Free PC Gaming Blog

Combat Arms Delivers Operation: Power Surge

Nexon America’s popular online FPS updates with new Specialists class, map and more

Combat Arms, one of North America’s most popular multiplayer online first-person shooter games, delivers its latest update today for its newcomers and the over two million registered soldiers for hire with Operation: Power Surge.

Players will not only get a chance to hire the game’s new Specialists class, but also can also put them to work on the game’s latest map, Power Surge. This industrial pumping station is the game’s latest map and can be played in four different game modes, Elimination, One Man Army, Capture the Flag and Spy Hunt.

Specialists are a new form of mercenary, carefully selected and raised from birth to be the ultimate combination of strength, stealth, brilliance and skill. Two Specialists quickly established themselves as clear leaders of the group since the beginning of their training. Scorpion, named for his ability to survive in any situation, and Viper, named for her quick and fatal attacks, are available for players through the use of in-game GP or Nexon Cash.

Specialists have access to four special items, which are detailed here:

Claymore:
A defensive, anti-personnel land mine utilizing a wireless detonator, the Claymore projects tiny steel fragments in a fan-shaped pattern, devastating enemies with its terrific explosive power.

Satellite Scanner:
A military grade, portable scanner reveals the locations of hidden enemies. Scanned data is transmitted to teammates via satellite, giving fellow soldiers an edge over the enemy!

Medkit:
A military syringe developed by NEMEXIS that is injected directly into the bloodstream. The Medkit restores a set amount of HP. Because of its portability, it can come in handy in the middle of combat situations when it is impossible to call on a medic. The Medkit can only be used for recovering one’s own HP.

M32:
A 40mm semi-automatic, six-barreled weapon with a revolving magazine, this rapid-fire grenade launcher gives increased firepower to foot soldiers.

Soldiers looking for more information can head to http://combatarms.nexon.net for further details on the update.

Evidentailly Dungeons & Dragons Online will become a free to play game and you can sign up to get into the beta now:

TURBINE® ANNOUNCES DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE®: EBERRON UNLIMITED™
Free Digital Upgrade Introduces Unlimited Free Play and Raises Level Cap; Beta Begins Today

WESTWOOD, MA – June 9, 2009 – Turbine, Inc. announced today the start of the Beta program for Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited™ (DDO Unlimited), a free digital upgrade for Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Stormreach™. DDO Unlimited will raise the level cap and add major new content, as well as make the game free to play for everyone. The new DDO Unlimited delivers heart-pounding game play featuring the industry’s best combat system, a massive world with state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, and a rich set of features that until now could only be found only in premium subscription-based MMOs. Launching later this summer, DDO Unlimited will introduce an innovative new pricing model that allows players to download and play for free, purchasing adventure packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new DDO Store, or to subscribe to get unlimited access to all of the game’s content. Players interested in getting a sneak peak of the new DDO Unlimited can sign up for a chance to participate in the Beta program at http://www.ddo.com.

“Our team has spent years crafting DDO Unlimited into a powerhouse experience featuring cutting-edge graphics, a kick-ass combat system, high level content, and cutting-edge social tools. Today marks a major milestone as we prepare to launch the world’s most exciting free MMO,” said Kate Paiz, Senior Producer.

“Turbine is blazing a new trail with an innovative new pricing structure that will deliver a new era of choice for the growing market of online gamers, and we are very excited to invite players to work with us in the DDO Unlimited Beta program as we redefine how people play and pay for MMOs,” added Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer.

DDO Unlimited delivers the best combat of any MMO and the most heart-pounding action this side of a keyboard, plus a lot more!

Brand New Content & Features – DDO Unlimited will deliver a new class, increase the level cap, introduce new adventure packs including a new 12-player raid, major combat improvements and more!

The Fiercest Combat – DDO Unlimited features an extraordinary and heart stopping combat experience that requires players to fully engage in the battle by relying on their wits and reflexes in real time. No more clicking skills and watching the action from the sideline.

