• Blade of Darkness is our latest review. Galen says "If Rune were an Orc, Blade of Darkness would lop its piggish head off without even raising a sweat." about the game. Blade of Darkness is the first recipient of our Gold award this year. You can see the review here.

by Jared  

• On one hand I am happy to say I started a new job this week. I will be working in the marketing department of Trader Online doing web promotion. A job I am very excited and enthusiastic about. This is my first computer related job outside this site since leaving law enforcement. On the other hand it will be taking up more of time that I would be working on this site. So I would ask that you please be patient with me. I have a pile of emails, requests, etc to get to. Sorry for the delay.
• It was a big day for new games! Waterloo: Napolean's Last Battle, Evil Dead: Hail to the, Ultima Online: Third Dawn, The Sims House Party expansion pack, and the highly anticipated Black and White all shipped today.

by Jared 

• The X-com Enforcer web site has officially been launched.
• Electronic Arts and Origin has announced the cancellation of UO2, otherwise known as Ultima Worlds Online. Thanks go to Rapier Doomsbane from the Great Lakes shard of UO for bringing this news to my attention. Here is the official release on the UO2 website:

Electronic Arts and Origin Systems have announced a plan that will increase their focus on Ultima Online and halt production of UWO: ORIGIN (UO2). The reason is simple, rather than creating UWO: ORIGIN (UO2) as a parallel world competing with UO, we've decided to put those resources into growing and improving the core offering for Ultima Online's 230,000 loyal subscribers. In the near future and with the release next week of Ultima Online: Third Dawn, players will see new lands, new creatures, and a world that is continually evolving within Ultima Online.

This decision actually seems to make sense. With tons of persistent world type games looming on the horizon there is going to be a shortage of players to subscribe. It would of been very hard for the company to maintain two Ultima Online worlds at once. Electronic Arts is also publishing another upcoming persistent world being created by Westwood Studios, called Earth and Beyond. The downside is for the many fans who were looking forward to this promising title.

What's your opinion? Let us know on our Gamer's Forum.

• As if watching the new Operation Flashpoint movie on Monday night was not exciting enough, yesterday they released the single player demo. The new movie is 12 minutes long, and full of exciting images including new interior vehicle shots! The demo allows you to play one full mission with multiple infantry units attacking a combined arms soviet encampment. Personally I find this game to be one of the more exciting releases this year. As a veteran of the US Army myself in the late 80's this game touches on a very real history for me. The game takes place during the cold war and includes conventional warfare between the Soviet Union, and the United States with a resistance movement thrown in. The game is basically a first person shooter, but with many added elements. They include the ability to fly aircraft, drive tanks, and lead other troops into combat with you. The demo is incredibly fun and realistic. Trying to get away alive from a Soviet Armor counter-attack with most of your platoon dead is very exhilarating! No running, jumping, and shooting in this game. You won't hit anything if you try that commonly used tactic in most first person shooters. A multiplayer demo is expected in a few weeks, and the game is slated for a late May release. The game is being developed by Bohemia Interactive Studio, and is being published by Codemasters. I replaced the old Operation Flashpoint movie on the top 10 game movies list with the new one. You can also download the movie off our site here. You can find a great list of download sites here on this Op For fan site. You will need DirectX 8 to play the demo so click here to get it if you don't already have it.
• Outlive, Serious Sam, Summoner, and In Cold Blood all shipped yesterday. Two games that we didn't have on our release dates shipped on Monday. They were Pacific Theatre 2, and Indy Net Race Live. Pacific Theatre 2 is an add-on for Combat Flight Sim 1 & 2. Indy Net Race Live by Anivision, is a live racing game you can play against other gamers over the internet.

by Jared 

• Scott recently had the privilege of doing an interview with RayLogic. RayLogic are the developers of the upcoming game Dark Ore. To see the interview click here.
• Star Trek: Away Team, High Heat Baseball 2002, Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns, and Fallout Tactics all shipped and are now on store shelves. F18 Hornet Gold
• Microsoft announced three new PC titles at Gamestock 2001. Sigma: The Adventures of Rex Chance Overview, Zoo Tycoon, and Flight Simulator 2002.
• Added a new random movie on the bottom left side of the page for Zulu War.
• If you pre-order Tribes 2 from EBWorld.com you get an extra CD with an exclusive mission that you won't be able to get otherwise. Tribes 2 is expected to ship at the end of the month.

