Destructoid reports that Codemasters have announced Colin McRae: DIRT 2, the latest addition to the long-staning Colin McRae rally games. Though Colin tragically died last year, Codemasters, in collaberation with the McRae family, chose to keep his name in the franchise and honour his life, instead of pretending he never existed. The right descision, I’m sure we can agree.

The game boats more tracks, cars, and graphics than DIRT, which sounds promising, as DIRT was an excellent game. As long as Codemasters stick to the winning formula for the somewhat prestigious games, it’s sure to be worth a look. The game releases in 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, and PSP.

Classic PC games on the cheap? If you deem that statement worth your while, it would be prudent of you to take a look at GOG.com (Good Old Games). What started as a side-project from the guys that made PC RPG, The Witcher, managed to take it as far as making it an entity of its own. Although not yet live, we do know that Codemasters and Interplay are in with GOG.com as well as the existence of an early access beta.

I want to liken it to Gametap, with some very important differences. Firstly, no exclusive content or at least none that’s been announced or hinted at, thus far. It’s not on a subscription model; you pay for games, you keep them, and are free to download and re-download as much as you see fit. And most importantly: all games have had their insides turned out in hopes of creating the maximum amount of compatibility between both Windows XP and Vista.

If you yearn for the olden days of PC gaming, this looks to be one of the best ways of going about it. If interested, there’s an early access beta go to GOG.com and sign up prior to September 7, 2008 before 12:00am (EDT, convert time zone accordingly.)

Source: GOG.com

If, like me, you are looking forward to the brand new space-based, real-time-combat-using, better-than-WoW, totally-awesome new MMO from Codemasters that is Jumpgate Evolution, then you may feel your pants tightening with the following trailer.

Nations At War is the first trailer for the game developed by NetDevil to really show its scale. With dozens of ship types and several beautifully crafted space scenes, this trailer not only gives us what we want, but is also a clear indication of what the end result will be.

If you would like to find out more about Jumpgate Evolution (and you know you want to) then have a read of our initial impressions, or our interview with the game’s producer, Hermann Peterscheck. Also, make sure to keep your eyes out for our hands-on with the game at this years PAX in a couple of weeks.

Jumpgate Evolution is currently in closed beta and is expected to release in Spring ‘09. You can sign up for the open beta at the official website.

Via: IGN

The two founding brothers of Codemasters, the UK based games developer, have been named as Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for their “services to the computer games industry”.

David and Richard Darling founded the company in 1985 and grew it out of their bedroom to become one of the largest game developers in the world.

Initially only developing for the ZX Sepctrum, they soon branched out to a whole host of other home computers, including the C64, Acorn Electron, Atari 8-bit and the BBC Micro (whose designer, Steve Furber, was granted a CBE at the start of the year for his service to computer science).

The pair continued to run Codemasters up until 2007 when, after 21 years, they left to pursue other projects. Rod Cousens, the current head of Codemasters, told the BBC:

For over 20 years David and Richard led Codemasters as it became one of the video game industry’s great British success stories. Their drive and passion for creating the best in interactive entertainment will always be part of the industry’s heritage and this recognition is well deserved.

With Codemasters being crowned the world’s leading independently owned video games developer by Develop Magazine in 2005, their latest game GRiD doing incredibly well around the world and their most recent teaming up with Majesco to begin releasing titles for the DS and Wii, things look to only be improving for the company founded in a bedroom, 22 years ago.

Source: BBC Technology

(Thanks Sephi)

Do you feel like a mindless minion at work, slaving away for the glory of your overlord boss? Well, you may be able to get something for those months or years of drudgery. How does a PlayStation 3 sound?

Codemasters is searching for a real-life Overlord in a contest to promote the upcoming Overlord: Raising Hell for the PS3. The game arrives in Europe on June 20th and in North America on the 24th.

Codemasters is asking UK employees to anonymously send stories of their most bizarre boss experiences. Winners will get a copy of the Overlord: Raising Hell and yup, a PS3 to play it in. To enter, send in your entry to worst.boss@codemasters.com. The weirdest and funniest stories are printed on www.codemasters.co.uk/worstboss.

