laden "Magna Cum Laude" and seeing him based on a University campus, a selection of in-game sequences available for your perusal here. That game looks as if it will be far more enjoyable than the latest The Sims expansion pack Making Magic, I've seen some awful reviews for this latest add-on to the franchise but if you are a hardcore fan of the franchise then you can check out some small trailers here, here and here which show off some aspects from the game.

Continuing the sequel theme we go back in time to the days of old with another trailer for the final Lord of the Rings action-adventure game Return of the King. Due out in a couple of weeks the game looks pretty decent but having never played the previous two titles I'm not sure if it will advance much on those, make your own mind up by checking out the 20 MB trailer here. >From the days when the speediest way of getting around was to hop on a winged hell-beast to modern times and the slowest form of transport around - the train - a simulation of which can be found in Trainz 2004. I say modern day but this small trailer shows what the game will be like from inside the cabin of a steam-powered train, not exactly my cup of tea but then I'm not over 40 :). More my style of game is Need for Speed Underground, the latest installment of that popular series will be available in about a month and you can view some in-game footage, along with some real-life footage of the vehicles in action, by clicking here.

A couple of "original" games to finish off this section with, the graphically unimpressive Fast Lanes Bowling is being described as the perfect game for bowling enthusiasts but whether or not that is a compliment remains to be seen, you can check out blocky-graphics-r-us by clicking here. The more pretty (and probably a lot more involving) Curse: The Eye of Isis comes out in a couple of weeks, this 3rd-person survivalist horror game is set in the late 19th century and features two playable characters who travel across two main locations (London and Egypt). From the small trailer it looks pretty decent and might be one I check out when it is released.

Playable Demos
Some developers are trying to hammer home the point this week with additional demos for games about to hit the shelves, I guess we don't mind too much though when one of the games in question is the released next week Call of Duty. The 160 MB Dawnville demo allows you to play the mission of the same name from the full game, I'm not sure if it really advances much on the single & multiplayer demos we have seen already but I guess you cannot complain too much when its free Call of Duty-ness. You don't have to wait any more to get your hands on Worms 3D as that game is available as of today, if you are still dithering over whether or not to head into your local GAME and buy it tomorrow then fear not as a new 93 MB demo is available and it includes two new maps, twelve weapons and the option to play it in single or multiplayer modes.

I mentioned Trainz 2004 earlier and at the moment it will have to do battle with Railway Tycoon 3 for the hearts and minds of Railway enthusiasts, coming early next year though a new game throws its hat into the ring with RailRoad Pioneer promising a mix of train and business simulation. To try it out for yourself click here and get the 88 MB demo, it includes a tutorial and the Pennsylvania mission which is just part of this game designed at allowing you to compete to conquer the American East-coast transport system. Contrast this with the relatively small scope of Axes of Evil, a 14 MB demo for this low-budget 3D action-adventure game can be download here but don't expect graphical excellence :). Meanwhile if you fancy a taste of the bizarre French game In Memoriam then a demo has been released, this crime thriller mixes real-life film footage with fantasy game elements and also requires you to visit online websites to track down clues, this 161 MB demo includes part of the first level but has many options locked out so as to just give you a taster and nothing more.

Here comes the sequel brigade then and the first demo to mention is for Dominions 2: The Ascension Wars, a turn-based fantasy strategy game that sees you pitting your wits against six other potential gods as you use spell & steel to become the one true ruler of the known world. If this sounds like your cup of tea then click here to get a 60 MB demo, alternatively if you are like me and prefer your games more fluent then Pro Evo Soccer 3 could be more what you are looking for and 217 MB demo for that game has been released this week in advance of its full release a fortnight today, to see if it compares favourably or not with Fifa 2004 click here. If that still doesn't satisfy you then how about a monster 470 MB demo for Silent Hill 3, the survivalist horror game is due out today on the PC and if you think your BroadBand connect can handle it click here to see what all the fuss is about.

Game Patches
It makes a pleasant change this week to be talking about game developers giving something back to the players who have spend their hard earned cash (or if you are a student your ill-gotten-tax-dodging gains) on their work, a lot of "additional content" released for free over the internet in the past seven days with a wide variety of games benefiting from this charitable spirit which I would like to see more of in the future. In terms of size the biggest release this week is the 150 MB Unreal Tournament 2003 Community Bonus Pack, whilst perhaps not having much influence from the actual game developers it does appear that it has received their stamp of approval and has therefore been added to our servers with it mainly consisting of a load of high-quality maps.

Everyone who I have spoken to that has played Max Payne 2 have said how impressed they are by it, the one criticism I think being the shortness of the game and perhaps in an effort to help quieten down the moaners some bonus chapters have been released by the developers. You can grab the 11 MB install file by clicking here, note that you need to complete the full game first to unlock the Dead Man Walking game mode which these chapters work under. Hopefully there will be more of this to come with a 21 MB set of mod tools released this week too, allowing you to create your own weapons, viewpoints and even levels this could unlock a massive amount of untapped potential for what is definitely one of my "Top 5" games of the year.

