Just a heads up people: Yes I am still alive.

The Game Drone is undergoing some changes, this will likely take a fair while longer. Don’t worry, the blog will definitely return - and I intend to do so sooner rather than later. I doubt the current entries will remain intact however, but expect most of them to be rewritten and republished once the new Game Drone goes live.

See you soon!

(PS: if you’re playing Age of Conan in the European Early Access: Aeroth, lvl 21 Guardian, RP-PvP Aquilonia - hit me up and we can play together :))

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After the amazing year that was 2007, you would expect to see some sort of a lull in PC game releases. Interestingly this doesn’t look to be the case as 2008 is lining up with a massive list of interesting PC games. Right now the wealth of quality games that were released in 2007 should be plenty to sustain you, but game developers worldwide are creating your next PC gaming fix as we speak! So you better make sure you play through your favorite titles of the past year soon, or you might not be ready for the next great game!

What follows below is a list of many PC games scheduled to hit stores worldwide in the coming year. Some games might not be included due to an unclear release date (Duke Nukem Forever, although Forever seems like it might be an indication of the development time) or no official announcement of the name of a particular project (GarageGames new Tribes-like shooter set for late 2008). Furthermore all release dates are for the European market wherever possible, which means they may not coincide with the release dates for other territories.

More importantly these release dates are likely to be subject to change from the very moment they’re posted. As any gamer will know; developers and publishers don’t always stick to their estimated release dates. Additionally some of these release dates are not official, but rather educated guesses. Fortunately I post a new release date overview every month, so you’re always up to date with the latest release dates. And if your game is lacking, all you need to do is sneak in a mail and I’ll try to fit it in there next month! Now, enjoy!