It’s a shame that this contest is only running in the UK, because a friend of mine can send his story of his wackjob ex-boss who would have acid flashbacks at work. He’d often assign people to do things then turn around and yell at them, wondering why they were doing them in the first place. I’m sure any of you can top that story though!

Codemaster’s latest racing title is ready to overload your senses with the sound of engines roaring and the smell of rubber melting. Is GRID a worthy addition to the stable of this generation’s racing titles, or does it burn out on the opening lap?

First, lets get one thing straight: This is not a pure racing simulator. In fact, in terms of car physics, it often feels as though it has more in common with the Burnout series than a Gran Turismo or Forza. This, of course, is not a negative aspect of the game, I just thought I’d get that out of the way as I myself was quite surprised at just how much of an arcade feel GRID has to its gameplay.

Perhaps the best way to describe it is like if Project Gotham Racing has developed a severe case of hyperactivity. You’ll no doubt have your own feelings as to whether or not that’s a good thing.

So now that we know what we’re dealing with, just how good is GRID at what it’s trying to achieve? Well, pretty darn good actually.

The single player career is presented to us as “Grid World” in which you start out as a rookie driver trying to make it to the top of the racing ladder. After you’ve experienced some success as a hired hand for whichever teams are willing to take you on, you’ll eventually have enough cash to set up your own racing team, and that’s when the serious money starts rolling in.

You’ll then be able to buy and sell cars, set-up sponsorship deals and (eventually) hire teammates. A bizarre side note here– each time you choose a car that you would like to purchase ,you’re given the option of buying it secondhand on an in-game version of eBay. This rather odd inclusion doesn’t ever really feel necessary as the cars are only very slightly cheaper and the majority of them, you’re told, have been wrecked multiple times by their previous owner/owners.

Anyway, once you’ve got a team you can dive headlong into the process of creating a winning reputation for yourself by performing well in race events. I say “race events” rather than just “races”, as the game contains a number of different race scenarios that you can participate in.

These include (among many others) drift battles, pro touge (pronounced “toe-gay”) and the self-explanatory destruction derby, as well as traditional style races.

A pro touge is essentially a head to head battle from point A to point B, usually broken up into different rounds i.e. quarterfinal, semi-final and final. These are some of the game’s more difficult events (depending on what difficulty you’re playing on) as even minor nudges against your opponents car can cause you to incur very harsh penalties, in the form of seconds being added to your final time.

The drift battles are a contender for being the most fun event and involve a mixture of racing and stylish drifting. Your final position in a drift battle event is determined by how many points you’ve accumulated through drifts (determined by the angle of your car, position on the road, speed etc) but you can earn extra points for each drift depending on how close you are to front of the pack. There are plenty of other styles of drift races to get your teeth stuck into including, you’ll be pleased to know, events in which drivers take to the track alone so you’ll not need to worry about bouncing off a rival.

Combine these race types with the many different styles of cars you can drive, including touring cars, Le Mans cars, stock cars and little open-topped Formula 3 and you’ve got one of the most varied racers to date.

This variation is a large part of what makes the game a success, as it couples the depth of a simulation with the pure thrill factor of an arcade racing title. In terms of the way the cars handle, it all seems very twitchy and ultra sensitive (especially if you, like me, are used to playing racing sims) when you first pick it up.

You can hurl the majority of vehicles around hairpin turns at ridiculous speeds, needing to apply the breaks for only a second or two to get the job done. However, you’ll still need to be careful not to brake too hard while cornering, as it’s all too easy to spin out 180 degrees and end up facing oncoming traffic (never a smart move).

Once you’ve nailed the cornering, though, the constant sensation of speed the game provides throughout the entire race is truly awesome.

On the other hand, this intense speed does come at a price. Crashing into the barriers or colliding with other vehicles is all too easily done and the damage it can cause to your car will often mean you can’t continue the race in that state.

