Eastern European game publisher Akella has announced the signing of a retail publishing deal with Valve to bring their upcoming cooperative survival horror game, Left 4 Dead to stores in Russia and CIS countries.

Left 4 Dead is a multiplayer cooperative survival horror shooter based on the Source engine. There are two sides, the Survivors and Infected. Four players control the four Survivors, working their way through campaigns in rural and urban areas, fighting off dozens of the AI-controlled “infected”. On top of the regular zombies, there are four player-controlled “boss zombies” all with unique powers for causing chaos.

The release is scheduled for the PC and Xbox 360 in the Fall and will ship simultaneously worldwide.

Via: Press Release 

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Coming this Fall to a PC near you is Akella’s newest RPG/strategy title Disciples III: Renaissance. This is the third installment in the popular Disciples series and builds on the successes of the first two games by introducing a host of new features as well as the same style of gameplay that made the previous titles popular. This will be the first time in the series that the gloomy world of Disciples will be rendered in full 3D by using the Virtual Dream engine which will in turn allow players to experience this realm as it should be.

As a Lord of one of the fantastical races of Nevendaar, players must fight to restore their deity’s rule over the world by choosing one of three playable races: the Empire, the Elven Alliance and the notorious Legion of the Damned - each with its own unique units and city design. Advances have also been made in the gameplay which will allow increased fluidity in multiplayer games and less downtime when playing alone, while a new upgrade system allows the player to assign attributes to their leaders. The RPG inventory system in Disciples III has been tweaked and now includes player stats and abilities along with visual representation of character’s equipped armor, weapons and artifacts.

Recently, we were given the opportunity to ask Marina Vashurina from .dat, the developers behind Disciples III, to tell our readers a bit more about the third installment in this popular RPG franchise, and explain to us what makes Disciples III different from the other RPGs that seem to have oversaturatting the market lately.

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Akella’s latest addition to the Disciples RPG franchise, Renaissance, will introduce a host of new features as well as the same style of gameplay that made the previous titles popular. This will be the first time in the series that the gloomy world of Disciples will be rendered in full 3D by using the Virtual Dream engine which will in turn allow players to experience this realm as it should be. The game combat in Disciples III is now based on a hex system where as a former square grid was replaced with a hex one which, in their minds was a more natural way for the game to be played. Along with these changes to the gamplay, Akella also sent us some information on the Elven Alliance and the Legion of the Damned that will be prevalent throughout the game. You can read up on them after the jump.

As a Lord of one of the fantastical races of Nevendaar, players must fight to restore their deity’s rule over the world by choosing one of three playable races: the Empire, the Elven Alliance and the notorious Legion of the Damned - each with its own unique units and city design. Advances have also been made in the gameplay which will allow increased fluidity in multiplayer games and less downtime when playing alone, while a new upgrade system allows the player to assign attributes to their leaders. The RPG inventory system in Disciples III has been tweaked and now includes player stats and abilities along with visual representation of character’s equipped armor, weapons and artifacts.

Hopefully soon we will have more on Disciples III: Renaissance, so until then check back with us often.

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Coming this Fall to a PC near you is Akella’s newest RPG/strategy title Disciples III: Renaissance. This is the third installment in the popular Disciples series and builds on the successes of the first two games by introducing a host of new features as well as the same style of gameplay that made the previous titles popular. This will be the first time in the series that the gloomy world of Disciples will be rendered in full 3D by using the Virtual Dream engine which will in turn allow players to experience this realm as it should be.

As a Lord of one of the fantastical races of Nevendaar, players must fight to restore their deity’s rule over the world by choosing one of three playable races: the Empire, the Elven Alliance and the notorious Legion of the Damned - each with its own unique units and city design. Advances have also been made in the gameplay which will allow increased fluidity in multiplayer games and less downtime when playing alone, while a new upgrade system allows the player to assign attributes to their leaders. The RPG inventory system in Disciples III has been tweaked and now includes player stats and abilities along with visual representation of character’s equipped armor, weapons and artifacts.

The sent us a bevy of screenshots for the game today, and they look pretty cool to me -of course being an RPG nut I am always on the lookout for something new to pique my interest. Stick around for more updates on Disciples III: Renaissance. I have posted more screenshots after the break.

