Showing posts with label 2006. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2006. Show all posts

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers


Published by THQ, Inc.
Developed by Pandemic Studios, LLC
Released 2006
Genre Action, Strategy

Description :

Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers is the successor of Full Spectrum Warrior.

Although you killed the tyrant of Zekistan in the first game, the situation hasn't improved. A civil war begins to unfold and various insurgencies fight against the Western forces. Even ethnic hostilities erupt in violence. So once again squads of US Light Infantry are send into the country to secure the Tien-Hamir (or "Ten Hammers") Province. But this time they can call upon the assistance of the British elements of the Coalition Forces.

Like in Full Spectrum Warrior you are the commander of two Fire Teams called Alpha and Bravo. But now you can brake down a Fire Team to a Buddy Team consisting of the Team Leader with the Automatic Rifleman and the Grenadier with the Rifleman. In some missions you also have now access to a Bradley Fighting Vehicle which you control just like you control a fire team. In some missions you'll also find tanks or APCs which your Fire Teams can enter and use.

You can now also give orders to a specific teammate. So if you want to breach a door, you order the Grenadier to unpack the rocket launcher and make a nice hole. It is also possible to give orders to the Fire Team you don't control right now.

Unlike the first game, Ten Hammers doesn't feature a separate tutorial but you rather learn how to play in the very first mission.

The twelve missions of the campaign feature several different objectives like reaching a convoy or destroy a street barrier. Since your squads can now enter buildings you have a whole new tactical layer to use against the many foes that hide in the shadows ready to kill you. To support this new feature, you can now also deploy a sniper in a building and activate the sniper mode in which you can take out the enemies one by one.

The multiplayer-mode also got updated and features now the ability to play cooperatively with four friends or do a few 2-on-2 objective based missions.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIII
Min.OS Win 2000
Min.RAM 256 MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
CDROM Speed 24X
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Offline Players 1
Online Players 4
3D Accelerator

Cheats :

Select the "Bonus" option, then choose "Cheats". Enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function.

Effect Code
All co-op multi-player levelsfullspectrumpwnage

The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine


Published by Bethesda Softworks LLC
Developed by Bethesda Game Studios
Released 2006
Genre Action, RPG

Description :

Knights of the Nine is the name of a new faction for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, introduced in this expansion pack. The primary goal of these holy knights is to hunt special gear known as "Crusaders' Relics". Becoming a member is not an easy task. You have to go on a pilgrimage across Cyrodiil to visit the shrines dedicated to the Nine Divines. Membership also comes with a restriction: if you stray away from the good path and commit a crime, you have to do the pilgrimage again.

This faction brings along new locations, characters, enemies and items. The base of this new faction is in decline, and by becoming a member you have to gain fame to make other people join the faction. This culminates into the restoration of the base.

The Windows version also adds all previously released bonus content:
  • Wizard's Tower: adds Frostcrag Spire which is a big tower which has many useful things for mages in it.

  • Vile Lair: a dungeon in which a more evil character can heal himself from diseases, drink blood or collect herbs.

  • Thieves Den: a big dungeon with an old pirate ship in it which functions as a base of operations for thief-characters once cleansed from the undead.

  • Mehrunes' Razor: adds a huge dungeon in which you can find the powerful weapon called Mehrunes' Razor.

  • Horse Armor: adds two kinds of armor you can buy for your horse.

  • The Orrery: adds a short quest line in which you need to find new parts for a damaged Orrery in the Mage Academy.

  • Spell Tomes: adds books to the world which increase your stats once you find one and read it.
Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win 2000
Min.RAM 512 MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVD ROM Speed 8X
Keyboard
Mouse
Offline Players 1
3D Accelerator

Cheats :

Press ~ during game play to display the console window. Then, enter one of the codes from the The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion to activate the corresponding cheat function.

Desperados 2: Cooper's Revenge


Published by Atari Europte S.A.S.U
Developed by Spellbound Entertainment AG
Released 2006
Genre Action, Strategy

Description :

Desperados 2: Cooper's Revenge is the sequel to 2001's Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive.Once again you play John Cooper and his gang of bounty hunters. Though it's possible to play Desperados 2, much like its predecessor, in an isometric view, the game is rendered in full realtime 3d this time around, so you are able to zoom and rotate the camera any way you want. You can even switch the camera to third person view and follow you characters around, which helps a lot if you're moving inside a building or are having a shoot out with the bad guys.

After John Cooper's brother gets brutally murdered during the intro sequence of the game, John sets out to uncover the killer's identity and get his revenge. During the course of the story players have the chance to team up with old friends from the prequel, like Doc and are joined by an entirely new character, the Native American Hawkey.

The game is divided into several challenging missions, that have to be solved by using the characters different abilities to overcome large numbers of enemies. Some examples include the sensual Kate seducing enemies with her charms, while Sam blows things up with his dynamite and Doc heals his comrades.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS win 2000
Min.RAM 512 MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVDROM Speed 4X
Keyboard
Mouse
Offline Players 1
3D Accelerator
Hard Drive Space 4GB

Cheats :

Type arno during game play to enable cheat mode. No confirmation will appear. Then, enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function. A confirmation will appear after successful code entry.

Effect Code
Toggle freeze all[Ctrl] + [F3]
Toggle God mode, more ammo and items; repeat for more ammo [Ctrl] + [F4]
Invisibility[Shift] + [F4]
Pointer position in X and Y coordinates [Shift] + [F10]
Win current mission[Ctrl] + [F12]

Dawnspire: Prelude


Published by Silent Grove Studios
Developed by Silent Grove Studios
Released 2006
Genre Action, RPG

Description :

Dawnspire: Prelude is a team-based online action-rpg in a fantasy setting, focusing on teamplay, tactics and player skill. The players create characters from a growing number of classes, then go on to battle online in the game mode Relic Conquest. Two teams each consisting of up to eight players fight for three magical relics with different effects, each team trying to bring them to their own base. A round lasts 20 minutes, or until one team has captured all three relics.

Among the classes are the agile deep elf Reaver who can mold her very skeleton into deadly weapons, the fearsome Aramasi Shadowblade who can move instantly between shadows, striking swiftly with a poisoned blade, the Templar melds her very soul to her near-sentient enchanted sword, and the orcish Witch can summon the forces of nature and channel the very energies of life and death.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win 2000
Min.RAM 512 MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
Media Type Download
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet
Online Players 16
3D Accelerator

Note:

Requires graphics card with PixelShader 2.0 and VertexShader 2.0 support and at least 128MB memory. 256MB memory required for ATI cards.

Trivia :
  • Dawnspire: Prelude won 1st place for PC Games in the Swedish Game Awards 2006.

Darkstar One


Published by ASCARON Entertainment GmbH
Developed by ASCARON Entertainment GmbH
Released 2006
Genre Action, RPG

Description :

Darkstar One puts you in the shoes of Kayron Jarvis. Fresh from the flight-academy he learns from an good friend of his father, that his mysterious death was caused by sabotage. As a last gift from his father, he get's the ownership of the one-of-a-kind ship Darkstar One and now makes his way to find out the truth behind his fathers death.