It’s in these situations that GRID provides a true innovation for racing titles, the Flashback feature. Flashback effectively allows you to go back in time and give yourself the chance to undo a mistake you just made. After, for example, you crash into a wall and have gone from 1st place down to 5th now, instead of turning red with rage and restarting from scratch, you can rewind the replay (up to roughly 10 seconds) and start up again at any point you like enabling you to take that corner without killing your virtual self this time around.

In a simulation this kind of feature would be pure blasphemy, but here it adds to the experience, as you can to an extent be as aggressive as you like and get away with it. In fact, the feature itself seems to encourage dangerous and risky driving. Flashbacks are limited, however, and the higher you’ve set the difficulty the less of them you will have per race, so be warned.

Computer A.I. is exceptionally impressive in GRID. There are no preset routes that cars follow here, and opponents tend to be just as crazy as the player when it comes to taking corners at suicidal speeds and crashing into one another. This leads to a fair amount of accidents in which you have had no direct part.

In one particularly memorable moment I had crashed into a wall of tires and gone from leading the race to third position on the final lap. I thought all was lost seeing as I had used my quota of flashbacks. The race was saved however, when the lead car spun out wildly a few corners later and took out the car in second, leaving me an easy path to the chequered flag and first place on the podium. Fantastic.

Graphically GRID is a game with two faces. The cars themselves are rendered beautifully, both in their level of detail (each interior has been individually modeled) and in the way light shines off of their polished bodywork, until it becomes dirty with dust and rubber from the track.

Damage modeling on the vehicles is impressive too. Hit the wall too hard and you could end up leaving a significant portion of your car behind, or, at the very least, mangle it up to such a degree that it looks as though the engine will drop out the bottom at any moment.

On the flip side the circuits themselves look dull and flat in comparison, especially on the real world circuits (the Japanese night-time stages are an exception if only because there’s so much neon to look at). Trees look static and almost as though they are painted on, and people at trackside are just as unappealing and are plagued by all sharing a very limited number of animations, meaning you’ll often see five or six people in a row performing exactly the same animations at exactly the same time.

The speed of the game means that you’ll not have too much opportunity to take in the scenery but it would have been nice if the visuals of the track had been equal to those of the cars.

Audio-wise the game is a bit of let down. Engine noises and gear changes just don’t sound convincing in comparison to other racers and the music during races and replays is horrible. Thankfully races are generally music-free, only playing in specialty races, and what the game decides is a nerve-wracking moment (this is what I believe happens anyway, at points it seemed to come and go at random). Conversely, the music that plays while you’re navigating through menu screens is excellent, and is generally remarkably calming – helpful after the frantic pace of races.

There are some other minor niggles too, such as the on-screen radar, which is not particularly helpful in the way it only shows only a very small section of the track at any one time, and there are also no weather variables (it’s sunny all the time). More cars in each class as well as a little more diversity in track design would have been nice also.

Multiplayer is very solid supporting up to 12 players with only minimal lag experienced, and rarely at that. A neat addition to the online is a voting system that allows players to vote on which tracks and car class they want to race. This is all presented in a very stylish format and is time limited to force the democracy along at a steady pace.

GRID is an awesome experience overall that can easily be recommended. Although it may not appeal to the most hardened of racing simulator fans, it should appeal to just about everyone else. While it does have its problems, they are slight when looking at the package as a whole. If you’re after some intense, high-speed, and accessible racing action then this is certainly for you.

12►

In a recent interview, Mark Greenshields, CEO of Firebrand Games, showed his interest in bringing Codemasters’ Race Driver onto the Wii.

He said:

“Yes we would and have the resources to do that (as long as it’s not released in 2008!) Our Wii engine will soon be demoed and its showing all the promise of our DS engine. We decided to delay finalising our Wii tech because (1) we were so busy, which is nice and (2) because when we release our first Wii title, we want it to have the same impact as Race Driver.”

It was mentioned in the same interview that if there is enough public support for Firebrand Games taking on Race Driver then Codemasters would be likely to give the project the go-ahead.

