It’s not the dog days of summer yet, but we’ve already run out of strategy games.
June 4 – Circus Empire (Enlight)
June 5 – Hospital Tycoon (Codemasters/Big Red Software)
June 19 – The Sims Pet Stories (EA/Maxis)
June 22 – Arena Wars Reloaded (DTP/exDream)
June 26 – Seven Kingdoms Conquest (Enlight)
There’s also a stand alone expansion for Pacific Storm (Buka/Lesta) called Allies on the way.
It’s a bleak month when Seven Kingdoms is the only even remotely plausible option for entertainment.
New releases are overrated. C&C3 should be getting its huge patch soon. That patch is likely to make it a whole new game via balance changes.
This is also a great time for people to play other games they have instead of looking forward. So many cool titles in the last six months. I doubt anyone’s really played them all out.
That said, if folks desperately need something new, a free Gamespot membership will get you into the World In Conflict beta. It’s worth the (free) price of admission.
It’s not completely bleak since Squad Battles: Soviet-Afghan War just shipped out this weekend. But whether or not that’s exciting news depends on: (1) how you feel about yet another HPS title and (2) how you feel about modern conflicts as source material.
“That said, if folks desperately need something new, a free Gamespot membership will get you into the World In Conflict beta. It’s worth the (free) price of admission.”
It’s very tempting (mainly due to Ground Control being such a hoot), but there’s no doubt WiC will choke the crap out of my low-to-mid range system. Even Theatre of War was too much to handle.
That’s right. The new HPS game…I wish they’d send around press releases or something. I keep forgetting to check their page. I like some HPS stuff (Defending the Reich and Punic Wars are quite good, as are the Napoleonic games).
Theatre of War is a real resource hog, and can run poorly even under good conditions.
I have a free Gamepost membership, Dave, but I tend to avoid beta releases habitually.
I love Defending the Reich! First there’s the fact that how many other games (computer or board) have ever tackled the night air war? You can count them on one hand (I’m talking pure games, not games that also include a scenario or two dealing with the RAF campaigns). Second, it’s easy to get into and manages to be enjoyable, something Grigsby’s air games never achieved in my opinion.
DtR was one of the best wargames of last year, hands down. And very easy to pick up and play. Playing as the Germans was like swatting at hordes of locusts, but quite enjoyable in any case.
(I should look into reprinting my old CGM reviews somewhere on this blog.)
What’s the status of posting old CGM stuff now? Can we legally do that? I feel like I should go about putting all that stuff I’ve done somewhere so that potential employers can see it. Up til the magazine closed, it didn’t seem like that was legally possible…
The World In Conflict Beta keys ran out at Gamespot, so unfortunately I don’t think anyone else can get in.
I’m not one to play betas either, but since they’re trying so much new stuff with this one, I figured I should get up to speed with it. It really is Battlefield RTS in multiplayer. I’ll probably have something about it on my blog soonish.
Did you guys ever sign an actual release giving up your content rights? If that never happened than you’d be in the free and clear to republish your reviews. And if you did sign a release, what exactly was the release for? Did you sign it all over to CGM?
Of course even if a release was signed you’d still probably be in the free and clear. Since this wasn’t a case of the magazine being purchased but rather everything imploding, who’s left to care? I cannot see the basis for anyone trying to cause trouble for you guys if you post *your* writing.
Carriers at War should be released by Matrix Games next week. The Born of the Blood expansion to Sword of the Stars is coming out this week. Slitherine Games begins to ship Great Battles of Rome on June 8th, and I think there is a good chance that their Commander: Europe at War will be available sometime this month.
I have only now been able to steal enough time from Burning Crusade to dive into Medieval II, so I think I am set to ride out any drought of strategy games.