Darkstar is a mix of Freelancer and Wing Commander: Privateer as you can fly your ship either with a mouse or a joystick.

As you solve the riddle you can visit 330 star-systems in which you can trade goods from other systems, take contracts like blasting a pirate gang out of the sky or try to be a pirate yourself. Every action influences the reputation with at least one faction and the game gives you total freedom in what you want to do or what career you want to pursue.

Or you can search for artifacts. As oppose to other games, you don't buy a bigger ship. Through the whole game you only fly the Darkstar One. You upgrade the ship through artifacts you found in asteroids. If you've enough artifacts for an upgrade, you can boost the basic attributes of the ship. This enables you to install more and bigger weapons or goodies like a shield-booster.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win 2000
Min.RAM 512 MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVD ROM Speed 2X
Keyboard
Mouse
Offline Players 1
3D Accelerator

Cheats :

Hint: Level 10 equipment sources:
The following is a list of clusters with systems that sell level 10 equipment.

Arrack Cluster Hive AC3 Haiken
Mingin
Natkyigon
Pyidaung
Arrack Cluster Hive DC Mepok
Mortok Cluster Grotok Aranjar
Lular
Mandedulce
Mortok Cluster Stromok Haorta
Mortok Cluster Klatok Alquebayo
Avilmurcia
Fribeicon
Vielvietona
Raptor Cluster Gamma Chernomen
Mornamur
Schel
Raptor Cluster Epsilon Beldets
Simpawlo
Terran Cluster Alpha Centauri Wini
Terran Cluster Lalande Obas
Pachee

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic


Published by Ubisoft Entertainment SA
Developed by Arkane Studios SA
Released 2006
Genre Action, RPG

Description :

A long time ago an extreme powerful mage called the Seventh Dragon banished all demons from the world and paid with his death for this. But the prophecies tell that after a 1000 years, a Dark Messiah - half human, half demon - will return to the earth to destroy the barrier that stands between the worlds. Now twenty years ago a Demon Lord successfully mates with Isabel Queen of the Griffin Empire and all attempts of the Emperor to exorcist her fail (you can play this mission in Heroes of Might and Magic V) and the Dark Messiah is born. Also he doesn't know it yet, his goal is to optain the Skull of the Seventh Dragon called Skull of Shadows from Skull Island, where it is guarded by the orcs and destroy the barrier between the worlds with it. The name of the Dark Messiah is Sareth and he's an mage apprentice. One day his master sends him to Stonehelm to help another mage retrieve the Skull. And so the Prophecy seems to become real. But it is yours to decide if you use the Skull, once you've optained it, for good or for evil since you are playing Sareth.

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is a 1st-person action game set in the medieval age so instead of guns you use swords, bows and magic to defeat your enemies. As you progress through the story you obtain skill points which you can invest in one of three skill trees called Combat, Magic and Stealth. How you skill Sareth directly influences the combat in the game. You can either play like an assassin and backstab your enemies to oblivion or make him a perfect sword-fighter who can use different combos to take out his enemies for example.

But you can also use your environment to make your kills. There're countless items you can lift up and throw at your enemy or you can light up your arrow on a campfire nearby to inflict more damage. You can also make good use of your foot and kick your enemies off cliffs or kick them into spikes that come out of the wall or use other traps that are scattered in the levels like bringing a statue to a fall.

The main innovation in Dark Messiah is the so-called Body Awareness System. This basically means that Sareth is a real part of the world like every other NPC. This makes not only the whole combat more intense because your whole body moves with every sword-swing you make but the NPCs can interact more directly with you. For example a Orc can take you by your neck and throw you through the room.

If you've already saved (or damned) the world you can turn to the multiplayer-mode. There you've access to five different character classes from the knight to the priestess. With each kill you make you earn experience points and increase in rank. Then you get skill points you can invest in your skill tree to get new talents or upgrade existing ones. This is most important in the Conquest game-mode in which you play various maps in a row and keep your level between all the way. In the Conquest-mode two teams (Humans and Undead) fight over the possession of the flags on a map. Once one team holds all flags, it wins and the next map is loaded. But there's also normal (Team-)Deathmatch available.


Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win XP
Min.RAM 512MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVDROM Speed 4x
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Offline Players 1
Online Players 32
3D Accelerator

Cheats :

Start the game with the -console command line parameter. Alternately, in the game options, on the "Keyboard" tab, click the "Advanced" button at the bottom and check the box "Enable Developer Console". Press ~ during game play to display the console window. Type sv_cheats 1 during game play to enable cheat codes. Then, enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function.
Note: Typing part of the code will show all codes that start with those characters.

Effect Code
God modegod or god 1
Buddha mode; cannot go below 1 HPbuddha
No clipping modenoclip
Spawn indicated itemgive
Spawn indicated NPCmm_npc_create
Enemies ignore you notarget
Add indicated amount of skill points mm_player_add_skillpoints
Full Adrenaline mm_player_add_adrenaline 100
Add indicated amount of goldmm_player_add_gold
Unlimited arrows arrows_unlimited 1
Load indicated mapmap
Start specified map as Assassinmap_assassin
Starts specified map as Warriormap_warrior
Starts specified map as Wizardmap_wizard
Restart map as Assassinrestart_assassin
Restart map as Warriorrestart_warrior
Restart map as Wizardrestart_wizard
Developer-modedeveloper 1
Enables open console with keycon_enable 1
Set the gravity; default is 800sv_gravity
Invisibilitynotarget 1
All weapons and ammoimpulse 101
Disable enemy AIai_disable 1
Show the consoleshowconsole
Hurt character for indicated amounthurtme
Wireframe wallsmat_wireframe 1
See enemy and items through wallsmat_depthbias_normal <1>
Disable darkness and shadowsMat_fullbright 1
Show hit boxes on enemiessv_showhitboxes 2
Allow no clpiping while game is paused sv_noclipduringpause 1
Sprinting costs no staminamm_player_stamina_megasprint_cost_per_second 0
Kicking costs no staminamm_player_stamina_needed_for_kick 0
Mana regenerates instantly mm_player_time_to_add_mana 0

NPC names:
Use one of the following entries with the mm_npc_create code.
Arantir
aratrok
cyclope
death_knight_sword
death_knight_sword_shield
ghoul
goblin
human_guard
human_guard_bow
Leanna
lich
Menelag
necromancer
orc_sword
orc_sword_bow
orc_sword_shield
Phenrig
undead
villager_undead

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Call of Juarez


Published by Ubisoft Entertainment GmbH
Developed by Techland
Released 2006
Genre Action

Description :

Ray McCall was once a fearsome gunslinger. Twenty years ago, he decided to put his guns away and take up the bible instead, becoming a reverend in a town called Hope. All is good until one day, Ray's brother and wife are brutally murdered and their farm burned down to the ground. As Ray arrives at the crime scene, he sees a well-known Indian called Billy fleeing and becomes suspicious. Swearing vengeance for the death of his brother, Ray is unable to be calmed down by the townspeople. Bidding farewell to the life of a reverend, Ray once again takes out his guns and begins his hunt for his brother's killer.