Hopefully Firebrand Games’ new Wii engine will show off the untapped potential of the platform and prove that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Source: Cuberd3

Available today for North America Subscribers, Book 13: Doom of the Last-king (Last King, Lich King, can’t we all just get along?) is the fifth content update to the title, and it boasts a new realm, the introduction of a new class, and a new hobby system. If you are interested in learning more about this update, check out the official press release below.

TURBINE CELEBRATES THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF the launch of THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™

Month-Long Celebration Marks the Return of the $199 LOTRO Lifetime Subscription Plan

WESTWOOD, MA – April 24, 2008 – Turbine, Inc. announced today a special promotion featuring limited time pricing offers and a series of in-game events to celebrate the first anniversary of The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ (LOTRO), the award-winning massively multiplayer online roleplaying game.

“It’s been an incredible year for LOTRO and Turbine” said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “Winning the 2007 PC Game of the Year, being named 2007 MMO of the Year and the overwhelmingly positive response to the game from fans around the world has been a real validation of our vision*. Our anniversary celebration is a chance for us to take time to gather with our past and present players to enjoy everything that is special about Middle-earth and thank them for their wonderful support with some special in-game events and subscription options.”

The month-long celebration of the first anniversary of LOTRO includes:

Ø Launch of Book 13: Doom of the Last-king: Turbine’s fifth content update to LOTRO delivers the frosty new region of Forochel, a new Monster Player class plus a host of other enhancements that continue to make LOTRO one of the fastest growing games in the world!

Ø Welcome Back Celebration: Former subscribers are invited to come back to Middle-earth beginning May 8th for five days of free play! Experience the new content added since launch that has increased the size of the world by over 30% including new regions, player housing, the outfit system and a myriad of new raids and instances.

Ø Save Middle-earth and Win: During the anniversary celebration, monsters throughout Middle-earth will drop rare items when defeated. Players can exchange these rare items for a special gift box that will reward the player with one of a variety of in-game items to aid them on their adventures in Middle-earth.

Ø Special Anniversary Pricing: For a limited time, Turbine is offering two new pricing plans for the 2007 PC Game of the Year and the 2007 MMO of the Year! Players can choose to become lifetime subscribers for $199 and never pay a monthly fee again. Players can also choose any multi-month plan (90-days or longer) and lock in a monthly price of $9.99 for as long as they maintain their new subscription plan. **

In a world seemingly overrun with MMOs, Jumpgate Evolution is going to have a tough time carving its place among the big players. Developed by NetDevil and published by Codemasters Online (who also own D&D Online and LOTR Online), there is no shortage of experience behind the game, but does it deliver the loot? Or does it leave the player grinding away in the endless darkness of space? Read the full story for my impressions.

I should probably preface this report with the fact that I do not typically play MMOs. Not because I don’t like them– far from it. I don’t play them because I know that I would be uncontrollably pulled into the game, only to emerge some six months later with a beard, poor hygiene routines, and my family assuming I am dead.

After spending some time with Jumpgate Evolution at Codemasters Connect08 in Birmingham last Friday, I have a horrible feeling this may soon be unavoidable.

Jumpgate Evolution is, put simply, a space-flight based MMO. The developers have said there will be a deep story built in from the start, with the understanding that the game will be expanded upon in future. You can play as one of three races, with two other races taking the form of NPCs, each having their own distinct style and history.

You will pilot a customisable ship and, as with most MMOs, go on quests, gain experience, find loot, and customise your ship to suit your style. Where Jumpgate Evoluion begins to stray away from your typical MMO comes in its execution. All flying and combat is done in real time and manually. The developers said they were looking for an X-Wing type experience and they have definitely found one.

The controls they have created for flying your ship around are simply stunning. I sat down and instantly began flying around, without realising I hadn’t even thought about what the controls were. They are tight, intuitive and, dare I say it, perfect for this game. When they say they spent 3 months on the controls, it shows.