by Jared  

• Strategy First has announced that Waterloo: Napolean's Last Battle has gone gold. Strategy First says "Based on the Sid Meier's Gettysburg engine, Waterloo brings back to life Napoleon's most memorable battle. With over 25 historical scenarios, the game features unique Orders of Battle, famous troop types, including dragoons, hussars, cuirassiers, as well as the Old and Young guard, and famous landmarks like the Hougoumont complex, La Haye Sainte and Plancenoit Church. The game also features over 60 historically accurate and hand painted uniforms that reflect the grandeur of the period." The expected ship date is March 26th.
• Fate of the Dragon, The Moon Project, and Star Wars Episode 1: Battle for Naboo have all shipped in the last two days.

by Jared 

• Westwood Studios has thrown their hat into the collection of other companies building online worlds where thousands of players can participate together. Earth and Beyond is the title, and it will take place in space where you control your own starship and you can choose to dabble in Conquest, Exploration, and/or Commerce. Earth and Beyond is expected to be released this fall.
• We are also now the owners of ConsoleGamers.net, and hope to be bringing you the quality console gaming information we have provided for PC games. Stay tuned for the site to go live in the next few months.
• The brand new official Freedom Force website has been launched. Freedom Force will be a game based on super heroes.
• Neorean Interactive introduced themselves today and let us know about several games they having coming out. They have three new games currently in development. Vital Device, Rush (Veronica Story), and Impact of Power. All three are expected to ship in early 2001, with Impact of Power being the first release on the 20th of this month. You can get the demo for Impact of Power here, and the demo for Vital Device here.
• According to Gone Gold (a fellow retired cop's web site), Ultima Online: Third Dawn has gone gold and is on schedule to ship on the 27th of this month.
• If you already bought Steel Beasts, they have a newer revised edition of the game manual. You can order it for a small price here.
• Looking to buy a new controller for your PC? Go to our cheat section and check out the link on the left side for the opportunity to buy 4 Gravis game pads, and a port to connect them together for only $19 with free shipping. Hurry supplies are limited on this great deal.
• Speaking of our cheat section, which is our most popular section. We just recently went over 100 PC game cheats. Drop us a line if you know of any cheats we need to add. Thanks!

by Jared 

• Time Gate Studios and Strategy First Inc. are pleased to announce that the upcoming fantasy strategy game, Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns has gone gold. It is expected to ship on the 15th of this month.
• Strategy First Inc. is also pleased to announce that Disciples Gold has shipped. We have a review for the original Disciples in our Reviews section. If you missed buying the original, then here is your chance to get the gold version. Disciples II: Dark Prophecy is also expected to ship early next month.
• Our latest review of Rune has been posted in the Reviews section. Galen says "Rune has set the stage for Blade of Darkness to take up the slack". See what else Galen says about the review, and look for Blade of Darkness in stores now. You can read Galen's preview of Blade of Darkness here.
• We also have a new review from a friend and customer of the site. He gives us an in depth look at the Team Arena add-on for Quake 3. Check it out in the Reviews section.
• Once again, I just want to announce that the site is always looking for volunteers to help with this site, and get some game industry experience. Just email me if your interested.

by Jared 

• Microsoft announced a sequel to Asheron's Call this week. You can read more about it here on their site.
• Lucasarts Entertainment announced their newest game in the Star Wars universe. The game will be called Star Wars: Battleground. It will be a Real Time Strategy game using the Ages of Empires engine. Ensemble Studios, the creators of Ages of Empires will be working with Lucasarts to develop Battleground. You can read more here on the Lucasarts web site.
• We are no longer affiliated with the Chips & Bits software store. We will not have any more links, or advertising for them on our site. They have a policy of deleting any money a web site makes if it is not over $100 a month. Apparently they think only large corporate sites are deserving of commissions. We resigned as a Chips & Bits affiliate immediately. We would like to thank the readers of this site for purchasing games through us from Chips & Bits over the last six months or so. Unfortunately, they decided to keep all the EBworld.com will still be our featured affiliate on this site as it has been since the beginning.

by Jared 

• The developers of the original X-com game that many of us have enjoyed have had to cancel their latest development, X-com: Dreamland Chronicles. Apparently they have had publisher problems, and their funding was cancelled. So now it is rumored that a Russian company will be starting over on the game from scratch. A lot of fans are unhappy, and if you are one of them you can go to www.mythosgames.com and express your opinion on their forum, and even see how to maybe help.
• The Rogue Spear platinum Pack, and Triple Play Baseball should now be on store shelves. The Rogue Spear Platinum Pack contains the original Rogue Spear game, the Mission Pack: Urban Operations, and the Prima Strategy guide that includes information on both games for only $34.99 at EBworld.com. That is a great deal considering the hit game Rogue Spear was selling for $44.99 by itself just days earlier. Baseball fans can be happy with the release of EA's latest baseball game, Triple Play Baseball shipping a week early.

by Jared