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Recently I had the opportunity to preview Akella’s latest RTS naval simulator game PT Boats: Knights of the Sea, and if WWII games are your thing and you are tired of playing aerial or ground war titles; then this game was made especially for you. With the video game market overly saturated with WWII games, Akella wanted to produce something different starring one of the most under-appreciated heroes of that era, the Patrol Torpedo Boat. Faster and easier to maneuver than a large battleship, PT Boats were used when accuracy and speed were of the utmost importance and they got the job done. Being smaller did not mean that they could not cause serious damage to a larger vessel though, because they could take a tanker down with their torpedoes - and while they were indeed more vulnerable than their larger counterparts, they were essential to any maritime battle.

As the title of the game states, these unsung heroes are the boats you will be manning and your mission is to get the job done without getting yourself blown to bits. While that is the basic premise of any video game where you are in battle, PT Boats: Knights of the Sea is a bit different than your standard war game. Your job is to not only join the battleships and carriers during battles, but you will also be called upon to escort convoys, do a bit of reconnaissance and protect strategic coastal points.

During the demo of the game, players can choose one of three sides, Allied, Germany, or the USSR in six different mission episodes and experience battles twice via either defensive or offensive mode. Now, please note that this was just a preview demo, so some of the graphics features were not running at 100%, so be rest assured that the graphics within the full game will be less banal. The map is very easy to navigate and can be viewed in 2D or 3D mode and the wonderful thing about it is that you can click on anywhere in the map grid and be taken directly to that point without having to get to your destination in real-time mode. While in map mode you can also pause the game and change your speed for up to 4x the norm.

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I really like the folks over at Akella. They produce decent games and they are a great bunch of people with a solid work ethic who absolutely love making video games. However, I have to disagree with their choice of soundtrack for the trailer they sent us this week. Originally titled Showdown: Scorpion, the trailer shows off what can only be described as a fragfest with good graphics and frightening surprises around each corner. With that said, the scariest thing about the trailer has to be the woman singing - if she is not Yoko Ono, she sure as hell is related to her. Take my suggestion, and listen to it about 1/3 of the way through the trailer just so you will have an idea of what I am talking about - then turn your sound off lest your ears start to bleed.

Coming to the PC this Spring, the basic premise for Scorpion’s backstory is that the world in 2028 has become a place without mercy, compassion, or sympathy. Drastic changes that followed a sudden crisis split society into several parts – all of them opposing each other. You are offered to wear the shoes of a special agent who has to penetrate the Umbrella Corporation Zenith Corporation that breeds monsters, initiates killings and, actually, rules the world. Full of monsters, zombies, and dangerous dungeons Scorpion seems like it will be a mix between your basic FPS with a bit of survival horror thrown into the recipe. For gaming features and a more in depth look at the backstory, continue on after the break. In the mean time, please take my advice above to heart regarding the dying cat they recorded as background music. Dear God it is hideous. Sorry Akella.

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For months, we have been reporting news regarding Akella’s Hard to be a God, and while the slated December release date came and went without any word from the developers, some of us were starting to get a bit concerned. Well, I was anyway. Yesterday, Akella sent us the English demo for the game and I was finally able to get a taste of what the game is offering. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Hard to be a God, I will give you the basic rundown.

Hard to be a God is a non-linear RPG for the PC with several story branches and 4 endings depending on the main character’s in-game behavior. One of the gameplay features is the interference of two epochs in the game universe - the medieval and the alternative future. This provides the peculiar variety of different weapons and armors; from swords and bows to mini-guns, from full plates to force fields and equipment-like binoculars and night vision goggles at characters’ disposal. The standard RPG equipment “doll” is amplified with slots for swords, shoulder belts and hidden weapon scabbards on wrists and arms. The events in the game take place in a universe depicted in the novel of the same name, written by the Strugatsky brothers. But the storyline of the game doesn’t repeat what’s happening in the book, but rather continues it. The action in the game takes place about two years later after the events described in the novel. Hard to be a God is a third-person-view game featuring dynamic combat, many weapons and fighting techniques and also a well thought-out and diverse role-playing system. Also, special attention has been paid to in-game dialogs and the storyline.

Ok, now that you have been reintroduced to the game, I will give you my impression of the demo.

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You may recall that back in November, Moscow’s 1C Company acquired Akella’s “Sea Dog” in-house development studio, and now we receive word that 1C has also purchased Russian developer Ino-Co, the team behind Fantasy Wars and Star Wolves. The studio will be renamed 1C: Ino-Co, and the good news is that they are currently working on a Fantasy Wars sequel titled Elven Legacy, which is slated for release sometime in 2008 and are working on two other projects as well.

