THE TESTAMENT OF SHERLOCK HOLMES Gets a Release Date


Posted on May 3, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Focus Home Interactive has just announced that The Testament of Sherlock Holmes will make its way to the Xbox® 360, PlayStation® 3 and PC sometime in September. The Testament of Sherlock Holmes marks the first console release of Frogwares’ seemingly limitless series of puzzle games staring the the master detective.

This time around Sherlock is the main suspect in a series of crimes. He’s one the lam, unable to prove his innocence (at least initially), and must investigate these crimes using what Focus Home Interactive calls a new “deduction” system. I’ve never played these games, so I don’t know what exactly this deduction system entails. However, I do know that you’ll get to interrogate people (a favorite pastime of mine) and can chose which leads to follow up on and which to ignore.

Since Sherlock was able to take on Cthulhu once, so I doubt Scotland Yard will cause him too much trouble.

You can see new pictures from the game after the jump.

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Warlock: Master of the Arcane Tutorial Video Released


Posted on May 3, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Paradox Interactive has just released a video tutorial for Ino-Co‘s upcoming strategy game Warlock: Master of the Arcane. According to Broken Joysticks’ own Eric Bastelak, Warlock is basically Civilization set in the Majesty universe. You can try out Warlock’s recent demo if that sounds appealing to you. In the meantime, we’ve posted the tutorial video below.

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Trine 2 Giveaway


Posted on May 3, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Yesterday’s Wargame giveaway went off without a hitch, but I found myself wishing that the Cold War had been prevented by the magical merger of NATO and the Warsaw Pact into a common entity. Then the former enemies could work together to solve puzzles in an action platformer that played to their unique strengths. Wait a second…. That sounds like Trine 2!

In light of this realization, we at Broken Joysticks humbly declare that today will henceforth be known as “Trine 2 Thursday.” To commemorate this auspicious occasion we will hide three codes for the game in our articles, twitter account, or our steam group. Read on for a trailer and details on how to activate the game.

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Wargame: European Escalation Giveaway


Posted on May 2, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

International Workers’ Day may have come and gone, but its spirit still lingers here at Broken Joysticks. I, for one, associate the first of May with massive Soviet military Parades. What a sight it must have been to behold the crimson banners fluttering as T-80 tanks rumbled past. In honor of the “good old days,” we’re giving out copies of Wargame: European Escalation.

In case you didn’t know, Wargame: European Escalation is an alternate history game where the Cold War goes “Hot.” I don’t mean hot in the nuclear holocaust sense. Rather, the forces of NATO and the Warsaw Pact battle it out conventionally over a decidedly non irradiated Europe. You can see how to get your hands on a copy (and watch footage from a Soviet May Day Parade)  after the jump.

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Daily Giveaway: Magicka May Day


Posted on May 1, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

I hope that you have all survived Walpurgis Night unscathed and are ready for an excellent first of May. In the past, the first of May was May Day, a springtime festival. It’s also International Workers’ Day. This year is different. May 1, 2012 will be remembered (by a few of you) as the day that began Broken Joysticks’ epic month of game giveaways and contests.

Most of the staff of Broken Joysticks are somewhat puzzled by what the May Day was all about. However, I have it on good authority that it involved wizards, breaking the fourth wall, and accidentally crushing your friends with magic rocks. Thus, we shall commemorate May Day by giving out three steam codes for the Magicka Collection. You may find them hidden in our articles, twitter account, or our steam group.

Directions for activating the game on steam and a trailer may be found after the jump.

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Win a Signed Copy of Gears of War 3


Posted on May 1, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

If there is one thing we at Broken Joysticks love besides video games, it’s creativity. Good films, timeless literature, mind boggling abstract paintings, and performance artists covering themselves with live fire ants rarely fails to stimulate our right brains. However, it recently came to our attention that driving Chainsaw Bayonets into the necks of locusts is also stimulating. This realization, which sparked a prairie fire in the staff’s collective unconscious, convinced us to combine the two. Thus, we are proud to announce our Gears of War 3 contest. We’re giving away a signed copy of Gears of War 3 to a reader whose creativity proves them worthy of such a prize. You can read the details after the jump. We apologize in advance for all the legalese.

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Paradox CEO hosting a live stream demo of Warlock today


Posted on April 26, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Fredrik Wester, the fun loving CEO of Paradox Interactive, will host a live streaming demo of Warlock: Master of the Arcane today. My understanding is that Warlock is a bit like Civilization V, except with Warlocks mixed in, as well as the types of things that spell casters tend to attract (fireballs, vampires, the Spanish inquisition, etc). If you are curious about this upcoming empire builder, then check out the live stream at this link. The demonstration will take place at 11am PDT / 8pm CEST.

In the meantime, you can watch a trailer for the game after the jump.

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Dungeonland’s first Developer Diary Released


Posted on April 24, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Paradox Interactive has just released the first developer’s diary for Dungeonland, Critical Studios’s upcoming game about sheep tossing and the exploits of adventurers trapped in a deadly medieval theme park.

