It’s not very often when you see an RPG come along that has the capability to one-up the Diablo series but Titan Quest happens to be one of those games. So it was a Monday evening and I knew that I had the next three days off of work so I decided to go check out the shrinking PC game section of GameStop to see if there was any cheap games that might catch my attention. I saw Titan Quest: Gold Edition which comes with the original Titan Quest, Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, the soundtrack CD and a decent art book, all for $20. Sure it sounded like a good set for the price but I was a little reluctant to make the purchase. I usually find that I am pretty picky when it comes to RPG games. I have never been able to get into the Final Fantasy games with their somewhat boring control system. I had a similar problem with the Neverwinter Nights games. Besides the Diablo series, the only other RPG that I could truly get into was the Dungeon Siege series.

Well I decided to purchase Titan Quest anyways. I figured it would be worth the $20. After spending a few days with the game I can easily say that this is one of the best RPG I have ever played. One of the things I appreciate a lot in Titan Quest is how easy it is to get in and understand how to play the game. You don’t need to sit down and read a 200 page manual to try and figure out how to work everything. The game brings the same intuitive gameplay that made Diablo and Dungeon Siege such lovable series. If you know how to play those games then you will be able to master the controls of Titan Quest within minutes. The game offers all of the flexibility you would want from an RPG but without all of the confusion.  Click below to continue reading.

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Just like that I have come up with what I consider to be a brilliant strategy.  That Intel might be working on which may possibly destroy both Nvida and ATI/AMD in the graphics marketplace. Intel is the world’s leading computer processor manufacturer. Many people have been speculating that Intel, with their integrated graphics chipsets, may end up killing PC gaming. However recent events have lead me to believe that Intel is working on a massive plan that will for sure revive the pc gaming market for years to come if executed properly.

Nvidia may be secretly working on developing integrated graphics that are much superior to the highly prices Nvidia cards today and by integrating them into their motherboards along with combining their multi-core processing technology, Nvidia could develop a GPU that would blow away anything offered by the competition and at an affordable (easy and cheap to develop) price. Imagine being able to get a killer PC gaming system that could run all games on max settings for less then half the price of a current gaming PC today. I believe Nvidia might just be working on.  Click below to continue reading.

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During the first few months of working on integrating Activision into Vivendi studios, head of Activision, Bobby Kotick mentioned the possibility of working on a massive multi player game that would potentially cost one billion dollars to create in order to compete with the successful World of Warcraft.

Talking with the investors at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference, Kotick specifically mentioned Call of Duty:

What would be the natural evolution of a property like Call of Duty into a massively-multiplayer environment and how do you monetize that?

Kotick also mentioned the possibility of using in-game advertising as one of the sources of income from such a massive project. While Activision may only be considering a Call of Duty MMO at this time, they company is at the very least considering the possibilities of such a game. One thing is for sure, if we every do see a Call of Duty MMO, it won’t be for at least three or four years.

[Via Kotaku]

At the Game Developers Conference, Portal project lead Kim Swift brought up the fact that a full sequel to Portal was recently announced.  The only problem?  A sequel hasn’t been announced.  She was under the impression that Doug Lombardi already revealed it, when in actuality he made a vague statement about more Portal coming in one form or another.  So did Kim just accidentally slip the official word that a new Portal is on its way, or did she just confuse Doug’s original words?  Considering Kim was such a huge part of the original Portal, I highly doubt that she made a mistake here.  Either way we’re getting more Portal, and I’m pretty excited at the possibility of a real sequel rather than a small expansion pack of new puzzles.  The community can provide us with those.  The only question I have is what do they plan on doing without GLaDOS, or will she make a return?  GLaDOS was a large part of Portal’s appeal and I can’t imagine the game without her.

[Via Joystiq]

American McGee is best known for his twisted tale Alice.  His spin on the classic story was an imperfect game, yet was creative and enjoyable enough to be more than worth playing.  Since then, McGee hasn’t made a game nearly as good as Alice.  I was thinking this game would be a return to form for him, but...it’s a little too happy looking for my tastes.  Hopefully the game itself will be more fun to play than his latest releases.  I’ll definitely give this GameTap exclusive a shot when it comes out.  It may be released in other forms after a period of exclusivity but nothing has been announced yet.

Nour Polloni, a designer working on Alone in the Dark has revealed that you’ll be able to skip some of the more difficult sequences in the game.  They decided to implement this feature so that everyone has a shot at beating the game.  Here’s what she said about it in the latest OXM:

Another achievement is linked to whether or not the player skips. We want everybody to be able to finish our game, so one of the other new features we’ve added is the ability to skip sections using a DVD-style menu if you get stuck, but always at a cost, and achievements is one way to reward players who don’t skip.

I have to say this is a fantastic feature.  Will I ever use it?  No way.  The challenges that games provide is a large portion of the fun for me, but not everyone feels that way.  Many people come across a difficult section in a game, then end up never finishing it because they were never able to overcome that particular sequence.  This is a much better solution than making games easier, since that then takes away from people looking for a challenge.  The best part is if you don’t like the feature, you don’t have to use it.  Everybody wins.

[Via Destructoid]

For fans of physics and unique ways of approaching every situation, Alone in the Dark is one game you’ll want to keep your eyes on.  In the above tech demo we see very creative use of...just about everything in your environment.  The new direction Alone in the Dark is going reminds me a lot of Penumbra (which you should check out if you haven’t already), a PC horror game where you must use objects you find in creative ways in order to survive.  As a huge horror fan, it looks like this game could give some of our old favorites like Silent Hill a run for their money.  Watch the above video and tell me what you think, it definitely blew my mind.

Despite many sites “confirming” that Bioware was working on a new KotOR, we remained cautious, labeling it as a rumor.  It looks like this was the best approach as it has now been officially confirmed by EA that the “confirmation” was a misunderstanding.  EA was forming a list of developers showing off some of the best games they have created, KotOR being listed under Bioware.  The official word from EA:

The slide in John’s presentation is titled ‘Best Creative Talent’--it addresses future and past titles. “KOTOR, Black, Boogie, Skate and some other titles on the slide speak to past portfolio releases and the pedigree of the studio but do not specifically address future sequels.

[Via Destructoid]

Tomorrow Team Fortress 2 gets an array of minor fix with one standout feature - a new map by the name of Badlands.  Longtime fans of the Team Fortress series may already be familiar with the map.  It looks like we’ll be waiting a bit longer for the Medic’s achievement and weapon update, as well as the other map promised in addition to Badlands.  I expected it all in one patch so I hope we see those soon… Click below to see the full list of changes the patch brings or head on over to the official site.

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According to an EA investor report, Bioware is heading up a new entry in the KotOR series.  Considering the investor report doesn’t provide any solid details I’m marking this as a rumor for now.  The game appears to be in production but things change, games are canceled, etc. so it’s always best to not get your hopes too high until we actually start seeing a finished product coming together.  The series has a large fanbase so I’m sure EA will be making a sequel sooner or later.  The real question is, who’s hands will it end up in?  Let’s hope it’s Bioware.

[Via Joystiq]