Fallout 3 is one of those games I can’t stay away from too long.. like Oblivion before it I seem to find myself wandering the DC Metro Wasteland listening to Three Dog’s howl whenever my game review plate thins out a bit. So far Bethesda is keeping up its usual excellent job of supporting their games in the post release cycle with expansions and new content. While the nightmare of Horse Armor may never be forgotten, the content for Fallout 3, including the Broken Steel add-on which removed the games original ending and raised the character level cap, is going a long way toward expanding the game in different ways while not really diluting the core experience of its scripted story.

The latest expansion, Point Lookout, concerns a rural Maryland area in the post apocalyptic world and invites the players to uncover a smaller scale story surrounding some swamp dwellers, cultists and even a steamboat. While the overview for the expansion sounds a bit “Call of Cthulhu” like, another licensed world Bethesda has played around with in the past, one of the most striking thing is the encroachment of more plants and trees into the Fallout 3 setting. Joel Burgess and Nathan Purkeypile, the add-on’s Lead Designer and Lead Artist respectively detailed the evolution of the Point Lookout concept in a recent blog post on the official Fallout website.

With Point Lookout, one of our primary goals was not to create just a quest, but a whole new region for players to explore. Straight away we knew that we wanted to focus on what we felt was one of the great strengths of Fallout 3 –a world too full of stories and surprises, ripe for exploration and adventure.  For us, the world is a main character, and choosing our location was intrinsically tied to the tone of the content.

We knew what kind of geographical features we wanted to showcase, and began scouting real-world locations. We stumbled across the perfect place: Point Lookout, MD. This rural location is situated on the southern tip of Maryland where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake Bay. The coastal lowland offered the setting that we wanted, and the area has a rich history that we were able to pull inspiration from. The founders of Maryland landed here, a Civil War camp held over 50,000 confederate prisoners, and the Point Lookout Lighthouse is purported to be one of the most haunted places in Maryland.  All this just down the Potomac River, which runs through the Capital Wasteland.

I’ve included some of the recently released screenshots and frankly while Broken Steel might have been about expanding the ending of the game, Point Lookout seems to promise an interesting side trek with some content aside from generic feral ghouls and armored Enclave drones.

You can check out the shots after the jump.

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Here are some demos and patches that hit FileFront this week, and as usual, for the full list of demos click here and for patches click here.

Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals: Lighthouse Interactive released a playable demo for Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals. Paris, 2023: Ruled by a power-hungry dictator, a place where the fascist rich and the abandoned poor are separated by both a literal and figurative wall. As we join our hero Nikopol, the son of an astronaut frozen in space decades ago, we find that a floating pyramid inhabited by Egyptian Gods hovers above the city. As one of their leaders plots to take control of Paris and its people, word reaches Nikopol that his father may be alive and hidden in the city’s underground, a possible pawn in a looming battle. In the search for his father, Nikopol’s journey finds him entangled in political intrigue, caught between two worlds, one of anarchy and one of immortality.

StuntMANIA!pro v3.0.1 (Windows): What’s new in 3.0.1? Fixed: StuntMANIApro logo not appearing on main menu screen, Teleport and Powerup spawn position below ground in Sand Box level, added many more customizable keys into the Keyboard Input Manager, many speed optimizations for lower spec machines, and more. (Mac)

Pyroblazer: Eipix has released a demo for Pyroblazer, a futuristic combat racing game set amidst New Apeiron, players get the opportunity to race through a multitude of environments using a wide selection of anti-gravity craft known as Blazers. In their quest for glory, players can blast their way through the scorched valleys of Gnosis, the deserted cities of Haedra or the densely populated Underdome of Evelads.

Circuit Defenders v1.5.0 (Windows): Circuit Defenders is a fast paced Tower Defense style game, where your challenge is to defend computer circuits from attacking virus armies that are infiltrating the circuits via the BlueTooth port. You have an assortment of defense towers at your disposal, and the ability to upgrade them as needed to ensure you can withstand the enemy onslaught. (Mac)

The Rise of Atlantis (Mac): Find a way to bring the legendary continent of Atlantis back to the surface and restore it to its might. In this extraordinary puzzle game with spectacular new features, handy bonuses and explosive power-ups you set out on an adventurous quest around the ancient lands of Greece, Troy, Phoenicia, Babylon, Egypt, Carthage and Rome to gather the seven greatest powers of the patron god of the Atlanteans – Poseidon. With 77 captivating levels of fantastic game play, truly unique twists never seen before and the ability of continuous replay.