• 9th Company: Roots of Terror - Q2 2008
• A New Beginning - Fall 2008
• A Vampire Story - Q2 2008
• Abbey - 2008
• Afterfall - 2008
• Age of Conan - May 20th 2008
• AGON: The Lost Sword of Toledo - 2008
• Aion: The Tower of Eternity - 2008
• Age of Decadence - 2008
• Alan Wake - 2008
• Alone in the Dark: Near Death Investigation - March 2008
• Alternativa - 2008
• American McGee’s Grimm Tales - Q2 2008
• Ankh 3: Battle of the Gods - 2008
• Anno 1701: Sunken Dragon - 2008
• ArmA: Armed Assault II - 2008
• Armada Online - 2008
• Ascension - 2008
• Assassin’s Creed - March 2008
• Battlefield: Bad Company - 2008
• Battle for Atlantis - Q1 2008
• Belief & Betrayal - 28 March 2008
• Bionic Commando - 2008
• Black Noise - 2008
• Black Prophecy - Q4 2008
• Black Sky - 2008
• Blood Bowl - 2008
• Borderlands - 2008
• Brothers in Arms 3: Hell’s Highway - Q2 2008
• Celtic Kings 2 - 2008
• Chrome 2 - 2008
• Cities Unlimited - 2008
• City of Abandoned Ships - 2008
• Codename Panzers: Cold War - Q2 2008
• Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath - March 2008
• Conflict: Denied Ops - 2008
• Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason - Q1 2008
• Crysis 2 - 2009
• Dead Island - Fall 2008
• Deus Ex 3 - Q4 2009
• Digital Combat Simulator: Black Shark - 2008
• Disciples 3 - Q2 2008
• Dracula 3 - 2008
• Dracula: Origin - 2008
• Dragon Age - Q3 2008
• Dragons Rage - Q4 2008
• Dragonball Online - 2008
• Drakensang: The Dark Eye - Q1 2008
• Dropship - 2008
• Dungeon Hero - 2009
• Edge of Twilight - 2008
• Elveon - Q2 2008
• Empire Total War - 2008
• Enemy in Sight - 2008
• Europa Universalis: Rome - Q2 2008
• Exodus from the Earth - 2008
• Experience 112 - Q1 2008
• Fallout 3 - Fall 2008
• Far Cry 2 - Q2 2008
• Field Ops - 2008
• Fighter Ops - 2008
• FinnWars 2 - 2008
• Fracture - 2008
• Frontlines: Fuel of War - 28 February 2008
• Ghostbusters: The Video Game - Fall 2008
• Global Agenda - 2008
• Gray Matter - Q2 2008
• Ground Branch - 2008
• Guild Wars 2 - 2009
• Guitar Rising - 2008
• Hard to be a God - March 2008
• Heaven - 2008
• Heavy Rain - 2008
• Hegemony: Philip of Macedon - 2008
• Hero’s Journey - Q1 2008
• Heroes of Might & Magic: Kingdoms - Q2 2008
• Highlander - 2008
• Huxley - 2008
• Hydrophobia - 2008
• Infinity: The Quest for Earth - 2009
• Interstellar Marines - 2008
• Iron Man - 2008
• Jagged Alliance 3 - Q3 2008
• Jet Thunder - 2008
• Jumpgate Evolution - Q4 2008
• Jutland - 2008
• Kaptain Browe - 2008
• Kingdom under Fire: Circle of Doom - Q1 2008
• King’s Bounty: The Legend - Q1 2008
• Left 4 Dead - Q3 2008
• Legend: Hand of God - 2008
• Legendary - Q2 2008
• LEGO Universe - 2008
• Limbo - 2008
• Lord of the Creatures - 2008
• Lost - Q1 2008
• Love - 2008
• Mafia II - Q4 2008
• Mata Hari - Q2 2008
• Memento Mori - 2008
• Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - Q1 2008
• Mount and Blade - 2008
• Mozart - 2008
• Multiwinia - 2008
• Mythos - Q1 2008
• NecrovisioN - 2008
• Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate - Q1 2008
• New Dawn- 2008
• Nikopol: The Carnival of Immortals - 2008
• Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy - 2008
• Not the Time for Dragons - 2008
• Numen - 2008
• Oniblade - Q1 2008
• Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising - Q4 2008
• Overclocked - 2008
• Penumbra: Black Plague - 12 February 2008
• Perimeter 2 - 2008
• Perry Rhodan - 2008
• POSTAL III - 2008
• Precursors - 2008
• Project Offset - 2008
• Project Origin - Q4 2008
• Prototype - Fall 2008
• Quake Zero - 2008
• Racedriver GRID - Q2 2008
• Ragnarok Online 2 - 2008
• Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 - March 2008
• Red Faction 3 - 2008
• Reluctant Hero - 2008
• Rise of the Argonauts - 2008
• Rogue Warrior - 2008
• Runaway 3 - Q1 2008
• Saboteur - 2008
• Sacred 2: Fallen Angel - September 2008
• Scorpion - Q1 2008
• Secret Files 2 - Q2 2008
• Secret World - Q4 2008
• Serious Sam 3 - 2008
• Seven Kingdoms: Conquest - 2008
• Severity - 2008
• Shadow Harvest - 2009
• Sherlock Holmes versus Arsene Lupin - 2008
• Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific - Q2 2008
• Sins of a Solar Empire - February 2008
• Simon the Sorceror: Chaos Happens - Q1 2008
• Skillz - Q4 2008
• So Blonde - 2008
• Society - 2008
• Spaceforce: Captains - 2008
• Space Siege - Q4 2008
• Splinter Cell: Conviction - Q2 2008
• Spore - Q2 2008
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky - Q1 2008
• StarCraft 2 - 2008
• Stargate Worlds - 2008
• Still Life 2 - 2008
• Storm of War: Battle of Britain - 2008
• Strike Force: Red Cell - 2008
• Stronghold: Crusader Extreme - 28 April 2008
• Supreme Ruler 2020 - 2008
• Survivor - 2009
• Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins - 2009
• The Abbey - Q1 2008
• The Agency - 2008
• The Broken Hourglass - 2008
• The Chronicles of Spellborn - Q2 2008
• The City of Metronome - 2009
• The Crossing - 2008
• The Hunt - Q1 2008
• The Lost Crown: A Ghosthunting Adventure - 2008
• The Path - Q1 2008
• The Secret World - Q4 2008
• The Swarm - Q1 2008
• The Tomorrow War - Q1 2008
• Theseis - Q1 2008
• They - Q4 2008
• This is Vegas - Fall 2008
• Tiberium - Q3 2008
• Tomb Raider Underworld - Q4 2008
• Tom Clancy’s Air Combat - 2008
• Tom Clancy’s EndWar - Q1 2008
• Totems - Q4 2008
• Treasure Island - 2008
• Turning Point: Fall of Liberty - Q1 2008
• Turok - Q2 2008
• Two Worlds: The Temptation - Q2 2008
• Underwater Wars - 2009
• Universe Online - 2009
• Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm - March 5th 2008
• Warhammer Battle March - Q1 2008
• Warhammer Online - Summer 2008
• Warhound - 2008
• Warleaders: Clash of Nations - Q1 2008
• White Gold: War in Paradise - Q1 2008
• WitcheS - 2008
• Wolfenstein 2 - 2008
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Fall 2008
• Worldshift - April 2008
• X3: Terran Conflict - Q3 2008
• Zeno Clash - 2008

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About one and a half month ago, gaming websites worldwide were shook with news of supposed poor early sales for both Crysis and Unreal Tournament 3. As you may recall, I had my doubts about the accuracy of the many exaggerated reports on this information. Later sales figures for the month of December already indicated a significant boost in sales figures for both games, but now it seems my suspicions have been officially and undeniably confirmed. Indeed it looks like the December hype of PC gaming death and poor sales figures was more than just a bit premature.