In Call of Juarez, players take the role of Ray, who will shoot first and ask questions later. He uses different kinds of revolvers which are the only weapons in the game, with which Ray can enter the quick draw mode. In this mode, the two cross-hairs of the weapons slow move from the side of the screen to the middle much like a "bullet time" mode. Ray also access to the standard wild west equipment like the Winchester rifle or the sawed-off shotgun. Since Ray is a man of God, he can also read from the bible. This stuns the enemies for a short while.

Billy's weapons are instead stealth and his horsewhip. Since he's on the run and doesn't want to be found, he needs to avoid the people in his way or kill them silent. But if he needs to, he can handle a gun too.

On your quest, Ray will witness and take part in all typical wild west situations like a stagecoach-robbery or a duel. And like in Gun players can ride and fight on the back of a horse, anytime you like.

And if you've enough of Ray and Billy, there is online play against up to 31 other people in different modes. From deathmatch and team deathmatch to modes like "gold-fever" in which players pick up as much gold as they can find on the map.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win 2000
Min.RAM 512 MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVDROM Speed 4X
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Offline Players 1
Online Players 32
3D Accelerator

Cheats :

Press ~ during game play to display the console window. Enter one of the following case-sensitive codes to activate the corresponding cheat function.

Effect Code
Toggle God modeCheat.God(<0>)
Additional ammunitionCheat.GiveAmmo()
Full healthCheat.Heal()
Toggle magic ammunitionCheat.MagicAmmo(<0>)
Spawn rifle Cheat.GiveRifle()
Spawn dynamite Cheat.GiveDynamite()

Multi-player mode codes:
Press Y or U to display the chat window while playing on a multi-player server, then enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function.

Effect Code
Changes nickname; 14 character limit/Nick
List all players/PlayerList
Suicide/KillMe
Exit game/Exit

Additionally, the following codes can be used by the server administrator.

Effect Code
Log in an admin with password defined in ServerAdmins.scr file on the server /AdminLogin
Log you admin/AdminLogout
Kick specified player/Kick
Kill specified player/Kill
Switch server to the next map./MapNext
Shut down server/ServerShutDown

Very Hard mode:
Collect 30 Wanted Posters.

Extra missions:
Successfully complete Story mode.

Hint: Secret weapon:
In the episode which you are Ray chasing the train that Billy jumped on, there is a secret weapon to be found. They are called Prime Rangers, and are two powerful and equally beautiful pistols which do not rust or wear during the level. In order to find these weapons, you must search the train cars as you pass them by. If you look carefully, you will find them. There is a chest hidden behind a stack of boxes on one of these cars. If you jump over the stack and open the chest, you will see the two long beautiful pistols underneath you. Pick them up and shoot up all the cattle rustlers and hombres as desired.

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII


Published by Ubisoft Entertainment Software
Developed by Ubisoft Romania
Released 2006
Genre Action

Description :

Blazing Angels is an air combat arcade game putting the player at the command of a fighter squadron in the Second World War. It's a pick-up-and-play type of game, with easy-to-grasp controls and an almost non existent learning curve.

The action covers the most important moments of the WWII, from the Battle for England to the bombing raids over Berlin, but also warps a bit the history to make for some entertaining if fictitious moments (i.e. you get to fly over Normandy on D-Day, save the day at Pearl Harbor, etc). The gameplay is quite varied, with about 18 flyable planes during the SP campaign (fighters, recon planes, dive, torpedo and level bombers) and diverse tasks and locations that prevent the game from being overly repetitive, despite a general dogfighting approach. The basic squadron command system and the specific abilities of the wingmen lend a bit of a tactical flavor to the game.

There are a dozen multiplayer game modes available: solo (Dogfight, Seek and Destroy & Aces High), co-op (Dogfight, Onslaught, Bombing Run, Kamikaze and Historical Missions) and squad-based (Dogfight, Capture the Base, Bombing Run and Kamikaze).

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win XP
Min.RAM 256 MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVD ROM Speed 2X
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Offline Players 1
Online Players 16
3D Accelerator

Cheats :

Hint: Desert Recon:
After successfully taking the first three pictures of the ships, continue to the desert. Watch your radio signal when it picks up. You should have the two bars to be all fullly green. When that happens, you can pick up the camp on the radar.

Bet on Soldier: Black-out Saigon


Published by Eclypse
Developed by Kylotonn Entertainment
Released 2006
Genre Action
Misc Add-on

Description :

While the first add-on Blood of Sahara played after Bet on Soldier: Blood Sport, Black-out Saigon takes place ten years before it. The Syndicate still is the main power on the world and controls nearly everything. But the WRF is gaining strength and the VAN still has the control over most of Asia. You now play as Hang Shaiming, an elite soldier of VAN who has been send to Saigon on a reconnaissance mission only to find out that the WRF already has begun their assault on Saigon.

The add-on has four new missions in which Hang fights his way through enemy lines in and around Saigon while discovering that the Syndicate has it's hand in the whole thing, too. There are also eight new B.o.S champions in your way, which you need to take down with the help of your huge weapon arsenal. Black-out Saigon adds two new weapons to the already known weaponry: the Intensive Care which is a very powerful rocket launcher that only has one shot and the Nixen which is the standard assault rifle of the VAN-forces.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win 2000
Min.RAM 512 MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVDROM Speed 2X
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Offline Players 1
Online Players 32
3D Accelerator

Auto Assault


Published by NCSoft Europe Ltd.
Developed by NetDevil
Released 2006
Genre Action, Racing, RPG

Description :

Auto Assault is an MMORPG with fast-paced combat in a post-apocalyptic setting. As a player, you choose to play one of three different factions; human, biomek, or mutant, and will spend most of your time inside your vehicle, fighting the surviving enemy groups and mutated creatures. Characters level up (with a max level of 80) and become stronger, gaining new skills and abilities and have access to a wide assortment of items due to the game's random loot generator. Vehicles can be customized in many ways, including paint colors, styles, and by adding new items and accessories.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win XP
Min.RAM 512 MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVD ROM Speed 1X
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Online Players 32 (Only Online)
Monthly Subscription
3D Accelerator

Trivia :
  • Auto Assault was a commercial flop at release: There were way to few players for an online game to be profitable, especially in Europe. After cutting the retail price of both standard and Collector's boxes by half (at least in Germany) without much impact on player numbers, NCSoft / NetDevil merged European and US servers to only one server (called "Nexus")

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Titan Quest


Published by THQ, Inc.
Developed by Iron Lore Entertainment Ltd.
Released 2006
Genre RPG

Description :

It is believed that at the dawn of time, there was a great war between the Titans and the Gods. During this war which spanned many centuries, humanity was born and stood beside the Gods. At the war's conclusion the Gods were victorious and the Titans were banished to the great darkness. Now the Titans have escaped and spread their evil over the ancient world of Greece (and beyond). You are a hero who arrives in this time of need to fight the Titans and bring peace to the world once more.

