For those of you who are not into the Metal Gear Solid Series and could care less about the the fourth installment causing a huge media storm across the globe, or if you happen to be a PC gamer who is lamenting the the fact that nothing really worth mentioning was released this week, there may be a demo or two here for you to play.

The following PC demos should keep you occupied until Spore Creature Creator Complete is released next Tuesday:

• Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice: In Nancy Drew’s most exciting adventure yet, players will work to uncover the mastermind behind a series of unsolved thefts that have taken place in Venice — one of the world’s most unique cities known for its interlocking canals and sleek gondolas.

• Fishdom: Build up and develop your Fishdom! Progress through challenging boards and solve immersive puzzles to earn cash. Use the money to buy eye-candy fish and attractive ornaments for your dream aquarium. Get accessories and supplies to create the perfect conditions for your finny pals and ensure their comfort. Win awards and upgrade your virtual tank as you perfect your aquarium design skills and have fun with the lovely fishy sims. Being a unique fusion of classic game play with brilliant new ideas, this game with unlimited replayability will bring you lots of joyful moments!

• GRID eBay Motors: Codemasters has released a free playable two track demo exclusively provided by eBay Motors featuring the eBay Motors Muscle Series.

• Aces of the Galaxy: Aces of the Galaxy is an old-school arcade thrill-ride! This pick-up-and-play game thrusts players into the midst of epic space warfare as they experience over-the-top action in a battle for survival! Play in the 3rd person viewpoint flying through intense dogfights. Take control of your spaceship and aim the reticule to vaporize waves of enemies.

• Legend of Zelda – Dragon Blade: Demo of a new Zelda game, created by Astral Gaming Corp. More info on this game can be found in the “read me” file, so I apologize for the lack of information on it.

• Supreme Ruler 2020: Supreme Ruler 2020 is a strategic and tactical geo-political game where direct control of the military and the policies of a nation becomes the key to survival.

• Simcity Societies: EA has release a demo for its latest city builder, up to date with the latest code after several patches, and includes a tutorial, a scenario and two major disasters.

Here are the latest patches to hit FileFront this week:

• Universe at War: Earth Assault Patch 3
• CoD4: Modern Warfare v1.6 Patch (Direct2Drive)
• Mount & Blade v0.955 Patch
• TrackMania Nations Forever Patch
• Race Driver: GRID v1.1 Patch
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars v1.5 Mac Patch

As always, for the full list of demos and patches, click here and here.

See you next week.

A couple of weeks back, Stephany told you that Universe at War: Earth Assault for the XBox 360 had shipped to retailers. If you’re one of those people who likes to ‘try before you buy,’ you’re in luck.

According to Major Nelson, the demo for this recently released RTS is now available on the XBox Live Marketplace. The demo will feature the Novus and the Hierarchy, giving you access to two of the game’s three factions. If you want to try out the Masari, you’ll have to head out and pick up a retail version of the game.

If you’re into RTS titles, give this one a go. It didn’t make a huge splash on PC, but that usually means little to nothing about its success as a console title. It still supports Games for Windows Live, so if you have a friend who’s playing on PC, you can join in (If you both have a Gold account, grrrrrrr.)

Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath
Developer: EA LA
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Price: $29.99
Platform: PC, Xbox 360 (June 2008)
Category: Real-Time Strategy
ESRB Rating: T for Teen (Animated Blood, Mild Language, Violence)
Release Date: March 24, 2008

Command and Conquer or get the hell out of my way! The Tiberium wars may be over and the mysterious Kane returned but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a story left to tell. Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath, the first expansion to last years popular C&C 3, does something not many expansions attempt – it fills in backstory and expands continuity for the Command & Conquer universe while attempting to hint at things to come.

I’ve always been a fan of C&C, way back to the days when it was a game based on Frank Herbert’s Dune series. (Yeah I’m that old.. Dune 2 was groundbreaking I recommend every fan of RTS games try and find a DosBox playable copy!) The series is all about fast build and rushing. There is a balls to the wall pace that many games of its ilk have tried to replicate with varied success, but aside from a few missteps along the road to C&C 3 the series is a perennial favorite.

Read the full article

It has been a slightly busy week as far as game releases go, and while the majority of the more mainstream ones are reported, some have slipped through the announcement cracks. While Dark Sector, Viking: Battle for Asgard, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, Universe at War and Crisis Core: FF VII have been the media darlings of the week, included with these titles are some that you may have missed.

So without further ado, here is a list of all the games that hit between March 23-29, 2008:

DS
Backyard Baseball ‘09
Harvest Moon DS Cute
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword

PC
Australian Zoo Quest
Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath Expansion Pack
Command & Conquer 3 Limited Collection
Escape From Paradise City
Guild Wars Platinum Edition
Guild Wars Factions Platinum Edition

PSP
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Warriors Orochi

PS2
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3

PS3
Dark Sector
Viking: Battle for Asgard

Xbox 360
Dark Sector
Universe at War: Earth Assault
Viking: Battle for Asgard

Wii
Obscure: The Aftermath
Octomania
Opoona

SEGA have announced that Universe at War: Earth Assault for the Xbox 360 is now available in North America retail stores. Universe at War: Earth Assault supports Microsoft’s Games for Windows – LIVE initiative and allows cross-platform play between Windows-based PC and Xbox 360 and in an effort to even the playing field, cross-platform play will be made available via free download in early April 2008.