This new acquisition has buffed up the 1C Company’s game portfolio which also includes the IL-2 Sturmovik, Pacific Fighters and Theatre of War titles. With a PC publishing division based in Prague, a deal to publish titles for Atari and joint ventures with Fireglow Games, the 1C Company is definitely one Central and Eastern European publisher whose star just keeps getting bigger and brighter.

Thanks: GamesIndustry.biz

City of Abandoned Ships is a new naval RPG in which you can take to the high seas and explore exciting new lands. Amass fortune and fame as you navigate the open seas with ruthless enemies in pursuit. In City of Abandoned Ships you’ll take the leading role as a fearless pirate in a desperate attempt to seize your rightful place as one of the most respected sea dogs in history. Starting out your buccaneering career, you can choose to go it alone and become the most feared pirate on the seven seas, terrorizing Spaniard and English gentleman alike. Or prove your loyalty and take the coin of one of four different navies: French, English, Spanish or Dutch.Sailing the high seas as a swashbuckling dread pirate or as a dashing naval captain, you will explore strange new countries and alien civilization, raid and plunder fortified ports and cities, and search for ancient treasures. But beware, the dead do not sleep easy and in the dark South American jungles myth and reality intertwine. Solve the ancient mysteries of a vanishing tribe, cross swords with the most notorious swashbucklers ever to sail the ocean blue and make sure that no foe ever sets foot on land again.

Features:

• Explore the accurately-mapped paradise of the Caribbean. Sail your tall ship around the islands of Cuba and Jamaica to Belize and Bermuda.
• Vast array of land-based locations, from dense South American jungle to dark Caribbean cave complexes.
• Meet real-life historical characters, such as Jamaican governors Colonel Thomas Lynch and Thomas Modyford.
• Take your part in quests based around actual historical events.
• Experience mirrored missions for different states – defend a Spanish territory in one instance and orchestrate a ruthless attack in another.
• Unique P.I.R.A.T.E.S system of character progression: Power, Impression, Reaction, Authority, Talent, Endurance and Success.
• Face fierce ship-to-ship combat or stand toe-to-toe with the most feared swordsmen in the Caribbean.

For more information on the game, you can check out the official website. This looks like a pretty cool new game from the folks at Akella, and possibly one that will stand out amongst all of the different “pirate oriented” games that are flooding the market. You can expect City of Abandoned Ships to be available for the PC during the first part of 2008.

A Stroke of Fate is the upcoming adventure game from Akella, where you’ll play a spy infiltrating Hitler’s regime near the end of World War II. The game will have you joining the Gestapo and working on a plot to assassinate Hitler himself. Personally, I’ve been interested in this title since I learned about its intriguing and somewhat controversial setup. Luckily, I got a chance recently to ask some questions of Boris Chuprin, the project leader of the SPLine development studio, about what gamers can expect to explore in the game and how the team has kept everything historically accurate. From the sound of it, they’ve put a lot of effort into making this one deep and compelling game.

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It has been a while since Hard to be a God has been mentioned, but with the December release date just right around the corner, our friends at Akella sent us a batch of new screenshots to get your interest piqued once again. As you can see from these fresh assets, there are multiple options to tear your way through the obstacles in becoming a god– you can negotiate for a peaceful solution, sneak to disarm and take advantage of a favorable situation, or just jump in and start hacking and slashing your way through to vitctory.

With a non-liner storyline with up to 5 endings, real-time combat, a wide dialouge tree, free movement through locations with random encounters and sci-fi technologies instead of the traditional magic system popular with RPGs, Hard to be a God is definitely not going to be your run of the mill hack and slash. The interference of medieval and alternative future epochs in the game universe along with simulation of independent life of of the game’s population, this interactive gameworld decides how the hero develops during the course of game and the game also develops around a character.

But you know what? We have told you all of this before in our previous posts, and heard about specific game elements in our interview with lead designer Stephan Vakhtin. So, if you want to learn more, click on those links and check back with us later on in the year as I am sure we will have much to discuss when Hard to be a God is released. Hopefully we will have a game review for you as well - enjoy the new screens.

Akella has launched the teaser website for A Stroke of Fate, complete with new screenshots and a trailer. The new site has been created in anticipation of the game release, and when it fully launches to coincide with the game release in 43-days, it will feature a plethora of new details on the game along with new media assets.Jonathan has been posting information on A Stroke of Fate since June, and it sounds like it is going to be a compelling adventure game for the PC, then again, any game with the main task being the assassination of Hitler would be an interesting thing to play.