Not unlike Diablo or Sacred, Titan Quest is a hack 'n' slash Action-RPG in which you create a character and level up by killing thousands of monsters, like Hydras or Gorgons. At the beginning of the game your hero has no profession, but upon reaching level 2 you are given the choice between eight unique "masteries". Upon reaching level 8 you are granted access to a second mastery. This allows you the choice of creating a warrior who is good magician or a necromancer who can also kill his enemies quietly. If you feel that you've misspent your skill points, you can rearrange them (for a nominal fee) by visiting a certain NPC in each act.

The story of the game is based on the real mythologies of ancient Greece, Egypt, and Babylon, so you're bound to recognize many of your enemies. Additionally, you can learn much about the legends of the land you're adventuring in by talking to storyteller NPCs.

If you don't want to beat the hell out of the Titans alone, you can invite up to 6 friends and play in LAN/WAN with them in the cooperative mode through the entire game.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV 1.8GHz
Min.OS Win 2000
Min.RAM 512 MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVDROM Speed 8X
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Offline Players 1-6
Online Players 6
3D Accelerator
5 GB free hard drive space;
64 MB nVidia GeForce 3 or equivalent or ATI Radeon 8500 series with Pixel Shader 1.1 support

Trivia :
  • Titan Quest is the first game from Iron Lore, a new company founded by Brian Sullivan, one of the co-founders of Ensemble Studios and one of the creators of the Age of Empires series.
  • Titan Quest was named #5 "Game of the Year" by Games for Windows Magazine (March 2007)
Cheats :

Hint: Expert mode:
After completing the game, it can be played again with the same monsters but 30 levels higher.

Heroes of Might and Magic V


Published by Ubisoft Entertainment GmbH
Developed by Nival, Inc.
Released 2006
Genre Strategy, RPG

Description :

Today a marriage is to be celebrated: the Griffin Empire celebrates Emperor Nicolai and the tomboy-like Isabel who are soon to be united. But... something goes wrong and Demons emerge from the darkness, interrupting this joyous celebration! So, now Nicolai has to lead his army to war; while Isabel is carried away and treated like a poor defenseless girl.

She cannot sit still for long, so she breaks free from her escorts at the first opportunity and tries to seek some help for her Nicolai. While her escort, Godric, leaves to seek the powerful mages of the Shining Cities; Beatrice tries to contact the Elven armies of Irollan. Will she succeed in bringing help to her soon to be husband, Nicolai? Will Godric convince the mages to help the Griffin Empire?

This is the first Heroes of Might & Magic to feature 3D graphics and Multiplayer options. The turn-based system for tactical battles has been entirely re-written to be more scalable. It also features an entirely new plot, along with new spells, new units and new creatures skills.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV 1.5Ghz
Min.OS Win 2000
Min.RAM 512MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
CDROM Speed 32X
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Offline Players 1-4
3D Accelerator
128 MB AGP GeForce4 Ti4200/ RADEON 8500

Trivia :
  • The game was originally meant to be 2D and based on the Heroes of Might and Magic IV engine, but The 3DO Company went bankrupt along with the development division New World Computing, Inc., and the license was acquired by Ubisoft. They let Nival, Inc. handle the development and used a 3D engine right away.

  • Prior to the release, scheduled for 3rd April 2006, there was an open beta. The overall quality was perceived poor, and major fan sites decided to launch the "Save Heroes" movement at saveheroes.org (now also wesavedheroes.org) to persuade Ubisoft with a petition to push back the release to fix all the major bugs first.

    A news entry by GameSpot, however, revealed that the game had already been delayed before the beta test even started. This is what the movement wanted, but as it had happened silently, they signed a "News Suppression Pact" to not post about the game anymore until Ubisoft would publicly announce the delay.

    The postponement was eventually announced, but afterwards it was suggested, yet unproven, that the delay and the Save Heroes movement was an orchestrated Ubisoft PR tactic to draw attention to the game.

Cheats :

Create a backup copy of the file before proceeding. Use a text editor to edit the "autoexec.cfg" file in the "/heroes of might and magic v/profiles/" directory. Add the following line to the end of the file:
setvar dev_console_password = schwinge-des-todes

Press ~ during game play to display the console window. Type one of the following case-sensitive codes at the console window to activate the corresponding cheat function.

Effect Code
Add skill pointsadd_skill
Fill hero army with creatures from indicated town add_army town <0>
Selected hero has all spellsadd_all_spells
Set luck and morale for selected heroset_hero_luck_morale
Display indicated player's resourcesshow_player_money
Display selected hero's movement points show_hero_mp
Add indicated experience to selected hero add_exp
Set all resources to 0clear_money
Set gold quantityadd_gold
Get indicated number of resourcesadd_money
Win current mission@Win()
Lose current mission@Loose()

1. A value of 1 will add upgraded creatures.


Town names and numbers:
Use one of the following entries with the add_army town code.
Heaven or 0
Preserve or 1
Academy or 2
Dungeon or 3
Necro or 4
Inferno or 5

Skill names and numbers:
Use one of the following entries with the add_skill code.