Universe at War: Earth Assault is set in the near-future, when Earth has become a battleground for three different alien factions: the Hierarchy and their massive war machines called “Walkers;” the Novus with their swarms of robots and nanotechnology; and the Masari, ancient astronauts who awaken from centuries of slumber below the world’s oceans to turn the conflict into a three-way war.

The control scheme in Universe at War: Earth Assault for Xbox 360 has been designed to streamline every possible function in an RTS for use with a console controller. The game features a quick “snap-to” function that allows players to access adjacent units and points of conflict very quickly with the D-pad. Another control feature is the “paint brush” function, which allows the selection of multiple units. This function also allows players to quickly assign control groups. The game also employs a balance system called “Tactical Dynamics.” This groundbreaking feature allows players to retrain and customize units in the midst of battle to better cope with enemy forces and tactical situations. Weaponry and defenses can even be modified in real-time, allowing players to take advantage of constantly shifting battlefield conditions. Fully customizable tech trees allow players to control the development of technologies that they deem key to victory. With super-weapons and alien powers, players can destroy large-scale cities and whole territories in one move.

For more information Universe at War: Earth Assault check out our FileFront page and the official website.

Via: Press Release 

The guys/gals over at Petroglyph Games are truly getting into the spirit of the holiday. Over at Petroglyph’s official forums, a download link has been provided for the entire soundtrack of their recently released sci-fi themed RTS, Universe at War: Earth Assault. A note to the community from the soundtrack’s composer was also attached:

I hope you enjoy listening to this soundtrack as much as I enjoyed creating it for Universe At War: Earth Assault. Nothing is more gratifying to me then to see it completely integrated into the rest of team’s hard work on this title, in the name of creating a fun experience for everyone. This game is definitely the most unique rts I have worked on to date and I’m proud to be a part of it on all audio fronts. Thanks to all of the community – Keep rockin’!

- Frank Klepacki

That’s three whole CDs worth of music for free, folks. If that’s not generous, I don’t know what is. Kudos to Petroglyph for giving back to the community at such perfect timing.

Via Petroglyph Official Forums

Another Saturday, another round of patches. This week though, I have decided to include the latest clients and demos in the same post because – to be honest – we did not receive too many during the week. Regardless of whether or not you are playing something mainstream or a little off the charts, I am sure our wonderful brethren at FileFront have something that will make you slowly come out of your potato chip induced coma and take notice.For more information on any of the titles listed, just click on the respective link. Enjoy!

Latest Patches:

Gothic III: An unofficial patch for Gothic III updating it to v1.5.2. This update removes the copy protection and adds compatibility with the Gothic Universe bundle – a compilation which includes Gothic 1, Gothic 2, Gothic 2: Night of the Raven, and Gothic 3.

Combat Mission: Shock Force -Battlefront Version Game Patch: The following patch is only for the Battlefront.com release versions of the game (v1.01, v1.02, v1.03 or v1.04). If you purchased the game from Paradox Interactive, in a retail store, or if you downloaded the game from Gamersgate.com, DO NOT INSTALL THIS PATCH!!! Instead, download the v1.05 patch specific to the Paradox or Gamersgate version. This patch is all inclusive and includes all the fixes from the earlier v1.02, v1.03 and v1.04 patches.

Original War: v1.09 adds Master Server Support which allows players to setup multiplayer games which can be joined without any 3rd party software. It also fixed a lot of bugs and improves tools like GM Editor.

Universe at War: Earth Assault: Petroglyph has released the first patch adding extra balancing and making various gameplay fixes/tweaks.

The latest clients and demos are listed after the break.

Read the full article

Universe at War: Earth Assault for the PC will finally be hitting shelves on Monday December 10th. In celebration of the impending launch, SEGA has partnered up with iGames gaming centers this weekend to hold launch tournaments at 30-50 of their locations, so if there’s one in your town head on over and check out the action.

But the fun doesn’t end there; next weekend marks the beginning of Microsoft’s “Play and Win” tournament. All LIVE gamers that register and play Universe at War: Earth Assault online from Dec 14-16 get a chance to win a prize. As long as you play, you get a chance. One prize will be given every hour over the 72 hours of the competition. Topping off the “Play and Win” tournament, on Friday, Dec 14 from 3pm-7pm PST or 6pm-10pm EST, there will also be a “Game with Petro” event where the developers will be playing online against gamers.

Tournament and promotional details are listed after the break.

Read the full article

The past two months have been so jam packed with high quality game releases, that it was easy to let any number of good games slide under your radar. December isn’t quite the same, but it’s easy to still be overwhelmed with games to catch up on. Consequently, a few of this month’s releases might go unnoticed, so we’ve got a brief look at those games.

Hit the break for the December edition, or check out one of the previous month’s editions.

October Edition
November Edition Read the full article

Sega and Valve have announced a lineup of new Sega titles via the Steam distribution platform for PC games. Sega Rally and Sega Rally Revo are available now as well as Worldwide Soccer Manager, and Futbol Manager. Universe at War: Earth Assault and The Golden Compass are targeted for a December release.

In addition, Europe and most of the world will now be able to enjoy Sega titles such as Medieval II: Total War and Rome: Total War,which were previously released on Steam only to customers in North America.

via Press Release