Brainisaurus: Whether you want to ace that standardized exam or beat your friends at Scrabble or Boggle, WordBrain will help you become the king of words with a Word Quotient scoring system, 50 Challenge Levels, Over 40,000 words and many different kinds of word clues.

Lost In Reefs: Rumbic Studio announces the release of a new casual game. Lost in Reefs 1.0 presents a fascinating story that will hold a player’s attention till the ancient city reveals its hidden mystery. It is not a usual match3 game: a variety of modes, options and tools, advanced graphics and the charming undersea world guarantee fun and delight. There are several types of items – gold, fish and tools. The player is to collect necessary resources for building the city. Each new building allows collecting another valuable resource. It is possible to look at what is already built – and to enjoy the special feature of Lost in Reefs: the animation of the undersea world and fishes of different types, swimming to and fro. The fishes are afraid of the cursor, and it is fun to chase them! There are twelve types of fishes that become available as the player advances in the game.The objective of the game is to build and explore the ancient undersea city, but not all the secrets of the older civilization are revealed at once. Only the most skilled and persistent players will discover the wonders of The Heart of the City.

Harvest: Massive Encounter (Windows): Take control of a space colony trying to survive hordes of aliens coming your way to destroy your base in this RTS game developed by Oxyeye Studios that requires an accurate planning of every single move. There are various modes available: Normal, Wave, Insane, Rush or Creative Mode. Each one offering a different kind of gameplay. (Mac)

Patches are listed after the jump.

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Lighthouse Interactive released a new teaser trailer for its upcoming title Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortal. The point-and-click adventure is based on a trilogy of novels by Enki Bilal. The game takes the player to Paris 2023, a city standing on the brink of invasion.

Lighthouse, the Community Relations Manager on the City of Heroes forums,, has confirmed that the Rikti are invading in waves through Thursday June 19th. Sites in Paragon City and Rogue Isle are taking a beating. Fortunately Vanguard has intelligence on the Rikti and can predict where and when the next assault will come.

When Zones within the cities are under attack, a world-wide alert will be issued by Vanguard. This alert will show up in your Chat window on the Event channel, warning you in which zone attack is imminent. If you haven’t already, be sure to add the Event channel to one of your chat tabs.
• While the invasion is occurring, players do not receive debt while outdoors in an invaded zone.
• Those in that zone that do not wish to be at risk of Rikti attack are asked to take shelter immediately. They can do so by leaving the zone, or moving inside buildings or under cover (overpasses, parking garages, etc.).
• The combative inhabitants in a zone will move off the streets and to safer locations when a Rikti Invasion takes place.
• Rikti bombs appear to be unstable and not 100% reliable. Some do not explode on impact and only embed themselves in the ground. These bombs have been noted to detonate after a time, so take caution when you see these. They can be disarmed or delayed by inflicting damage upon them.

Players of City of Heroes and City of Villains can test their mettle against the Rikti several more times this year including August 1st through August 7th, September 26th through October 2nd and November 14th through November 20th.

via PlayNC City of Heroes

Lighthouse Interactive and dtp Entertainment’s conspiracy adventure game Belief & Betrayal shipped yesterday; therefore it should be sitting in retail stores across Canada and the States as we speak.

As journalist Jonathan Danter, you discover that a ten year old murder is somehow part of a greater mystery that could destroy humanity itself. Filled with baffling plot twists and conspiracy theories, you must uncover the mystery that reaches back through history from 1194 A.D. to the time Judas received 30 pieces of silver to betray Christ.

Travel to exotic locations throughout Europe including: London, Venice, Rome and the Vatican, to uncover skeletons hidden deep within the closets of some of the most powerful leaders around the World.

FEATURES

• Play as 3 different characters throughout the game to solve the mystery
• Find lost ancient manuscripts and decipher mind-boggling codes and symbols
• Explore stunning environments and incredibly re-created historic locations
• Strong action/adventure storyline creates a compelling gameplay experience
• Use the memories and thoughts of the intriguing cast of characters to solve puzzles and expose dark mysteries
• Game based on historical events though the story is pure fiction
• Easy to navigate 3rd person point & click interface using the Virtools® engine

Minimum System Requirements are listed after the jump.