logistics or 1
war_machines or 2
learning or 3
leadership or 4
luck or 5
offence or 6
defence or 7
sorcery or 8
destructive_magic or 9
dark_magic or 10
light_magic or 11
summoning_magic or 12
training or 13
gating or 14
necromancy or 15
avenger or 16
artificier or 17
invocation or 18
pathfinding or 19
scouting or 20
navigation or 21
first_aid or 22
ballista or 23
catapult or 24
intelligence or 25
scholar or 26
eagle_eye or 27
recruitment or 28
estates or 29
diplomacy or 30
resistance or 31
lucky_strike or 32
fortunate_adventurer or 33
tactics or 34
archery or 35
frenzy or 36
protection or 37
evasion or 38
toughness or 39
mysticism or 40
wisdom or 41
arcane_training or 42
master_of_ice or 43
master_of_fire or 44
master_of_lightnings or 45
master_of_curses or 46
master_of_mind or 47
master_of_sickness or 48
master_of_blessing or 49
master_of_abjuration or 50
master_of_wrath or 51
master_of_quakes or 52
master_of_creatures or 53
master_of_animation or 54
holy_charge or 55
prayer or 56
expert_trainer or 57
consume_corpse or 58
demonic_fire or 59
demonic_strike or 60
raise_archers or 61
no_rest_for_the_wicked or 62
death_scream or 63
multishot or 64
snipe_dead or 65
imbue_arrow or 66
magic_bond or 67
melt_artifact or 68
magic_mirror or 69
empowered_spells or 70
dark_ritual or 71
elemental_vision or 72
road_home or 73
triple_ballista or 74
encourage or 75
retribution or 76
hold_ground or 77
guardian_angel or 78
student_award or 79
grail_vision or 80
caster_certificate or 81
ancient_smithy or 82
pariah or 83
elemental_balance or 84
absolute_charge or 85
quick_gating or 86
master_of_secrets or 87
triple_catapult or 88
gating_mastery or 89
critical_gating or 90
critical_strike or 91
demonic_retaliation or 92
exploding_corpses or 93
demonic_flame or 94
weakening_strike or 95
fire_protection or 96
fire_affinity or 97
absolute_gating or 98
death_tread or 99
last_aid or 100
lord_of_undead or 101
herald_of_death or 102
dead_luck or 103
chilling_steel or 104
chilling_bones or 105
spellproof_bones or 106
deadly_cold or 107
spirit_link or 108
twilight or 109
haunt_mine or 110
absolute_fear or 111
disguise_and_reckon or 112
imbue_ballista or 113
cunning_of_the_woods or 114
forest_guard_emblem or 115
elven_luck or 116
forest_rage or 117
last_stand or 118
insights or 119
sun_fire or 120
soil_burn or 121
storm_wind or 122
fog_veil or 123
absolute_luck or 124
march_of_the_machines or 125
remote_control or 126
academy_award or 127
artificial_glory or 128
spoils_of_war or 129
wildfire or 130
seal_of_protection or 131
counterspell or 132
magic_cushion or 133
supress_dark or 134
supress_light or 135
unsummon or 136
absolute_wizardy or 137
teleport_assault or 138
shake_ground or 139
dark_revelation or 140
fast_and_furious or 141
lucky_spells or 142
power_of_haste or 143
power_of_stone or 144
chaotic_spells or 145
secrets_of_destruction or 146
payback or 147
elite_casters or 148
elemental_overkill or 149
absolute_chains or 150

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

Published by Aspyr Media, Inc.
Developed by Funcom Oslo A/S
Released 2006
Genre Action, Adventure

Description :

Dreamfall is the sequel to The Longest Journey and is a 3rd person adventure game with some action episodes.

The game begins in Casablanca, 2219. Zoë Castillo is about to get involved in a conspiracy that involves two worlds, one in magic and the other in technology. There has been static interference that is disrupting technology, and it seems to be linked to a little girl seen only by Zoë. As Zoë begins her search for a lost friend, she discovers the truth about the two worlds and the search is now on for the one person who may help Zoë unravel the dangerous web she has become entangled in: April Ryan.

Dreamfall puts you in control of three playable characters. It also introduces the focus field feature which bridges the gap between the classic point and click adventure game, where you could click on any given point at the screen, and the action adventure. This allows you to scan your entire visible environment as seen by the characters and also use it to eavesdrop into other people's conversations. The game also presents you with a number of ways to solve a confrontation, you can sneak, fight, or talk your way out of the problem. The game spans 13 chapters and like the previous game Zoë keeps a diary of all the events that occur in the game.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win XP
Min.RAM 512MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVDROM Speed 2X
Keyboard
Mouse
Offline Players 1
3D Accelerator

Trivia :
  • Although the game's minimum requirement on the box and "readme" file states that you need a GeForce FX 5700 or a ATi Radeon 9550 display card to run it, the game is playable on older cards such as GeForce 3 or Radeon 8500. In fact, it only uses pixel and vertex shaders version 1.1 not version 2.0 and beyond. However just like every shader model 1.1 powered games it won't work with GeForce 4 MX.
  • Dreamfall is an anniversary game for Funcom, as it is the 25th game they developed.
  • There are several references to Funcom's Anarchy Online series in the game. A copy of the Anarchy Online novel is visible in Zoë's apartment, and the music that plays on the first floor of Reza's apartment is also a track from the MMORPG.

Cheats :

No cheats yet.

Prey

Published by Human Head Studios, Inc.
Released 2006
Genre Action

Description :

When Tommy, a garage mechanic, defends his girlfriend in a bar fight in a Native American reservation in Oklahoma, the entire bar, along with everyone inside, is sucked into a shuttlecraft. They are transported into The Sphere, an enormous, organic alien ship. Tommy is set free by one of the denizens and his task is to save his girlfriend Jen and grandfather Enisi, and find out what the meaning of The Sphere is.

This 3D-shooter, based on a modified version of the Doom 3 engine, takes place entirely inside the gigantic ship. As a combination of organic and cybernetic structures, gravity is defied: with the proper grids activated, you can walk on walls and ceilings. There are also multiple dimensions inside the ship you can cross using portals. During his quest, Tommy struggles with his Native American lineage. The ghost-like hawk Talon is always on your side and you sometimes cross over to another land to get help from your grandfather. Tommy can also shift to Spirit Walk, an alternate dimension in the game to get past obstacles and solve puzzles. When you die, you are also transported to another realm where you have to shoot lost souls with your spirit bow before being sent back. Your new health and spirit status will be based on your performance there.

The weapons Tommy uses are usually organic, with secondary fire functions. The arsenal includes a wrench, a rifle, crawlers, an acid sprayer, an auto cannon, a leech gun (chargeable with fire, ice, red orbs or lightning), a rocket launcher and the spirit bow. Certain parts of the game require you to explore large areas in a flying pod. You can use it to engage enemies or use the tractor beam to move objects. Navigation, often with a distinct lack of direction, is reminiscent of Descent then. Puzzles usually require you to decipher codes, activate switches and find entrances.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win 2000
Min.RAM 512MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
CDROM Speed 8X
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Offline Players 1
Online Players 8
3D Accelerator
Game also uses OpenAL for sound.

Trivia :
  • The game depicts the Cherokee "Land of the Ancients" as being a stylized desert, reminiscent of Arizona. While this is likely intended to depict Oklahoma, it is incorrect. The Cherokee people are not, in fact, originally from Oklahoma. Originally, the Cherokee tribe resided in the general areas of North Carolina, Tennessee, etc. It was not until the Trail of Tears that the Cherokee people lived in Oklahoma.
  • The game is dedicated to the memory of William Scarboro, who died of an asthma attack on 9 August 2002. He was the game's original lead programmer in 1995, and devised the portal technology in the game's original incarnation.
  • In October 2006, the Triton digital distribution service used to activate the Windows version, was disabled, leaving the users in the cold. 3D Realms promised to look into it and soon after Triton announced that it would work on a patch to remove the dependency from the live system and allow you to backup / copy and play your games. A next step will be to make the game run without any of the Triton code.
  • There is a cool feature in Prey that people may not notice. If you have played the demo and uninstalled it but kept the save games, the retail version will recognize those saves, allowing you to resume the game at the latest save point you have. This way, you will not need to start the game all over again when you pick up your copy at the store.
  • At the time of the first confrontation with the possessed demon children you can hear toy music box melody playing in the background; It is the same exact melody that was playing in first Max Payne in the scene Max's family was murdered.
  • In one of the Art Bell radio chats, someone says "They've been preying on us since 1995!" This is a reference to Prey's development time, as 1995 was when development on the game was started.
Cheats :

Start the game with the +set com_allowconsole 1 command line parameter. Hold [Ctrl] + [Alt] + ~ during game play to display the console window. Then, enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function.