Mind-blowing Visuals – Explore a vast and dangerous online world that features the most advanced graphics in the industry and is stuffed with the legendary monsters, glorious treasures, devious traps, mind-bending puzzles and endless adventures from the world’s best known RPG.

Full-featured MMO – Experience sophisticated systems found only in the best games including auctions, arena death matches (Player versus Player), NPC hirelings, gambling, crafting, and powerful social tools for finding a group, forming a guild or planning an epic raid!

Easier Than Ever! – DDO Unlimited gets you playing in minutes instead of hours, using new proprietary Turbine technology. Creating a new character is incredibly simple with guides and templates that speed you through the process. Features an all-new new player experience that gives gamers their first taste of excitement quickly while teaching them how to play solo or with a group of fellow adventurers.

DDO Unlimited is based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® franchise of Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.® (NYSE: HAS), under license to Infogrames Entertainment S.A.® Published by Atari, Inc.®, DDO has been enthusiastically received by many gaming critics, including The New York Times, PC Gamer, Game Informer and many more. For the latest information, please visit www.ddo.com.

PHENOMIC’S EPIC RTS BATTLEFORGE NOW AVAILABLE FOR FREE

Players worldwide will be able to access the Play 4 Free Version Immediately

Redwood City, CA. – May 26, 2009 – Phenomic™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) studio, today announced that the Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game, BattleForge™, is now available to all players as a free download. To download the Play 4 Free version of BattleForge, players can visit www.battleforge.com and click Play 4 Free. Players can also follow the game on Twitter at @battleforge.

BattleForge is a “Play 4 Free” game, like Battlefield Heroes which is currently in closed beta. By being available for free, all players have easy and immediate access to the action and adventure in BattleForge. The flood of new players will enrich the overall gameplay experience and grow the community.

BattleForge’s Play 4 Free version provides players with full access to the BattleForge game, including all community features, scenarios, the recently launched Renegade campaign and 32 of 200 trading cards. Play 4 Free players will be able to explore the full world of BattleForge and, can add more cards to their collection by purchasing points online. Players that do not wish to download the game or purchase the cards online can still buy the retail version which includes a disk-based game and cards from all 4 factions plus 3000 BattleForge Points that can be exchanged for in-game cards. This retail version of the game remains available for $29.99.

BattleForge combines strategy, fantasy, trading cards and magical spells in a dynamic online environment. Combining the strategic, real-time gameplay of classics such as Command & ConquerTM with a fully enabled, online collectible community, BattleForge pioneers strategy gaming with its online multiplayer design and community features set. The collectable cards in the game are the tools of war - each representing a spell, unit or building that is conjured directly onto the battlefield real time in stunning 3D graphics. BattleForge features single-player scenarios and cooperative scenarios supporting 2-12 players, as well as Player vs. Player (PvP) ranked and unranked duels. With co-op play, chat rooms, and a robust marketplace featuring direct trade, an auction hall and in-game mail, BattleForge is the first RTS to combine the social and community aspects of an MMO with an exciting RTS.

GAMESCAMPUS’ CUE ONLINE NOW IN OPEN BETA

GamesCampus’ New 3D Pool Simulation Offers A Dynamic Wagering System

San Jose, Calif. (May 20, 2009) - San Jose-based online game publisher, GamesCampus.com (www.GamesCampus.com, run by OnNet USA), announced today that Cue Online, its free, item-based realistic online pool simulation game, is now in open beta at http://cueonline.gamescampus.com/.

Cue Online is one of the most realistic online billiards games available anywhere. Players are able to compete with one another in eight-Ball, nine-Ball, 14-1, and snooker billiards games to level their characters up with experience points and Gold (in-game credits which are earned by making successful shots).