Via: Press Release

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Interested in the latest demos and patches that hit FileFront this week? Look no further because here they are and as usual, to get the full list of each click here and here.

Demos

• Total Extreme Wrestling 2008 : Grey Dog Software, a Phoenix based developer of sports management simulation software for personal computers, today announces a limited-time Demo of Total Extreme Wrestling 2008. Beginning today, players will be able to download and try out the entire game and be permitted to continuously repeat one month of game time.

• SC2 Weapons & Warfare Expansion v1.04: This demo includes two playable campaigns, Fall Weiss which depicts the German invasion of Poland and Wacht Am Rhein, better known as the Battle of the Bulge. Multiplayer modes are disabled in the demo but both campaigns are playable against the AI as either the Axis or the Allies. This demo does NOT require Strategic Command 2 Blitzkrieg to already be installed, however the full game does.

Strategic Command 2 Weapons and Warfare Expansion was the first of several planned expansions to the award winning Strategic Command 2 Blitzkrieg game. This expansion incorporates a huge list of new features frequently asked for by the fan community, including a bigger world map, new units, enhanced naval movement and combat rules, a deeper weather model, additional terrain types and resources, the simulation of roads and railways and a greatly extended editor with the ability to add in scripted Image and Sound events and much more.

• Gaia 3D Puzzle v1.02 Trial Version: Gaia 3D Puzzle guaranties you unlimited hours of fun! Because you can play with almost any images you find on the Internet, that means that you can play with thousands of images. Try to imagine the number of hours of fun this game brings you: Unlimited!

Remember the last time when you walked in the toy section at the store and you saw a beautiful jigsaw, but the number of pieces was not exactly what you wanted. How frustrating? You want the puzzle for its beautiful image, but it comes only in 2000 pieces and you want 500 pieces. Other situation, the puzzle comes only in 250 pieces, but you want 2000 pieces. Are you going to pay for only 250 pieces and limit your fun? Our puzzle game allows you to choose your own image and the number of pieces you want.

• Devil May Cry 4 : Capcom has released a trial version of Devil May Cry 4. It allows you to play ten minutes of Devil May Cry 4 gameplay along with a boss battle.

• Belief & Betrayal: Lighthouse Interactive released the first ever English language playable demo for the enthralling conspiracy Adventure game Belief & Betrayal. The demo will introduce players to the main character, Jonathan Danter, a young tabloid journalist from New York City, who is thrust into a ten year old cold case murder investigation, which is somehow linked to a deep conspiracy reaching back to 1194 A.D. In the full version of the game, players will take on the role of two other characters: Katrin McKendal, a gutsy scholar of ancient languages, and Damien, a low-key computer expert.

Patches

Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood v1.5.2 , Europa Universalis: Rome v1.2 , Iron Man v1.1 (US) , Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare v1.6 , Endless Ages v1.1 Full Patch

It has been a pretty interesting week what with Ubidays, Age of Conan, Mass Effect releasing for the PC and whatnot. This however cannot be said about the amount of demos we received which, if you ever even read these posts – is not a huge revelation for you. This is okay by me though because I have to bathe my dogs this weekend and if you think that is not a chore, try giving a bath to a 120 pound German Shepherd/Great Pyrenees mix who refuses to get out of his leather chair. Yeah, that’s him above – Yeti is his name, and he sure as heck lives up to his name.

Here are the demos that hit FileFront this week:

• Sword of the Stars: Collector’s Edition: In honor of the recent launch of their critically acclaimed 4X space strategy game Sword of the Stars: Collector’s Edition, leading Publisher Lighthouse Interactive and accomplished developer Kerberos Productions, released a new demo today. This demo was taken from the gold master code, which is the very latest version of the game, and is representative of the Sword of the Stars universe as it is now.

• RedLynx Trials 2 – Second Edition v1.07: Version 1.07 of Trials 2 Second Edition has been released. The previous version of the game will patch automatically when you start it next time. The new version contains a lot of small fixes and optimizations and a completely remade tutorial mode with 7 tutorial tracks and step by step instructions how to pass them. There are also two additional downloadable tracks available, bringing up the total track count to 51.