Which brings me to the combat. No more standing still whilst your auto attack slowly grinds down the enemies, Jumpgate Evolution throws real-time space combat at you. You will find yourself taking part in some epic feeling dogfights.

This is where the instinctive and effortless controls really come into their own. Using the mouse to point where you want to go or shoot, and the keyboard to adjust speed, roll and to strafe allows you to easily pull of some impressive looking, and satisfying manoeuvres.

Another aspect the developers were keen to stress was that you wont be seeing very many open areas. Even though it’s space and space is rather large, you will still find all the areas sufficiently full of moons, space stations and asteroids to not only keep your interest, but also to force you to think tactically.

With a graphical engine designed to work on any standard PC, the game pulls off some very hot looking graphics. The computers at the Omega Sektor in Birmingham (where the event took place) are top of the range, but it was pointed out that the game will still look stunning on your standard rig.

A public beta for Jumpgate Evolution is due to start in just a couple of months so make sure to keep an eye on Ripten for all the latest information. Also, can somebody tell my parents where I am and feed my cat? Thanks.

The game is described very loosely as a “character-driven action title” and very little else. Codemasters are keen to keep this game under wraps.

Gritty recruitment ads which depict a modern, street warfare setting similar to Saints Row or the GTA games give hints to the style of the game, but don’t be fooled into thinking it will be a simple clone.

Aidrian Bolton, head of the studio making the game, has said that “people are excited to try something genuinely new”, implying this won’t be just a copy of an existing game formula.

Using the newly renamed EGO (previously Neon) middleware, developed by Codemasters for use with their in-house titles such as DiRT and Operation Flashpoint 2, the game should see fairly rapid development.

You can expect to see more information on the game towards the middle of next year. The game is set for a 2009 release on 360, PS3 and PC.

The full article from Develop can be found here.

The game starts out good enough; the last Overlord was destroyed by a group of heroes so your evil minions resurrect you to take his place. Headstrong you charge out with what’s left of your evil minions to rain terror across the land. And wouldn’t you know, it there’s a village ripe for the plundering. But they have problems of their own, as you’ll find out later in the game everybody has got a problem and they want the Overlord to help.

What the heck?! Where’s the bloodshed, the mindless violence? It seems like in order to do anything of real value in the game you have to play nice. And even if you don’t there’s no change! I can be a complete jerk or a saint and nothing really changes (except a few voiceovers)! Why? That had to be the most frustrating part of Overlord. There I was with my army of minions killing, pillaging, and burning the people of Spree’s village and crops to the ground. I leave for five minutes, return, and there they are again! This happens in every village! WTF?! Why won’t these people just stay dead, or leave? And then I get stuck with a wife. What Overlord has a wife? What Overlord says, “Sorry fellas can’t go out tonight; I gotta stay home and pick out drapes with my wife!” I even get ten servant girls wearing nothing but some pieces of cloth, and they’re happy about it!

The gameplay handles like a normal adventure game, like finding the switch that opens the door so you can progress to the next two switches that open the next door, etc. And of course for some puzzles you need a certain number of minions or a certain type of minion, or a certain number of a certain type of minion (catching on yet?). When you accomplish some puzzles you get spells, or objects to pimp out your Tower. I think one of most annoying things was lack of instructions. At one point you’ll be asked to select a certain minion, but not how. Later you’ll be told you got a new spell, but not how to use it. This even occurred when completing quests, you get told you completed the quest, end. That’s it; the game doesn’t inform you of the next step.

And there’s a multiplayer, which isn’t that impressive; you can either, collect the most money, co-op survival, or kill the most. Whoopee.

Although the gameplay wasn’t great, the graphics and level design where impressive. Even though it seemed Codemasters didn’t use the full potential of the Xbox 360 it still seemed overly “clean.” Overlord had a real fantasy type feeling. The levels where really interesting and had a lot of detail, from overgrowing roots, abstract castles and mountain tops.

Graphics alone can’t save a video game and it seemed that drowning my minions like Lemmings would be the most interesting part of Overlord.