Zoo Tycoon and Zero Hour share little in common other than the fact they are both strategy games of a sort, the developers trying to squeeze a bit more out of both this week with a free official map given away for Zero Hour, as with WC3 / Frozen Throne maps Mountain Fox is tiny in size but might help make the multiplayer aspect more enjoyable for those of you who grabbed the C&C Generals expansion pack. Like the Zero Hour freebie for Zoo Tycoon you will need not only the original game but also the Marine Mania add-on, if you have these then click here to download the 56 MB Endangered Species Theme Pack which features loads of new creatures, facilities and scenarios.

Aside from the freebies there were a lot of "normal" patches to be released this week and the most prominent is for the popular WW2 shooter BattleField 1942 which has already seen our servers updated to support the new release, for players such as yourselves you have a choice between the full 143 MB v1.5 patch or the 50MB incremental v1.45 to v1.5 patch, updating BF1942 can be a bit tricky sometimes so I suggest going with the full option as you may need to re-install the game if you have issues, the patch itself includes a new map and fixes a few gameplay issues and general bugs.

I'm not sure if Etherlords 2 has been released yet over here in the UK but if you have got a copy then you will be pleased to hear that a small patch has been released for the game, v1.01 features the usual mix of gameplay tweaks and bug fixes and is available by clicking the version link. A more substantial overhaul is seen by the release of a new patch for Diablo 2, looking through the full list there are skill changes, fixes to possible exploits, improved Battle.Net features, major gameplay issues addressed and some fundamental changes to the game's structure which should see renewed interest in the veteran action-adventure game. The patch amazingly comes in at under 10 MB and can be download as either v1.10 for Diablo 2 or v1.10 for the LoD expansion pack, almost enough for me to start looking out my copy of the game to give it another go.

Cinematic flight-sim Yager gets a lick of paint this week with the v5.22 patch being released, this is mainly a bug-fix with various minor issues sorted out so that the DVD-game should play a lot smoother. Bug fixes are also the order of the day in the tiny Cruise Tycoon Update #2, I don't think this game has been released in the UK yet but I guess it is specialist enough that some of you might have got it on import, if you have then I'd recommend getting the patch.

Mods
A good selection of mod updates that cover a wide selection of games to get through this week and I'll start off with the latest version of Red Orchestra, a WW2 Total Conversion for Unreal Tournament 2003 that is also looking to branch out into UT2K4 when that is released next year. I haven't tried this one myself but it looks pretty good and if you have it yourself then download the 115 MB Beta1 to Beta1.1 patch, this of course requiring you to have the original 280 MB Beta 1 installed. On a similar war-simulation note a trailer has been made available for the upcoming release of v0.5 of the popular BattleField 1942 mod Desert Combat, the new version likely to include a number of new maps and weaponry that will see it push on towards almost 1 GB in size and if you want a sneak peak then click here for the 50 MB trailer.

It seems a bit silly to release a 63 MB mod patch when it doesn't actually include any new content as such but the team behind Quake 3 mod True Combat have decided to do just that, the release being effectively tweaks to existing custom maps to improve them and make them easily available in one bundle, combining them with better server configs to allow for smoother playing. If you fancy giving it a look then you can download v1.1 and of course you will also need an updated version of Quake 3 and the 78 MB v1.0 of the mod. An alternative "real weapons" mod that has just exited beta is the long-in-development Action Half-Life, although it would be fair to say that the mod doesn't aim to replicate real-life with the inspiration being outlandish action movies like Face/Off and Die Hard. Veteran gamers amongst you will know the Action series well with it progressing via the Quake series and if you fancy having a look at its latest incarnation then download the 185 MB v1.0.

To round off this section there is some non-FPS mod news to bring you with an update to the popular Grand Theft Auto: Vice City multiplayer mod Multi Theft Auto: Vice City. If you haven't heard of this mod before it basically allows you to play the hugely enjoyable GTA and GTA: VC online against fellow would-be criminals, coming in at under 1 MB in size you'd be silly not to look into it if you own a copy of either game and the VC version has just been updated to v0.2.2.


Special Offers
I've already mentioned our special Halloween Treats, in general our shop site has received a face-lift this week and now also features a MAC range for those of you who prefer to use that system for your gaming.

Quite a few of today's new releases have already been mentioned due to the trailers and demos being released for them, in addition to those I should point out that Ford Racing 2, the collectable Warcraft Battle Chest, WW2 strategy game Silent Storm and the frivolous MTV Celebrity DeathMatch are all available to buy as of today on PC.



Regards,

Dave "BigFoot" Angus
GAME.NET Community Liaison

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