Key features:

• Compelling pseudo-historical plot
• Ingenious brainteasers and quests to reflect German peculiarities of the 1940s
• Photorealistic graphics
• Authentic places and historically derived personalities: Muller, Goebbels, and Hitler
• You can walk along the Secret Police building and Hitler’s private study

The new screens depict the office of Mueller (chief of the Gestapo) and a search in the room of a suspect. The screens are very detailed, and so clear they almost resemble still photos. Check back often for more information regarding A Stroke of Fate, and be sure to go back and read Jonathan’s previous posts.

MORE SCREENS POSTED AFTER THE BREAK

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cdv Software and our friends at Akella have announced that Tarr Chronicles is now sitting on North American retail shelves. Tarr Chronicles is an action-based space combat game set against the backdrop of a massive war between humanity and its alien enemies. Offering players the opportunity to customize their ships with a variety of technologies and weapons, and pairing players with allied A.I.

“Torn by years of strife and bloodshed, the universe lies dying, with humanity struggling to survive. Suddenly, hope shines again, as the Battlecruiser Talestra uncovers an ancient, forgotten city within which rests salvation for an entire solar system. Hostile alien forces have other plans for the artifacts found within the city, and begin their assault on the Talestra. Lost in space and deep behind enemy lines, the player must don an elite fighter pilot’s uniform and defend the galaxy’s last hope in Tarr Chronicles, a gripping arcade-style space combat simulation in development by Quasar Studio and Akella. At your disposal are dozens of detailed high-tech fighters bristling with cannons and rocket launchers, yours to fly against an unstoppable alien menace - the De’Khete. Intelligent squad mates with unique personalities will assist you in frenzied white-knuckle space battles between vast fleets of fighters and massive capital ships. From fully-customizable equipment to fast-action combat encounters, Tarr Chronicles will keep you pinned to your seat.”

Features:

• Instant Action – A user-friendly interface ensures immediate “jump in and play” gameplay for all skill levels
• Lush 3D Visuals – Dazzling star fields and massive orbital battles spring to life on your PC
• Expansive Storyline – Defend the galaxy throughout nine sprawling missions, each with up to 15 quests
• Endless Variety – 60 customizable ships and more than 150 individual parts and weapons
• Adaptive AI – Intelligent allies provide advice and cover, seeking out and annihilating targets without prompting
• Living Universe – From glowing nebulae to glistening asteroid belts, outer space’s remote reaches are yours to explore
• Constant Rewards – Earn unique badges, ranks and honors as you single-handedly save mankind

For more information, check out our previous posts, our Tarr Chronicles FileFront page (where you can also download the demo), and the official website.

Here’s a new trailer for the upcoming space shooter, Tarr Chronicles. The game will put you in the role of a fighter pilot whose battle cruiser ends up trapped behind enemy lines. You’ll take on a series of missions to fight your way back home and upgrade your fighter’s capabilities. The game is set for a September 24th release, so maybe you could buy it, beat it, and then get Halo 3 at midnight (unless you’re in London that is).

Tarr Chronicles, the science fiction-themed space combat title from cdv Software Entertainment and Akella has gone gold today. The game, which will have players creating custom spacecraft to do battle with a dark and imposing alien threat, will ship to North American retail on September 24, 2007.

Pulled from Press Release:

“Lost in space and deep behind enemy lines, the player must don an elite fighter pilot’s uniform and defend the galaxy’s last hope in Tarr Chronicles, a gripping arcade-style space combat simulation in development by Quasar Studio and Akella. At your disposal are dozens of detailed high-tech fighters bristling with cannons and rocket launchers, yours to fly against an unstoppable alien menace - the De’Khete. Intelligent squad mates with unique personalities will assist you in frenzied white-knuckle space battles between vast fleets of fighters and massive capital ships. From fully-customizable equipment to fast-action combat encounters, Tarr Chronicles will keep you pinned to your seat.”

For more information on Tarr Chronicles, please visit the game’s official cdv page or our FileFront page.

Violence in gaming has become a really hot topic of debate over the last 5 years or so. The irony is that violence has been in games all the way back to the days of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D - perhaps even earlier (depending on your point of view). So why all the big hooplah these days concerning violence in video games? I’d like to think it’s because of the severe left turn games have taken, essentially hopping on to that freeway known as mainstream culture. Video games are no longer a niche genre delegated to the cartel of geeks and/or teenage boys. Games are now a social venue for all demographics, and as we have seen lately, an even more viable one at that.