Perhaps the most interesting part is that the majority of major gaming sites have actually not picked up on this news, which refutes the stories they released in December. Are they ashamed, or are they actually out there playing their freshly bought copies of Crysis and Unreal Tournament 3? It looks like it might just be a bit of both, as Electronic Arts‘ recently announced that Crysis, a PC exclusive title, hit over one million sales worldwide. A very impressive feat in the most shooter-packed Christmas season ever, particularly for a highly demanding and PC-exclusive title like Crysis.

What’s also interesting is the implications of these statistics for the global picture of PC gaming and the validity of NPD Group statistics. If Crysis sold less than 80000 copies in it’s first three weeks according to the NPD Group, then this total sales number leaves us with a couple of interesting possibilities:

1. The NPD Group is an organization that no longer has the capability to properly indicate PC game sales in any way, shape or form. This is actually very likely to be accurate, as the NPD Group itself indicates they do not track online sales, digital download or specialist shop sales into their statistics. Let’s face it: how many PC gamers do you know who still buy their games offline? I can’t even think of one!
2. The United States is no longer the primary source of income - and sales - for PC game developers, even in mainstream genres like shooters. In light of the November statistics this also seems likely, as several European countries featured Crysis firmly in their top 10 game sales listings. And as Americans themselves should know quite well: PC games aren’t exactly easy to come by in the great US of A. Often being relegated to an obscure little corner in some megastore.
3. Digital downloads may well be underestimated as a medium for game sales. Crysis was offered by means of Electronic Arts‘ own digital download mechanics, and while we may not have actual statistics on how many games were sold by this method, one thing is certain: the NPD Group certainly didn’t track these copies!

Of course the most noticeable effect this announcement might have is that gaming sites might be a bit more conservative in their news reports next time. Ok, so that seems unlikely, but at least now everyone knows that NPD Group statistics are far from everything and certainly no indication of how well a PC game sells. Now if only there were some way to find out how many copies other great PC games like The Witcher or World in Conflict have sold…

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In all my time of gaming the only gaming platform other than a PC I ever owned was a GameBoy Pocket, nearly a decade ago. That finally changed last friday as I received a package, containing my new Nintendo DS Lite. That’s right, I’ve just gained todays most popular handheld gaming device - and so far it actually seems to be pretty cool. I’ve played some Brain Training and Tetris DS against my sister with download play, but lost rather convincingly at both (hey, she’s had it for over a year!). Other than that I’ve spent just about all of my, rather limited, NDS time on Bleach: The Blade of Fates which is a cool beat ‘em up game based on the popular anime that you’ve probably heard of/seen already anyway.

After seeing screenshots and videos on various gaming sites I was a bit worried for the visual quality, but after giving a couple of NDS games a go I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. While the little handheld device certainly has it’s limitations, most of the developers seem to go for a very good stylish approach paired with smooth animations and drawn or even anime-like cutscenes, for a visual experience that’s actually not bad, not bad at all. What really caught me by surprise however was the sound. It’s surprisingly loud and there’s loads of it! It’s nothing like my old GameBoy Pocket with midi-sounds, but rather the games seem to feature full-on soundtracks and tons of voicework, especially so for Bleach.

As you might expect this means that The Game Drone will start featuring some Nintendo DS Lite action as well. PC gaming will remain my focus, as it’s still what I do and enjoy most, but you might see the occasional entry on something Nintendo sneak in between the rest. Oh yes, that picture of a DS you can see in this entry is indeed what my DS looks like. I’ve got the silver edition, which might not be as cool as cobalt-blue or Suzie’s crimson look, but has a sort of elegant style of it’s own. Although I really only got it because it was the only one available at the time…

Now where did I leave that DS?

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January certainly wasn’t the most amazing month for PC gamers in recent times, but at least it had more to offer than December did. While the list of impressive games is hardly any longer, their quality certainly is! Some of these games are real gems, others perhaps not as great as they may have looked initially, but all of them should be perfect food for the gamer who has already finished playing the great games of 2007 and is looking for something new. There’s bound to be something to your liking here and even low budget gamers get some loving, as 2 out of the following 4 games are budget priced!

Many new games are released every month, but which of these games are the ones worth buying? That’s what I’ll help you find out, in this monthly recurring series of Most Impressive PC Games. So when a new month begins, be certain to head on over to The Game Drone for a quick rundown of the latest and greatest titles, including links to game demos - where available - so you can give them a try for yourself!