With the open beta, Cue Online introduces many new features. The biggest visual change in the game is that players can now choose one of five different avatars. Players will also be impressed by the dynamic wagering system that is newly available in the game. Under the new wagering rules, each time there is a scratch or miscue, the offending player adds Gold to the pot and the winner collects the entire sum!!
With the start of the open beta, players now can use Gold to purchase essential billiard items such as cues, chalk, gloves.

The open beta will last until the game’s official launch date later this summer (exact date TBD).

For more information about Cue Online visit http://cueonline.gamescampus.com/.

TRUE GAMES ANNOUNCES OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE FOR WARRIOR EPIC-MAY 19th

Highly Anticipated Online Action-RPG to Launch Tuesday, May 19th at 5 PM PDT at www.warriorepic.com

IRVINE, Calif., May 14th, 2009 - True Games, an international publisher of multi-player online games today announced the official launch date of its highly anticipated title Warrior Epic. The official launch date for North America is May 19th. Once the game is live, players are invited to join the battle and download the game for free at www.warriorepic.com.

“Our beta testers have given us a lot of great feedback and we are confident that the game is now reaching a point where we can provide the Warrior Epic community an engaging and compelling experience,” said Jeff Lujan, Founder and Chairman of True Games.

True Games will continue to put Warrior Epic through rigorous beta testing through Monday, May 18th and are accepting a second round of closed beta testers to provide feedback before the official launch. Those who wish to partake in the closed beta will be rewarded through in-game events and promotions. Those interested in joining can register at www.warriorepic.com .

Developed by Austin based studio Possibility Space, Warrior Epic is an online, action role-playing game set in an original fantasy universe. In the game, players will assume command of a Warrior Hall from which they manage their characters’ adventures. They can recruit from a wide array of Warrior Classes, each with its own style of play. The Classes and the Hall itself can be upgraded visually as well as functionally. Players adventure together in multiplayer campaigns, adventure mode, solo quests and PVP.

One of the most unique aspects of Warrior Epic is that death does not mean the end of a warrior. Instead, it opens totally new and strategic options for players. The game’s unique Warrior Spirits System enables fallen warriors to not only be revived at any time at their hall, but also to be transformed into Spirits that can be bound to weapons to increase and open weapon abilities and skills, or they can be called out to inflict massive damage depending on player needs.

For more information and to join the Warrior Epic community, visit www.warriorepic.com.

Outspark has announced the commercial release of their free to play massive multiplayer snowboarding game: Project Powder.

I’ve been playing this one off and on since the early beta and it’s a LOT of fun! There are three game modes available… a racing mode allowing you to go head to head or team up with others, a battle mode where you compete by pulling off the best tricks and collecting the right items and a coin mode where you battle it out to collect the most coins.

I am constantly amazed at the level of detail and entertainment value presented in the latest free to play pc games. Project Powder is a great example of this. Yeah, you could decide to pay micro-transactions to get more stuff at a faster pace, but you could play this one without paying a dime and have a blast for months to come.

I just finished playing Free Realms for the past 45 minutes and I had to log off to post on this. The quality of this free to play game from SOE is amazing.

Check out the Free Realms press realse:

MAKE FRIENDS, RACE KARTS, BATTLE FOES AND RAISE PETS IN FREE REALMSTM - AVAILABLE NOW!

Sony Online Entertainment’s Whimsical, Family-Friendly Virtual World Is Now Live

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – April 29, 2009 – Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced that the free, family-friendly online video game Free Realms™ is now available for everyone to play at www.FreeRealms.com. Free Realms is a whimsical virtual world, loaded with fun for gamers of all ages. Whether you want to race karts, raise a pet, explore mystical forests or chat with friends, in Free Realms, you can do it all.

“We’ve designed Free Realms to be a fun, safe place for gamers of all ages to play online and are excited to finally open the doors to our adventure-packed world,” said Andy Sites, senior producer, Sony Online Entertainment. “Free Realms is free to play and truly lets you do what you want, when you want. Every member of the family will find something fun to do in Free Realms!”