• Build-a-lot 2: Town of the Year: Beautify houses for huge profits. It’s time to get busy again building, buying and selling houses in Build-a-lot 2: Town of the Year. It’s time to get busy again building, buying and selling houses in this exciting sequel! There are new towns to explore and lots of money to be made! Use your keen eye to pick the right locations to build parks and shops.Pick your paint colors, upgrades and landscaping to create the ultimate curb appeal and earn outstanding profits. How about a latte from the new coffee shop, new flower boxes from the garden center? It’s all waiting for you in Build-a-lot 2.

• Autocross Racing: In Autocross Racing – drivers, start your engines! Compete for the championship trophy with more cars, more cash and more tracks in this fast-action physics based racing experience! Your goal is to finish in the top 3 to unlock each successive track as you race through mud, snow, ice and more. There are 10 different tracks in all, each with multiple routes to the finish, but only one driver can win it all.

• The Hidden Object Show: It’s time for The Hidden Object Show! Yes, we not only offer you 11 challenging game modes, but an amazing 330 rounds of gameplay that will keep the whole family entertained for days! Visit the set of an abandoned movie studio where you’ll compete on a quirky game show, annoying host and all.

• Dracula: Origin (English): In the demo, you will be drawn into the first pages of an enthralling story, unwind the first knots of an evil plan and immerse yourself in the disquieting and bewitching atmosphere surrounding the Prince of Darkness in this great adventure game.This demo is also available in French and German.

Here are some of the patches FileFront received this week: Sins of a Solar Empire v1.05, Command & Conquer – High Resolution, Guns of August v1.23 , The Sims 2: Free Time v1.13.0.155 , Battlefield 2142 v1.50 Full Patch, Battlefield 2142 v1.50 Full Patch, and many more.

As always, for the full list of both demos and patches, click here and here. Have a great weekend.

A demo has been released for the PC game Overclocked: A History of Violence which hit stores on April 16th. Published by Lighthouse Interactive and dtp Entertainment and created by House of Tales Entertainment, players will delve into the world of Overclocked to explore the deranged minds of three of the five patients admitted to the Staten Island Forensic Hospital.

Set against the backdrop of a catastrophic thunderstorm raging over New York City, step into the world of Overclocked as former army psychiatrist, David McNamara. You are called to the Staten Island Forensic Hospital in New York City to consult on a case that requires your expertise in forensic psychiatry. Tasked with exploring the minds of five young men and women who were found scared, screaming, and without memory, you make alarming discoveries as you begin to cautiously probe the psyches of your young patients. Throughout the game, you will play as five other characters in this chilling interactive psycho thriller.

You can get the demo for Overclocked: A History of Violence by hitting the badge below. For more information on the game check out our previous posts.

Lighthouse Interactive and dtp have announced that Overclocked: A History of Violence, is in stores now. Created by developer House of Tales Entertainment this psychological adventure game on PC is available in major retail stores across Canada and the US. Overclocked explores an archetypical, yet actual condition of mankind: violence. Players will become part of a world where memories and illusions; dreams and reality; perpetrators and victims collide.

To find out more about Overclocked: A History of Violence you can check out our previous posts on the game and you can also keep up with the latest news on the game by visiting the official website.

FEATURES

• Experience Overclocked from various perspectives as you play as six different characters throughout the game
• Explore 45 diverse locations with densely animated pre-rendered settings
• Innovative storytelling techniques create a unique gameplay experience
• Meet and interact with a cast of intriguing characters, each with their own distinct personalities
• Characters come to life with fluid movements and realistic facial expressions created with EMotion FX 2 technology
• Cinematic cut-scenes designed using advanced camera techniques pioneered by feature films
• Exceptional visuals enhanced by shadow and shader effects, real-time atmospheric particle effects (rain, snow, lightening), and dynamic lighting
• Unique icon-based dialogue system

Via: Press Release

Lighthouse Interactive and dtp Entertainment have released another trailer for their upcoming adventure/psychological thriller for the PC, Overclocked: A History of Violence. The trailer reveals more of the game’s plot and introduces the other characters including the five young patients who were found wandering the streets of New York City – distraught, scared and screaming.

Overclocked is set against the backdrop of a catastrophic thunderstorm raging over New York City where you step into the shoes of army psychiatrist, David McNamara who is called to the Staten Island Forensic Hospital in New York City to consult on a case that requires your expertise in forensic psychiatry. Throughout the game, you will play as five other characters which are seen in the trailer posted above.

Overclocked: A History of Violence is expected to hit shelves in North America on April 11th, and Europe May 2nd.