Pirates of the Burning Sea

As you can read in my hands-on beta impressions, which you can find by clicking the link above, Pirates of the Burning Sea is a surprisingly decent mmorpg. As the name implies you get to sail across the Caribbean as either a nationless Pirate or a Sailor, Freetrader or Privateer for one of the three nations in the game (England, France and Spain). Including extensive character customization tools, lively outposts as well as intense ship-to-ship battles, Pirates of the Burning Sea is bound to keep 18th century sailing fans pleased… at least for a while.

As you might expect, there are a few weaker aspects to note. Not the least of which is swashbuckling, which essentially feels sluggish, not-done and generally not engaging. While you get to complete many hundreds of missions in this game before you reach level 50, it does tend to get dull well before then. Mainly because the quests - with few exceptions - generally aren’t all that engaging, although the fact that some of them tie in to an interesting personalized storyline does score points. The engine’s performance is another thing that’s worrying, as well as the limited feeling of open-sea sailing, but all in all it’s still a game that should appeal to wannabe-pirates and sailors alike. Go give it a try over at the official website.

Sam & Max Episode 202: Moai Better Blues

That’s right: the second season of the popular episodic adventures of Sam & Max has begun! This second episode in the second season offers generally more of what you’ve come to expect from the series: stylish and silly adventures with lots of clicking to be done. In this particular episode Sam & Max are on vacation, but get to deal with a nasty surprise as their sun filled tropical paradise is about to be destroyed by a devastating volcanic eruption, unless you can help them stop it! Fans of the series should get this without fail. And as for players who’ve never given it a try before, you can download a full free episode from the official website, or you can buy the Season One box in stores (or on Steam). Best of all: these episodes are all budget priced - as is the season one box - so you don’t have to spend too much money for a fair amount of silly adventuring.

Savage 2: A Tortured Soul

Finally, it’s here! This is without a doubt my number one game for the month of January. Savage 2 basically builds upon the groundwork of it’s predecessor as a state-of-the-art multiplayer shooter/strategy/roleplaying game. Just like the original two teams are included: humans and beasts, both of whom seem to be very well balanced as their win ratio is 51% to 49% with over 8000 games played as I write this. So what’s this fps/rts/rpg business about? Basically one player assumes control over your player-army as if it were a strategy game, whereas the rest of the team either plays a first/third person shooter (melee characters with guns/acid-lobbing attachments) or a role-playing game (casters), although all characters gain experience, levels, money and equipment.

Players will generally want to battle a few neutral critters, just like you would in Warcraft 3, for some easy experience and funds. Interestingly players also have to function as genuine RTS-units: building in the midst of battle and even collecting resources. Teamwork is essential, as the many classes balance one-another out quite effectively and you’ll really want to protect those siege units (yep, those are players too) and resource nodes if you want to take down the enemy’s structures and win the game. As you might expect from an indie-game the graphics aren’t exactly the industries finest, but they’re quite impressive nonetheless, certainly a match for the likes of Call of Duty 4 and The Orange Box.

Best of all is that you don’t need to buy the game to get a good taste of the full experience. Head on over to the official Savage 2 website and you can create a demo account! This gives you limited access to the game, which can then be fully unlocked for a small one-time fee of $30! While I haven’t actually played Savage 2, I did play the predecessor (even bought it back when it wasn’t a free game) and judging by reports that it’s even better… let’s just say that’s an $30 fee very well spent!

Universe at War: Earth Assault

To be perfectly honest I wasn’t really sure whether I should include this game in the list. You see: it’s one of those games that many people seem to have been anticipating, but didn’t quite deliver, sort of like Hellgate: London. Universe at War is the latest strategy game from Petroglyph Studios, developers of Star Wars: Empire at War - a more enjoyable strategy game - and mostly ex-Westwood employees (Dune, C&C, Nox, and so on). The game offers three very unique alien sides in an epic battle spanning our planet, but not so-much including humanity in the whole, which is lucky to have even a few survivors after initial alien invasions began. Or so it should, but reviews indicate that the singleplayer campaign is rather dull and straightforward.

In terms of graphics Universe at War is pretty, but seems to lag behind some recent games like Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance and World in Conflict. Some might even consider Command & Conquer 3 to be a prettier game, which is certainly no compliment, but seems rather accurate. To make things worse, multiplayer is hindered by the use of the horrible Windows Live service, and more specifically: the Gold service if you want the full experience. This essentially means you have to pay a monthly fee if you want to really participate in multiplayer in any decent way - and that for a service which offers only mediocre games, and not even a handful of them at that! This seems rather unimpressive, particularly in light of other recent strategy games, like the aforementioned World in Conflict and Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, which offer all the same services at no monthly fee whatsoever… although without the crossplatform PC vs Xbox360 play.

Of course if you still want to give the game a go, then you can download the demo here. (1.15 GB)

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