Running With Scissors are certainly no stranger to irony. Since the release of Postal in 1997, RwS have been the whipping boy of the general gaming media, perhaps much undeservedly. In 2003, RwS released the sequel to Postal, Postal 2, which seem to best its predecessor more in controversy than the expected gameplay. Largely panned by the critics as being too violent and indulgent, RwS ended up on the defensive of its misunderstood title. It was no secret (to those who actually played it) that Postal 2’s gameplay allowed the player to choose a path of non-violence, one that ultimately allowed the player to finish the game in such manner. Choices be damned, this fact did not stop the “bull-ys“ from seeing red, so to speak. The temptation to focus on the “controversial issues” surrounding Postal 2 proved too much for most critics. It would seem Postal 2 that of victim of circumstance.

Since then, things seemed to have calmed down for the Arizona based company. RwS have been quietly developing a sequel to Postal 2 for some time now. Teaming up with the Russian publisher/developer Akella, Postal III is slated for a 2008 release on PC, Mac, and Xbox 360. Using the currently popular Valve Source engine, Postal III intends to bring the same sandbox gameplay found in Postal 2, with little to no compromise. And from little we’ve seen of the game so far, it looks like RwS are not holding back on any of its well established Postal themes.

Gaming Today found opportunity to submit a handful of questions to Running With Scissors’ CEO, Vince Desi. The questions cover topics such as the Postal movie, Uwe Boll, Postal III’s gameplay, the beaten to death topics of controversy, and of course our beloved Jack Thompson himself. So without further ado:

**WARNING**
The interview that follows contains some adult content.

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Back in June, Jonathan told you about the new RTS game from Black Sea Studios called WorldShift. The developers were kind enough to send us some new screenshots of the game, and along with these new assets comes the news that they now have publishers. RTL Games under their label Black Inc., will publish WorldShift across the globe, except for in Russia where it will be published by our friends at Akella (Hard to be a God) and Bulgaria where Black Sea Studios will self-publish.

The developers of WorldShift have also added two new Human units to the game, these being Judges and Rippers.

For storyline and more screens, keep reading after the jump.

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There are new screens up for the upcoming hack n’ slasher from Akella, called “Hard to Be a God.” We’ve been following this game for the past couple of months, and it still looks to deliver an interesting twist on a tried-and-true formula. The story, based on a novel by the Strougatsky brothers, revolves around an agent in the future who is sent to a planet that is much like Earth, except it is stuck in medieval times. What this means in terms of gameplay is that, instead of the usual magic powers in most RPGs, you’ll instead have different technological gadgets and weapons at your disposal. Hopefully we’ll get to see how this all comes together when the game ships later this year.

There’s a brand new website for Postal 3 online now. If you’re not familiar with the series, Postal is the over the top no holds barred 3d shooter fueled on controversy, and was one of the original games to be labeled with the “murder simulator” tag.

Yes, even in this era when violent games are scrutinized under the harshest of spotlights, Running With Scissors is pushing another Postal title out the door. They even acknowledge the scrutiny to some extent in the press release, saying, “POSTAL III is not intended for Politicians, your mom, your little sister, or the priest molesting her. It is a game about free will. Violence begets violence and the choice is yours.”

How well the title does remains to be seen, but one thing you can be sure of is that it will ignite controversy. If nothing else, Postal titles have done that well in every iteration. I wonder if Gary Coleman will appear in this one as well?

You can check out the full press release after the break.

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Hard to be a God is a new RPG from Akella (Tales of Pirates) slated for release sometime in December, and recently we here at Gaming Today were given the opportunity to speak with Hard to be a God lead designer Stephan Vakhtin. This interesting RPG is not going to be your average hack and slash or dungeon crawler, but something more in the realm of science fiction at its most intriguing.

GT: Please introduce yourself to our readers and tell them a little bit about Hard to be a God.

Stephan Vakhtin: Hello! My name is Stephan Vakhtin, and I am the leading designer of project Hard to be a God. Well, Hard to be a God is both a hack’n’slash and role-playing game. The events in the game take place in a universe depicted in the novel of the same name, written by the Strugatsky brothers. But the storyline of the game doesn’t repeat what’s happening in the book, but rather continues it. The action in the game takes place about two years later after the events described in the novel. Hard to be a God is a third-person-view game featuring dynamic combat, many weapons and fighting techniques and also a well thought-out and diverse role-playing system. Also, special attention has been paid to in-game dialogs and the storyline.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

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