In Free Realms, players can customize their characters and play a wide variety of minigames in a safe, online environment, packed with stunning visuals, distinctive environments, and social networking capabilities. Players are free to do or be anything: Become a ninja, cook a yummy meal, battle goblins, set out on epic quests or connect with friends through a safe, social networking page. The Free Realms Trading Card Game is a full-featured trading card game playable both digitally within the Free Realms online game and through a physical game available wherever you buy trading cards!

Free Realms offers a variety of features, including:

Free Gameplay: Free Realms is free to play; however, additional content can be accessed through a Membership or micro-transactions.

Rich Character Creation: With thousands of customizations and combinations, you can blend fantasy and reality to create your perfect avatar.

Be Whoever You Want: Characters aren’t locked into classes or jobs – you can be a ninja one minute and a race kart driver the next.

Kid Safe: Free Realms is designed with kids’ safety in mind and has pre-canned chat, reporting, filters and Parental Controls that allow for the customization of security options, for younger players.

Something for Everyone: Players can take care of pets, sort mail, race go-karts, battle goblins or cook meals for their friends.

Vibrant, Deep Environment: Adventurous gamers can spend hours exploring towns, bustling cities, beaches, forests, snowy mountaintops and more.

Connect with Friends: Whether you’re meeting up with old friends or finding new ones, Free Realms allows players to stay connected through its social networking page. Just log in, see what your friends have been up to, click their avatars and join them in Free Realms.

Everyone Can Access: Free Realms is designed to run on nearly all PCs. The game will stream to your PC as you play, so Free Realms will not take up a lot of memory and will download quickly.

Trading Card Game: The Free Realms Trading Card Game will let players pit fun characters like dragons and goblins against one another in fun, fast-paced combat. Half the game is collecting new cards so you are armed with the best lineup of attacks and defenses to prove your might in online tournaments.

Station Access subscribers will receive a Free Realms Membership with their all-in-one subscription. Free Realms is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and up with content descriptors of Crude Humor and Fantasy Violence. To play Free Realms, visit: http://www.FreeRealms.com.

Aeria Games Announces Acquisition of DragonSky Closed Beta Signups Now Open

Santa Clara, Calif. (April 24, 2009) - Aeria Games is pleased to announce its newest acquisition DragonSky from SonoV Entertainment, developer of the highly popular Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing game (MMORPG) Shaiya, for release in the United States MMORPG market.

DragonSky is an action-packed MMORPG based on the martial arts of ancient China. Body, mind, and spirit are key elements for success in the constantly evolving world. The Soul of the Dragon and Heart of the Tiger are two factions in a constant battle for supremacy. Explore the vibrant world and delve into the realm versus realm combat, sect wars, an evolving storyline, martial arts dueling, player bounties, crafting, treasure raids, costumes and more!

Set to be released in May 2009, DragonSky will surely challenge the warrior in everyone. DragonSky is Aeria Games’ second acquisition from SonoV Entertainment, the first acquisition being Shaiya, one of the most successful free to play MMORPGs on the market. DragonSky joins the ranks of many other free-to-play MMOs published by Aeria Games including Shaiya, Last Chaos, Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online, Hello Kitty Online, and Twelve Sky 2.

Closed Beta signups have already begun! Sign up now at http://dragonsky.aeriagames.com/signup.

GET READY TO TAKE ON THE GREEN AND TEE OFF! NTREEV USA RE-LAUNCHES PANGYA IN NORTH AMERICA

The Open Beta Is Now Live For The Popular Online Casual Golf Game At http://Pangya.ntreev.net/

Irvine, Calif., April 23, 2009 - Ntreev USA, a leading online game developer and publisher, announced today that it has re-launched Pangya, its popular, online casual golf game in North America. The game, previously known as Albatross 18 in the U.S. is now in beta at http://Pangya.ntreev.net/.

