Gamers' Creed

Over on CVG, there's a report that a former 2K Boston developer had X-Com listed as part of her previous experience on her online resume. The resume has since been removed, and the BioShock developer has issued a "no comment." Sounds like X-Com to me... Research!

Of course it's not the first time this rumour has come around and when Boston head Ken Levine was confronted earlier this year he hardly shied away: "I will say that I'm probably the world's biggest X-Com [fan]. I won't say I'm working on an X-Com game," he said.

RPS has a short hands-on preview of Cryptic Studios' Star Trek Online. While it was a short con demo they were allowed to play, it does give an idea of how gameplay is fleshing out. Engage!

The three stages highlight the various forms of combat. After getting used to flying around with your ship a little, you warp into battle with three Klingon Birds of Prey. Are they Birds of Prey? I dunno, but that’s the only Klingon ship I know, so that’s all you’re getting. The ships move at the sort of pace you expect, with the combat based around circling and trying to line up banks of phasers. The vessel has a forward and backward arc – which means that in terms of actually hammering the opposition, the sweetest spot to place is in that broadside position where both banks can hammer ‘em. The twist is the photon-torpedoes, which can only fire directly to the front in a relatively narrow arc. The three ships go down swiftly, so I don’t get a chance to really explore it, but it’s certainly a non-traditional sort of combat for an MMO. 

Just announced this morning, Netflix has agreed to provide streaming service to PS3 consoles. What is significant about this is that PS3 owners only need to pay the $8.99/mo. subscription fee to download movies. Xbox users need to be Live Gold members, which will cost you around $50. Score one for the PS3 fanboys. Stream!

This is not your father's flash game... GamePro.com has an nice article on Dragon Age: Journeys, a free flash-based RPG game that is due to go live today at noon PST. The game is a tactical/RPG hybrid that contains quite a bit of depth for a flash game. In it, you can create and customize a party of adventurers and save your progress as you play.

Journeys serves as a prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, which is due out on multiple platforms on November 3rd. It will be released in a total of three chapters, the first titled "The Deep Roads." Browse!

After spending some time playing Dragon Age Journeys, it's clear that it's far more than a brand extension exercise. While the gameplay is certainly of a different style, the exploration is done Diablo-style by clicking around a beautifully drawn scrolling environment and the combat is hex and turn based, it draws on much of the lore and story of Origins. "We tried to stay true to the incredible characters and story of Origins that BioWare developed," Spenner explained. "But we wanted to introduce these in a more accessible way, suited to the browser platform; players expect quick fun in the browser. We deliver that, but it is also awesome to watch people get sucked in and get comfortable in their seats when they realize that this is a game above and beyond what they've seen in terms of depth and progression."

Day 6 of the RPS Risen game diary has the author in level-up fever mode. Well, that and lamenting the lack of fashionable hats in the world. Because everyone knows that killing stuff and looking good go hand-in-hand. Vogue!

But I’m certainly not Superman. I’m finding melee combat increasingly punishing, running into more and more things that can instantly swipe off most of my health bar if I dare to drop my guard for even a second. I’m amazed everyone reading this didn’t hear me screaming FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF at the top of my lungs this morning, when I was circled by approximately nine Black Wolves at once and couldn’t even try to hit back without them all savaging me the second I lunged.

RPS continues with day 5 of its game diary. If you've been keeping up, the author accidentally confused the game by escaping a situation, which caused the game to thrust him into the Monestery against his will. So, he spends the next several hours working his way through it despite what happened and he's actually happy with the game again. Adjust!

I remain very concerned about the long-term consequences of a game as prone to strange behaviour as this one is thinking I’m still half-bandit, but grudingly pressing on with the Order’s questline seemed my only option. In short order, I’m given some robes (which are surprisingly good armour, it transpires) and I manage to rob a staff from the very back of a fellow novice. I’m all set for magery. Hell, I’m even beginning to feel enthusiastic about this.

Then I meet Alric. The arsehole. As well as being Captain Grumpy From Grumpyland, he repeatedly insists I call him ‘Master’. Well, no. I’m not doing that – not for you, not for anyone. Apart from possibly for Jon Pertwee, but he’s dead now. Alric gets more and more pushy, but I refuse to yield to his ego. That’s when he tells me to sweep the floor.   

RPS has 4-way conversation regarding Borderlands, that, while in dire need of Ritalin, gives some quick insight into how the game plays and the overall fun factor. In short, all four really like the game and say that it's tons of fun. Everything else they say is minutiae. Loot!

Kieron: There’s some weapons which are so agreeably oddball, but totally useless by the end.
Jim: There’s an odd sadness to parting with a weapon – it was like the incredible giant blue hammer I had in WoW. I kept it long after it was no use.
John: Yeah. “Goodbye old friend. You served me well.”
Alec: I had a low-level revolver which grew bullets.
Jim: Grew bullets? I didn’t even know they did stuff like that. Although the weapon vending machine boasts that weapons can heal you, which I’ve never seen either.
Alec: I also had a shotgun that fired rockets.

Whoa! Not only can you waste your time watching national media outlets cover the saga of a six-year-old boy lost in a runaway balloon, you can now PLAY THE GAME! 

I haven't made it to the end, but I wonder if the last level involves the cops leading the parents away for concocting a hoax?