E3: The Inside Scoop – Part 2

Exciting Computer Games from Around the Globe

Computer games have evolved into a new level of excellence. Many computer game companies had elaborate displays to market their titles in the hopes that a US company would take interest and want to produce them. After talking to some of them, I was amazed by their impressive demos. Here’s a bit about some of the titles that really caught my attention.

Fallen Lords: Condemnation

This cool action/strategy game is about a war in the Underworld. Angels, Demons and Dead Souls are the core of this unique game. The land of the dead never looked so appealing. Think Constantine meets the God of War. Play the light or dark side. Filled with action, cool combos, magic, and military strategy, what’s not to like? The game was originally released in Spain, developed by Noverama and published by On Games. The exhibitor I spoke with told me that this game was very popular in Europe, and hopes that it will have the opportunity to be produced in the US. From what I’ve seen, I hope this game finds its way into the American market.

Ancient Wars: Sparta

Ancient Wars: Sparta is a real-time strategy game based on some ancient historical battles. Play the game as the Spartans, Egyptians or Persians. You can build up your civilization by creating your own technology, or by buying it from other cultures. Ancient Wars is heavy on large scale battles filled with complex tactical maneuvering. Watching this game in action, I could see many sleepless nights in the attempt to come up with the ultimate strategy to win each of the challenging campaigns. Developed by Digital Entertainment, and published by PlayLogic International, this looks like it has the potential to be a very successful game.

Age of Pirates: Captain Blood

Another interesting action packed, swashbuckling adventure game title from PlayLogic International, this game is based on the classic novel written by Raphael Sabatini. Play as Peter Blood, and experience his turbulent life filled with quests for gold, dangerous exploits and unusual characters. The demo was very impressive, the action didn’t hold back on the blood and gore. If you like pirate games, this one may be for you.

Age of Conan- Hyborian Adventures

Prepare yourself for the world of Conan. In this exciting online RPG/adventure game developed by Funcom, you live in the realm of Conan, who has been made King of Aquilonia. Filled with magic, dungeons, mythical creatures and dangerous enemies, this game will keep you on your toes. You start off as a “commoner”, and after you gain enough experience, you can become a mage, priest, thief or warrior. The game boasts a “Real Combat” engine, where in real-time you can direct your attacks in any direction you choose, giving you a lot more flexibility in your fighting strategy. Unfortunately, you don’t get the opportunity to actually play Conan (which would have been cool), but in this Barbarian world you can experience many hours of intense epic battles and challenging dungeon crawl quests.

Magic the Gathering Online

For those of you unfamiliar with the game, Magic the Gathering was originally a card game where you are basically a wizard dueling head to head with other wizards. Using creatures, artifacts, sorcery, and enchantments with a deck of at least 40 cards, defeat your opponent by taking away all their life points (you start of with 20). The online version has virtual cards that can be used to play against people worldwide. I was instantly drawn to the Magic the Gathering section where a group of talented players from around the globe were intensely playing the online version. One of the exhibitors told me that each player was invited specifically to play in this "Magic Invitational" for the opportunity to win and create their own card that would then be available for use in the game. Behind the players was a display of large oversized cards. I found out later that these were actually cards that previous winners had created. Currently, the Magic Online game is in its second version. The highly anticipated third version is due to come out later this year. (No specific date was given). I have never played the online version of this game, but after seeing it in action, I may give it a shot.