The newly launched beta includes full game play content from Pangya’s Season 3. Before summer, Ntreev USA will introduce Season 4 with new characters, locations, all-new customization features and more. Members who previously had accounts for Albatross 18 will be able to transfer their accounts over to Pangya. All accounts setup during this beta phase will transfer over when the game launches commercially next month.

“Pangya has enjoyed worldwide success and popularity, including its tremendous mainstream popularity in the U.S. market,” said Chris Lee, CEO at Ntreev USA. “Pangya offers a unique golf experience that is easy to pick-up-and-play, and appeals to a wide variety of skilled and casual players alike. We are excited that we could bring it back to the North American players who love it.”

Pangya is a casual golf game that takes the difficult rules of golf and transforms it into an easy to pick-up -and-play casual golf experience that a player of any skill level can enjoy. Featuring simple and intuitive controls, Pangya allows anyone who has used Windows to easily play with other gamers and unlike other online games; players in Pangya are friends, not enemies!

In Pangya, players are taken to 14 gorgeous locations where they can choose one of 8 unique playable characters. Pangya offers players an extensive customization experience with thousands of possible combinations of costumes, accessories, equipment, golf clubs, power boosts and more that help them to become a pro out on the green.

Pangya is free for players to download and play, while some items in the game including certain characters, clothing sets, new equipment and accessories will be available to purchase via micro-transaction.

The in-game currency in Pangya, called Pang, allows players to purchase items from the game’s shop that will upgrade a character, provide new inventory and equipment, allows them to send gifts to other players and more. Gamers can earn Pang by finishing a hole at par or better, and by showcasing powerful shots.

The beta for Pangya is now available, with a full commercial launch in May.

For more information about Ntreev USA visit www.ntreev.net. For more information on Pangya, please visit http://Pangya.ntreev.net/.

G4BOX and Wicked Interactive Partner with IGA Worldwide

G4BOX Inc. and Wicked Interactive Ltd. Announce Partnership with IGA Worldwide to Support the Popular Free-to-Play Shooter, Cross Fire

Toronto, Ontario – April XX, 2009 – G4BOX Inc. and Wicked Interactive Ltd. announced an exclusive agreement with IGA Worldwide to support in-game advertising within their hit game, Cross Fire, a free multiplayer first-person shooter available at: http://crossfire.subagames.com.

“The Cross Fire beta launch has proven to be a tremendous success. The scale of the community building around the game has been astonishing and is still growing rapidly,” said Howard He, CEO of G4BOX Inc. “We are delighted to partner with G4BOX on Cross Fire. Its success has allowed us to partner with in-game advertising pioneer, IGA Worldwide, to pursue opportunities in this exciting and ground-breaking advertising environment,” added Garvin Yeung, CEO of Wicked Interactive Ltd.

Cross Fire is a free-to-play, multiplayer first-person shooter available on the PC platform. It allows up to 16-players to battle online simultaneously, completing objective-based missions and scenarios across a range of realistic locations and arenas. Cross Fire also offers an array of features, such as: four modes of gameplay including the exclusive “Ghost Match” mode, a persistent stat-tracking and ranking system, in-game friend lists, an integrated clan system, customizable characters, realistic military weaponry and much more.

Through its integration of IGA Worldwide’s proprietary Radial 4.0 advertising SDK, Cross Fire now offers brands and agencies the opportunity to dynamically display, update and geo-target their advertisements to a highly engaged, tech-savvy audience within the elusive 18-34 male demographic.

Ed Bartlett, Vice President Europe for IGA Worldwide, said “Having pioneered ad-supported free-to-play premium games over the last three years, we are very excited to extend this model to Cross Fire, which has all of the necessary features for another huge success story in this category. IGA prides itself on a qualitative approach to ad inventory, and alongside contextual in-game billboards, users can also expect a sponsored tournament and leaderboards as well as subsidised branded content including new levels and arenas.”

IGA’s network has generated in excess of 25 billion full impressions, delivering over 60 million hours of content to nearly 40 million users in total, with an average view duration of 9 seconds of exposure per ad.