According to the diary, the developers’ goal was to create a dungeon crawler where players would actually play together. When they say play together, they don’t mean a game where the players can go through their typical roles (e.g. player A tanks, player B heals, and player C throws sheep) simultaneously without actually talking to each other.

Instead, the Brazilian developers wanted the players “to collaborate in a meaningful way, to constantly talk, shout, laugh and curse at each other as they play.”

After a few prototypes, including one where different colored balls fight to survive 12 waves of monsters, Critical Studios came to the conclusion that, if they wanted people playing “together” rather than “simultaneously,” they would have to make the game play out differently each time.  They’d also have to make it pretty hard, forcing players to make the best possible use of each others’ skills.

You may read how the developers hope to do this, in their own words, after the trailer.

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Legends of Pegasus Gameplay Trailer Released


Posted on April 20, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Kalypso has released a gameplay trailer for their upcoming 4X space game Legends of Pegasus. My inner Ming the Merciless loves this genre because its games allow you to do things like enslave the entire population of conquered planets or convert them into an edible paste. We won’t know exactly how monstrous Pegasus will allow you to behave until its release later this summer. In the meantime, you can watch the trailer below.

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Risen 2: Dark Waters Delayed on Consoles


Posted on April 20, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Deep Silver has just announced a new release date for their pirate RPG Risen 2. While the PC version is still on course for a digital release on April 27, console players will have to wait until July 31st (or April 3rd for those who foolishly decided to live outside of North America). However, console owners will receive something extra for their wait. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions will come with “The Air Temple,” a new episode that offers several hours of additional gameplay. “The Air Temple” will also be released as DLC for the PC version.

You can read the press release after the jump.

 

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Mount & Blade Enters the Napoleonic Era


Posted on April 19, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Paradox Interactive has just released a Napoleonic Wars DLC for Mount and Blade Warband. Mount & Blade Warband: Napoleonic Wars retails for $9.99. Those who pick up the DLC will get over two hundred new units to play with, including player controlled artillery, as well as massive 250 person multiplayer battles. The Napoleonic Era is probably a good choice for the series, as it’s the most modern setting that would work well with Mount and Blade’s signature mounted combat.

Unfortunately for fans of the Mount and Blade series’ open ended single player campaigns, this DLC is multiplayer only. So, you won’t be able to rampage across a map of Europe for L’empereur.  You’ll find a full list of the DLC’s features after the trailer.

 

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War in the east patched


Posted on April 19, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Publishers Matrix Games and Slitherine have announced a patch for Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945, a gargantuan wargame from 2by3 Games. I’m personally afraid to play this game, because fighting it out on the Eastern front at a 10 mile per hex scale is inherently intimidating. That’s a lot of hexes to occupy before you even get into the nitty gritty of logistics, political reliability of units, etc. It’s the type of thing that would either break me or consume every free second of my time. Those braver than me can check out what the patch fixes, which also affect the game’s Don to the Danube expansion, below.

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Arma 3 Stratis Trailer Released


Posted on April 19, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Bohemia Interactive has just announced that Arma 3 will launch with an additional island for you to fiddle about on. The fictional island of Stratis is situated in the North Aegean Sea, and it brings an extra 19 square kilometers of potential military tomfoolery to Arma 3.  It’s tiny in comparison to Arma 3’s main island of Limnos, which covers about 300 square kilometers. However, it’s always possible that Limnos may get old, so an additional environment to roll over with a T-80 or evade hunters on as a doomed goat is welcome.

The inclusion of an additional island probably isn’t much of a surprise to fans of the military sandbox series as each game had at least a couple of different areas to play in. The trailer showcasing the major sights in Stratis may be viewed below.

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Free DLC released for Wargame: European Escalation


Posted on April 12, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Wargame: European Escalation, the “Cold War goes Hot” themed RTS from Eugen Systems, has just received its first downloadable content pack. The free “New Battlefields” DLC adds skirmish AI, a feature that was sorely missed in the original game by fans of “comp stomping.” Other features include seven additional maps and a “flare” system that will allow players to place a message on the tactical map. This could be useful in multiplayer if you are, say, being overrun by dozens of T-72s.


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Panzer Corps Grand Campaign ’44 East DLC Released


Posted on April 11, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Publishers Slitherine and Matrix Games have just announced the release of  Panzer Corps Grand Campaign ’44 East. This is the sixth downloadable content pack for The Lordz Games Studio’s turn based strategy game Panzer Corps.

The DLC covers the great Soviet successes following the failed German offensive at Kursk in 1943. Expect to see missions based on the Soviet winter offensive of 1944, which brought the Soviets to the borders of Romania and Estonia; Operation Bagration, which practically destroyed Germany’s once mighty Army Group Center and liberated modern day Belarus; the Warsaw uprising; and (if the player is doing poorly) a slightly earlier invasion of Budapest (the historical Siege of Budapest began on December 29, 1944).

The full scenario list is as follows: Korsun Pocket, Korsun Breakout, Narva, Strachwitz Offensive, Jassy Kishinev, Poltava, Mogilev, Babruysk, Minsk44, Vilna, Warsaw Uprising, Return to Kishinev, and Budapest44.


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