Volition, Inc. have been crafting their wares with relatively little fanfare for over a decade, but their efforts are indeed memorable. Claimed by some as the masters of the space dogfighter genre, even over LucasArts, with their Descent: Freespace games, more contentious a claim being that they out-GTA’d Grand Theft Auto with their Saint’s Row titles in the fun factor department. But what other developer can say they own Mars?
And Volition does indeed own Mars, for outside of a few attempts to utilise that dusty planet in novel and interesting ways – Doom excluded, none have quite given it the majesty and breadth that can be found in Red Faction: Guerrilla. Volition’s Mars has come a long way from the 2001 shooter. Unlike Freespace, Volition did not concoct success on the first shot, but after fine-tuning and reworking what a Red Faction game could be – with the sandbox experience Saint’s Row 
provided – Guerrilla was born. Guerrilla is without a doubt the most surprising game of 2009, simply because the series never had the critical inertia nor the fanbase it quite possibly deserved. But surprise is never a bad thing, especially in terms of a studio offering up a stellar production with comparably little fanfare. Even more satisfying is the game itself keeps the surprises coming.
Continue reading ‘Bringing Down The House – Red Faction: Guerrilla’
Mytran Wars, already released in Europe, is a bright and colourful turn-based strategy game for the PSP, and one of fine heritage. Coming from a development house that specialised in tactical PC titles, StormRegion was determined to bring to the portable scene a deep and content-rich experience; one that offered an entirely new intellectual property for gamers to explore as
well as well-conceived and watertight strategic formulae. 4X.Scope is lucky enough to have been granted an interview with Gabor ‘Tassuriel’ Komor, one of the lead designers on the Mytran Wars project. In the following article, valuable insight is offered on the trials of bringing StormRegion’s mech-based turn-based strategy to both the PSP and the world.
, Harris stands by guidelines in production and community contact many of the big studios simply bypass, lending the Positech Games experience a more homely, friendly and noble encounter. Today, Cliffski shares with us some of his observations and experiences in being an independent developer and the life of Gratuitous Space Battles thus far. 
the violence, the game sidesteps these unspoken prerequisites and finds itself in a realm of pure, unadulterated gunplay. The curious problem is the polarizing effect The Club received upon release; when given a shooter in its purest form, stripped back to achievements and a cast of deliberately over-the-top characters, a majority of the gaming public shied away. 
reinvented as a fresh, invigorated piece of digital media known as the podcast. While there are any number of official productions by the large gaming sites, much of the best content online is user-created. No better example of this is Chris Whittington and the crew with their Squadcast.
months, and fans could not be more happy. For those who experienced those fleeting few months back in 2006, the news of this tank en-masse MMOG returning has been an answered prayer due to the sudden disappearance of Blitz1941 three years ago. But for those not familiar with the title, the fuss needs examination. 
One half of Nimbly Games, Erik Measure, has kindly allowed the interview crosshairs to be levelled as he talks candidly about
the beginning, middle and future of Altitude. From its roots as a reinvention of an Intellivision game to being a popular game around the globe and around the clock, Erik gives a peak into the Altitude arena and all that it entails – from balance to design to what’s next.