Note: Some console commands only work in developer mode. Use the devmap command first.

Effect Code
List commandslistcmds
Center viewcenterview
Clear the consoleclear
Close a portalcloseportal
Dump console text to \base\.txt condump
Damage indicated entity; use listentities for entities damage
Load a map in developer modedevmap
Exit gameexit
Display current map name in consolegetmapname
Teleport to putpos saved location getpos
Display current view positiongetviewpos
Spawn indicated itemgive
Give indicated gun energy for the Leech Gun giveenergy
God modegod
Heart beat pulse on healthhealthpulse
Hide all entities of a class or namehide
Suicidekill
Remove all monsterskillmonsters
Remove all moveableskillmoveables
Remove all ragdollskillragdolls
Kill targeted objectkillthis
List active game entitieslistactiveentities
List game classeslistclasses
List game entitieslistentities
List entity defslistentitydefs
List all modelslistmodels
List monsterslistmonsters
List spawn arguments of an entitylistspawnargs
List system commandslistsystemcmds
list tool commandslisttoolcmds
List type infolisttypeinfo
Load indicated mapmap
No clipping modenoclip
Disable the player as a targetnotarget
Open a portalopenportal
Display current playtimeplaytime
Possess the playerpossessplayer
Print extra map keys of targeted object print
Save location; used with getpos putpos
Quit the gamequit
Record the current view position with notes recordviewnotes
Remove all entities of a class or name remove
Set player gravitysetplayergravity
Set current view positionsetviewpos
show all entities of a class or nameshow
Show any view notes for the current map; repeat to see next note showviewnotes
Spawn a game entityspawn
Spawn indicated number of entitiesspawnabunch
Heart beat pulsespiritpulse
Take notes about the current map from the current view takeviewnotes
Teleport to an entity locationteleport
Enter or exit a shuttle with gunstoggleshuttle
Toggle talon targetstoggletalontargets
Trigger targeted objecttriggerthis
Unpossess the playerunpossessplayer
Display current view positionwhere


Simplified third person view:
Create a backup copy of the file before proceeding. Use a text editor to edit the "preyconfig.cfg" file in the game folder. Add the following line to the file.

bind "p""toggle pm_thirdperson"

Then, press P during game play to toggle third person view.

Simplified console:
Start the game with the +set com_allowConsole 1 command line parameter. This allows you to access the console in game by pressing ~.

Casino mode:
Successfully complete the game. Then, select "New Game" at the main menu. The "Casino Mode" option will now appear above the normal difficulty setting. Select that option to play the casino games in Jen's bar.

Cherokee mode:
Successfully complete the game. Then, select "New Game" at the main menu. The "Cherokee Mode" option will now be unlocked.

Concept art galleries:
To unlock the first gallery, successfully complete the game under the normal difficulty setting.

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends


Published by Microsoft Game Studios
Developed by Big Huge Games
Released 2006
Genre Strategy

Description :

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends maintains the hallmarks of the first RTS in the franchise (attrition, non-depletable resources, national borders) while improving on gameplay mechanics such as city building and large scale battles. In addition to these improvements Big Huge Games introduced several new features including dominances, neutral units, and capturable resources.

The sequel differs from its predecessor in that it takes place in a steampunk universe spanning autumn-dotted hills in the lands of the Vinci to blinding sandstorms in the burning deserts of the magical Alin. At the furthest reaches of the continent, hidden in the deepest jungles, lie the stone stepped pyramids of the brutal religious zealots known as the Cuotl. Through the Conquer the World (CTW) campaign players strategically guide a tightly knit group of heroes across the continent pursing monsters, love interests, power, and vengeance.

Rise of Legends also sports a Quick Battle (QB) component so players can jump right in to the action by selecting a map and one of the three unique races. The player’s final test of skill is to go head to head on Gamespy or LAN to explore the radically different strategies of the slow but god-like Cuotl, the fast but glass-like Alin, or the innovative but even-keel Vinci.

The campaign includes 52 scenarios with 15 heroes, while the Quick Battle and Multiplayer components include 42 maps for players to fight on.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIII
Min.OS Win XP
Min.RAM 256MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Offline Players 1
Online Players 8
3D Accelerator

Trivia :
  • Rise of Legends was named #9 "Game of the Year" by Computer Games Magazine (March 2007)
Cheats :

Press [Enter] during game play, then type one of the following codes to enable the corresponding cheat function.

Effect Code
Add mana to the hero/cheat mana +
Remove mana from hero/cheat mana -
Add resources/cheat resource +
Remove resources/cheat resource -
Add Juggernauts and Air Destroyers around your capital /cheat safe
Change explore configurations/cheat explore
Complete the selected building /cheat finish
Generate a new map/cheat mapgen
Give desired dominance/cheat dominance
Add unit or building to pointer/cheat add
All tech researched/cheat tech tech
Reveal the map/cheat reveal
Force peace, alliance, or war/cheat
Win mission/cheat victory

Note: When is 1, it is your character.

Modifying units:

Create a backup copy of the file before proceeding. Use a text editor to edit the "unitrules.xml" file in the "data" folder in the game directory. You can modify the in-game units to your liking.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion


Published by 2K Games
Developed by Bethesda Softworks LLC
Released 2006
Genre Action, RPG

Description :

This is the fourth title in Bethesda's popular Elder Scrolls series. The world of Tamriel is threatened by a demon-prince from Oblivion. The Emperor Uriel Septim and his three heirs were assassinated. You, a former prisoner in the Imperial Dungeons, were entrusted the Amulet Of Kings by the emperor himself, and the mission to find the illegitimate son of his, the last of the Septim bloodline. The world hangs in the balance, the Septims and the Amulet was the last barrier between Oblivion and Tamriel.

The fourth Elder scrolls game sticks to the style of its predecessors. Action based combat, first person view (The game features 3rd person perspective but it is largely useless), unlimited freedom of choice. The game lets you play any character you want. You can go in and just kill every monster in your path with your huge sword, or use stealth and backstab your foes from the shadows. You can go into to the world and search for forts, caves, mines, old temple ruins or you can just do some hunting.

The character system, as was the case in previous games, is based on skill usage. When you use one of your certain skills, it improves, in time you become a Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert and Master and gain certain bonuses for the skill.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV
Min.OS Win XP
Min.RAM 512MB
Min.DirectX 9.0C
DVDROM Speed 8X
Keyboard
Mouse
Offline Players 1
3D Accelerator
4.6 GB free hard disk space;
128 MB Direct3D Compatible Video card
DirectX 8.1 Compatible Sound Card

Supported Video Cards:

ATI X1900 series
ATI X1800 series
ATI X1600 series
ATI X1300 series
ATI X850 series
ATI x800 series
ATI x700 series
ATI x600 series
ATI Radeon 9800 series
ATI Radeon 9700 series
ATI Radeon 9600 series
ATI Radeon 9500 series
NVIDIA Geforce 7800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series
NVIDIA GeForce FX series

Trivia :
  • Oblivion was named #2 "Game of the Year" by Computer Games Magazine (March 2007)
  • Oblivion features 1500 NPCs that can be encountered during the course of the game.
  • The 'Shadow over Hackdirt' quest makes several references to one of the most famous novel by HP Lovecraft: 'The Shadow over Innsmouth'. There are references to the 'Deep Ones', the Brethren, a whole town of suspicious people, caverns underneath the earth and so on.
  • The game has been in development since mid 2002. The long period of development was necessary due to the implementation of a new Radiant AI system and the graphics. A player may encounter while travelling the world of Tamriel: 35.544 shrubs and bushes, 67.730 plants and mushrooms, 94.013 trees and fallen logs and 395,696 rocks !!!
Cheats :

Press ~ during game play to display the console window. Then, enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function.

Effect Code
Spawn indicated itemadditem
Get indicated spell addspell
Force a level upadvlevel
Force skill level upadvskill
Complete all quest stagescaqs
Teleport3coc
Set all quest stages completeallqueststages
Set hair colorhairtint
List console commandshelp
Kill selected NPC target; suicide if nothing is targeted kill
Lock selected door or container with indicated lock level lock <1-100>
Add indicated amount of points to indicated attribute2 modpca ,
Add indicated amount of points to specified skill1 modpcs ,
Moves to current quest target movetoqt
Spawn indicated itemplayer.additem 1
Add 100 lockpicksplayer.additem 0000000a "100"
Add 100 skeleton keysplayer.additem 0000000b "100"
Add 100 repair hammersplayer.additem 0000000c "100"
Add 100 goldplayer.additem 0000000f "100"
Spawn Welkynd Stone in inventoryplayer.additem 00000191 1
Add spell to character's spell listplayer.addspell
Remove spell from character's spell list player.removespell
Teleportplayer.coc
Add indicated amount of points to indicated stat4 player.setav
Set player level player.setlevel <1-255>
Set point of view angle; default is 75 pov
Give all spells to player psb
Quit game immediatelyqqq
Revive targetresurrect
Save game savegame
Set camera field of view in degrees; default is 75 setcamerafov
Set fog start and end depths setfog
Set character's famesetpcfame
Set character's infamysetpcinfamy
Change your gendersexchange
Change your birthsignshowbirthsignmenu
Change your classshowclassmenu
Show all log entries for indicated quest showfullquestlog
Show quest log showquestlog
Show current quest logshowquestlog 0
Show completed quest logshowquestlog 1
Show current quest targets showquesttargets
Show name/race/appearance selection screen showracemenu
Toggle NPC conversation subtitlesshowsubtitle
Window with the full game scene graphssg
Toggle AI tai
Toggle combat AItcai
Toggle no clippingtcl
Toggle AI detectiontdetect
Toggle debug display tdt
Free camera movementtfc
Toggle full helptfh
Toggle fog of wartfow
Toggle grasstg
God mode, if nothing is targetedtgm
Toggle landtll
Toggle leavestlv
Toggle menustm
All map locations showntogglemapmarkers
Toggle skyts
Toggle treestt
Toggle wireframetwf
Toggle watertws
Change weather instantlyfw
Change weather naturallysw
Release locked weatherreleaseweatheroverride
Unlock selected locked door or container unlock

1. For example, enter modpcs blade, 10 to increase your blade skill by 10 points; it will not set it to 10. Raising your skills in this manner will cause you to level up, but will not give you any attribute bonuses when you pick which attributes you want to increase on the level up screen.
2. For example, enter modpca strength, 10 to increase your strength by 10; it will not set it to 10.
3. Enclose the destination name in parenthesis if it contains a space.
4. For example, enter player.setav strength 60 to set your Strength to 60. This works for all statistics and skills including derived stats, such as Magicka and Fatigue. When you use this code to alter Magicka or Fatigue, you are changing the base value of the stat. For example, player.setav magicka 80 will add 80 points of Magicka to your character's base Magicka score. Changes made to skills using this code will not affect your character's level progression in the same manner as using the modpcs.

Weather codes:
Use the following entries with the fw or sw codes. If you add ,1 after the code (the weather override switch), the weather will stay like that until you either change it manually with fw or sw again, or you enable the code releaseweatheroverride.

Weather Code
Clear00038EEE
Cloudy00038EFE
Fog00038EEF
Overcast00038EEC
Rain00038EF2
Snow00038EED
Thunderstorm00038EF1
OblivionStormTamriel000836D5
OblivionStormTamrielMQ160006BC8B
CamoranNatural000370CE
Default0000015E

Test Hall:
Enable the coc testhall code. Inside the Test Hall is a Creature Test room, an NPC Test Hall, a secret town called Hawkhaven, weapon, armor, clothing, low-high class decor rooms, and lockpick tests. Note: If you go in and just pick items up (if you have the God mode enabled) the game will be incompleteable. You will get quest items and you cannot drop them. You will be stuck doing different quests. Also if you pick up a lot of items the game will lag when you go to where you dropped everything.

No bounty:
When you have a bounty, enter third person mode, select yourself, then enter payfinethief as a code.

Hint: Easy magic skills increase:
Complete all the Mage Guild Recommendation Quests to gain access to the Arcane University. Buy the cheapest spell you can find for each of the magic based skills (Illusion, Conjuration, Alteration, Mysticism, Restoration and Destruction). For Destruction, a Drain Spell is recommended. Go to where you make your own spells and select a spell. Make it so you only use up 1 Magicka and the spell is on "Self". Name the spell and create it. Do this with all the other types of magic based skills then make them all on "Self", including Destruction. If you used a Drain spell, when you use it on yourself it may appear you took damage but you do not, because you drain it from yourself to yourself. Cast the spells all the time when you are walking around or whenever possible. Your skills will increase quickly without having to wait between spellcastings. Note: This trick will only work if the spells are cast on "Self". Spells do not count towards experience unless they have an effect on something.

Note: Instead of constantly casting the spell manually, enable the "StickyKeys" option in the "Windows Accessibility Options" section of the Windows XP Control Panel. Bind "Cast" to [Ctrl], [Alt], or [Shift]. Tap whichever key that you have bound one time while in-game to cast the spell indefinitely.

Hint: Easy skill bonuses:
Complete all the Mage Guild Recommendation Quests to gain access to the Arcane University. Create a Fortify Skill 100 spell that lasts for a few seconds on self for Mercantile and/or Armorer. With the Mercantile spell, cast it in front of a merchant, activate them, and you will be able to invest 500 gold at their store without being a Master in Mercantile. In addition, you can drive harder bargains. For Armorer, cast the spell and then equip an Armorer's Hammer. Your hammer can be used infinitely without being a Master Armorer. You cannot, however, repair magical items without having legitimately reached the Journeyman Armorer level. Similar spells can be created for other attributes and/or skills: Personality and Speechcraft for raising people's dispositions, Security for picking any lock, etc.

Hint: Easy Acrobatic experience:
To gain easy Acrobatic experience, just jump around everywhere you go. You can gain many levels just by jumping while moving to other destinations.

Find a place with a low roof or ceiling, or get on top of something to make the ceiling or roof closer to you. Start jumping repeatedly and you will hit the ceiling or roof and come down from fast. This allows you to jump at very fast speeds depending on how close you are to the ceiling or roof.

Hint: Easy Alchemy experience:
Steal a mortar and pestle. Steal a lot of food items and turn them into potions. It should not take too long before you reach the Master Of Alchemy level.

Hint: Easy Armorer experience:
There is a woman named Arvena Thelas in the town of Anvil who has four rats in her basement (the same as the first Fighter's Guild quest). If your level is high enough that rats do not cause you significant damage, you can break into her house, annoy the rats by punching them (or casting drain fatigue spells if your punch is too strong), then letting all four rats attack you while you just cast an occasional heal spell. This is also useful for raising your Block skill, and is much easier than repeatedly causing summoned monsters to attack you.

Gain access to the Arcane University. Go to where you make spells and make a spell that damages armor and put it on "self." Use the "Duplicate items" glitch on repair hammers then just cast and repair to get the skill up.

Finish the final Umbacano mission using the option of giving him the fake crown. After the mission is complete, take the crown off his corpse. The crown is broken and does not have a health percentage. Buy many hammers and keep repairing it. Because it has no health you can repair it an unlimited amount of times, raising your Armorer skill quickly.

Hint: Easy Athletics experience:
Get an enchanted amulet, ring, or other item you can enchant with Water Breathing. Make sure it is a constant effect. Equip the item with Water Breathing then jump in some water. Swim to the bottom and just keep swimming into the floor. Your Athletics will greatly increase in five minutes.

Hint: Easy Blade experience:
Use the following trick to master your Blade skill quickly. Go to the Imperial Waterfront then go directly south from there. After awhile you should find a place called Faregyl Inn. Once inside, talk to Alix Lencolia. He will master your Blade skill. Note: You hould have at least 9,000 gold, but you do not have to do it all at once.

Hint: Easy Combat experience:
Use the following trick for an easy Strength Bonus modifier and Combat experience. Go to the Imperial City Market District near the gate to the central circular plaza where there are ramps leading down to a pond area. Stand in the water at the base of the ramp (not submerged or you cannot conjure). Face up the ramp and summon skeleton conjuration magic. It will summon behind you in the water. If it is on the ramp in front of you just push it in the water. The skeleton will not fight back while submerged in the water. Buy a very basic weapon of each class and set the difficulty to very hard. Raise your hand-to-hand, blade, and blunt skill by ten levels in total, not each one. Then rest at the Merchants Inn. It helps if you include two of these skills as your major skills. Each level you will get the +5 strength modifier, and can easily get to 100 Strength within the first ten levels if you start the game with summon skeleton. Try this trick with other more powerful summon monsters for later levels. This is also an easy way to build conjuration and if you have the patience and arrows, Marksman experience.

Hint: Easy Conjuration experience:
Near the town of Bruna, go east, southeast. If you reach The Red Ruby Cave you went too far. You will need to go back west slightly. You should see a shrine, that will once activated, will give you Conjuration points as well as a temporary bound weapon and/or greaves. You can keep activating the shrine every 24 hours. Wait in front of it for 24 hours, then activate it again. Repeat this as many times as desired.

Company of Heroes


Published by THQ, Inc.
Developed by Relic Entertainment
Released 2006
Genre Strategy

Description :

A a real-time strategy game that drops you into the fray of World War II Europe. From the bloody beaches of Omaha to the deadly firefights of the Bocage, you attempt to lead your troops to victory one battle at a time.

What really sets Company of Heroes apart from other real-time strategy games, much like Relic Entertainment's previous entry is that you no longer train and control individual troops. Instead you deploy squads of soldiers. Players must train a balanced assortment of units in order to obtain victory over their adversaries.

In addition, resource gathering has gone in a different direction from that of other RTS games. Now players must attempt to capture and control strategic points which bring in the much needed resources of manpower, munitions and fuel to build and train new units.

Company of Heroes' Essence Engine brings a new level of depth to RTS games with deformable terrain and completely destructible environments. Units will take cover in burnt out craters and tanks can decimate buildings suspected of containing snipers.

The game comes with three modes of play -- single-player campaign, single-player skirmish and online multiplayer.

Requirements :

Min.CPU PIV 3.0 GHz
Min.OS Win XP
Min.RAM 512 MB
Min.DirectX
DVDROM Speed 8X
Keyboard
Mouse
Internet/LAN
Offline Players 1
Online Players 8
3D Accelerator

Note :

1 GB RAM for multiplayer
256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series or better for multiplayer
100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 64MB video card with Pixel Shader 1.1 support or equivalent
6.5 GB of uncompressed free hard drive space + 1 GB after installation
1 set of discs per computer for multiplayer

Supported Video Cards :

ATI RAdeon 9500 series
ATI Radeon 9600 series
ATI Radeon 9700 series
ATI Radeon 9800 series
ATI Radeon X300 series
ATI Radeon X550 series
ATI Radeon X600 series
ATI Radeon X700 series
ATI Radeon X800 series
ATI Radeon X1300 series
ATI Radeon X1600 series
ATI Radeon X1800 series
ATI Radeon X1900 series
NVIDIA GeForce3/Ti series
NVIDIA GeForce4/Ti (excluding the GeForce4MX series)
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 series
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 serie;
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 series

Trivia :
  • Company of Heroes was named #1 "Game of the Year" by Computer Games Magazine (March 2007)
  • As of September 2006, Company of Heroes is fairly unusual for a retail game of its kind. Unlike hundreds of other games on the store shelves, Company of Heroes does not require the DVD-Rom to be present in the drive when you play.
  • Company of Heroes was named #2 "Game of the Year" by Games for Windows Magazine (March 2007)
Cheats :

Start the game with the -dev command line parameter. Then, press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + ~ during game play to display the console window. Enter one of the following console codes to activate the corresponding cheat function. Press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + ~ again to close the console window for code activation.

Effect Code
Toggle fog of warFOW_Toggle
Set game speed; default is 8setsimrate
Hide taskbartaskbar_hide
Show taskbartaskbar_show
Toggle big head modeee_bigheadmode(<0>)
Enable statgraph_channel codesstatgraph()
Display frame ratestatgraph_channel("fps")
Quit gameabortgame
Restart game restart