If you’re a fan of gaming and keep up with the news, it’s likely you’ve heard about the Warcraft movie that’s going to be happening sometime in the future. Can’t say it’s much of a surprise, but what will this movie mean — from a gaming standpoint?

The movie likely won’t launch for a few years more. A few years that will allow Blizzard time to prep for… something. Any guesses? What’s that? a WoW sequel? Perhaps Warcraft 4? I think so!

Blizzard did it before with WoW; the release of Warcraft 3 and its sequel paved the way for hype and story. Now we have a Warcraft movie coming.

I’ll go on record here and say that Blizzard will release 1 more expansion for WoW before the release of the movie. This expansion will set up the story and backdrop of the movie. Afterward, we will see one of two things: another expansion that will pick up after the movie and lead into a WoW sequel, or the movie itself will lead into a WoW sequel. I’m going for the latter, as it seems the best choice — unless Blizzard does something really different and carries WoW1 characters over to WoW2…

In any case, the hype will be phenomenal — and not only in the gaming sector *should the movie turn out well*. I can already see the merchandise for the movie, that would also tie directly into the game(s). Unique vanity pets with the limited edition DVD set! Free trials for you and friends for WoW2 in each DVD! (before they offer a free trial to everyone, of course) And so on, and so forth.

WoW has been going pretty strong for 5-6 years now, the movie likely won’t hit for another 3-4. WoW will be nearly a decade old. The time will be ripe for a sequel, and the hype will be huge.

(let’s just hope they can fix Barren’s chat by then, eh? eh?! *sigh*)

Just in time, too. Just saw on Steam a few moments ago that they’re having more sales… This week: Paradox Interactive’s games. The list includes three that I’ve wanted, but haven’t gotten — King’s Bounty: The Legend, Europa Universalis III (with expansions), and Mount & Blade. All 50% off. I’m glad I got paid last Friday.

In other (personal) gaming news, apart from The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, I got my teeth into a couple Star Wars games this weekend — they’re both FPSs and a bit old: Battlefront 2 and Republic Commando. In my gaming binge fervor I went ahead and beat them both (or, as much as Battlefront can be beaten…).

No real need for reviews on them, here’s the skinny.

If you like Star Wars, like FPS games, and don’t mind graphics that are a bit outdated (for a reasonable price) — go ahead and get em. I think Republic Commando was 10 bucks on Steam; for that price it’s not bad, in fact it’s quite good. Both games are not top notch pieces of gaming history by any means, they’re fairly average.

And apart from Star Wars I also got around to try Dawn of Discovery — this one I will be doing a bit more on in the future. If you like real time strategy involving city building and management, along with colonial conquest and exploration, then you’ll likely enjoy this game quite a bit.

Now, I’m off to some gaming!

I managed to sneak in a bit of gaming this weekend! The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is on Steam, for those unaware, and I couldn’t resist. This is a classic adventure game filled with humor — an excellent time throughout.

Arr!

Time for a short review! To start off with, you can notice the nice artwork here, but if you prefer the old game… hit F10 and it’ll instantly swap to it — no matter where you are. It’s basically two games in one! (only the two games are the same game, at different times in the same place, yeah? yeah)

If you’ve played the original, you’ll know the game — not too much in the meat of it that’s different (though there is some, explained later here) — but if you’re new: this tale follows Guybrush Threepwood on his adventure to become a pirate.

The game is fairly short (pretty much to the original, as far as I can remember) and I finished it in a few hours. Should you not know what you’re doing, and don’t want to use the hints, then you could get several more hours out of it. Just don’t blame me if they’re somewhat frustrating hours.

As said before, the game is still pretty much the same with the exception of the inventory/interface. It’s pretty minimal, as you can see from the screenshot. Instead of having everything displayed before you, your mouse will do a bit of a ‘smart-ish’ morph around certain things — mostly defaulting to look at, or you can use hotkeys. This is somewhat awkward and something I kinda wish they hadn’t changed. The inventory isn’t too friendly, either, as it closes whenever you select an action on something — even if you want to use it on another item in your inventory. Luckily there are few real needs for it.

Apart from the interface, there’s voice acting! I think it’s well done and adds a good bit to the game and its humor. Sound is pretty good, all around.

I’ve heard of bugs on forums, but didn’t see any during my play through. Be warned that there likely are some.

Okay, now… why should anyone get this? First, you like adventure games. Second, you liked the game when it first came out and want to see an updated version. Third, you’ve got money burning in your pocket and want something humorous. Why shouldn’t you get this? Cost vs. Time. Like I said, it only took me a few hours to really get through it — for 20 bucks. The replay-ability isn’t really there, either. Perhaps in another 20 years or so. If you don’t like puzzles or adventure games — then of course you should stay away…

Overall I’d say the game is a lot of fun, and a great trip down memory lane. The inclusion of the original style with the push of a button really makes it worthwhile. Just wish it were a bit cheaper.

In case you’re wondering (or even if you’re not!) I’m busy with prepping to move, while still working full time hours… This means no gaming time right now and nothing to write about (hardly any time to write, even). So I’ll throw a warning out — I may not be posting much for the next week. I’ll see what I can do in my spare time, but there’s little of it right now. Alrighty, I’ve got cleaning to do…

Everyone have a good weekend? I hope so. Mine was full of busyness and little gaming, unfortunately. I did get some time in with Overlord 1 and 2. I bought the second first, since I’ve gone through most of the first already, but while playing it I noticed gaps in my memory of the game’s story — since I never completed it. Thus, I got the first and am playing through it… first.

Something to know about Overlord — it’s not your typical good-guy hero RPG (though there is a silly amount of ‘good’ things to do… nonsense all of it). You play an evil overlord bent on destruction and subjugation. To aid in this evil-doing are your minions — essentially little goblins that come in four flavors: brown (melee, tanks), red (ranged, nuking), green (melee, roguish), and blue (support, rez’ing). The number of minions you control increases during the game, allowing more strategy in your setup. The game plays like a third-person action/adventure/puzzler… you run around with your minions killing things and getting past obstacles. It’s somewhat repetitive in that sense, but the puzzles do change and get harder so if you like them you should have more than enough fun. The biggest enjoyment in the game, to me, is the darker comedy and actions you can take. For instance: you come across the last sacred area in an elven forest… it’s completely untouched — save for the bloody, crazed unicorns sitting in the tall grasses, blocking your path to a health increase. There are several elven ghosts floating around, pointing out the sacred grove and offering the health increase to you… but how to get it? Certainly you could fight all the unicorns, but they’re a bit tough and you’ll likely lose several minions that way… or you could set fire to the tall grasses and turn everything a crispy charcoalish black! The elves may be sad, but hey — they’re dead already! Such is the fun you get to have while being evil. That’s the typical choice you get to make in Overlord, it’s usually pretty black/white as far as morality goes — which is good for the light-hearted/comical setting.

All around, it’s a solid game with a lot fun moments. The second seems to be much of the same, with some improvements all around. Try the demos — you’ll likely enjoy them.

Ok, no posting today and through the weekend — busy time here.

Next week I’ll see about posting on this weekend’s Aion beta, provided I get some time into it, and Cities XL. Maybe some non-MMO games too (think Trine is launching soon, Overlord 1 or 2, etc).

Anyways, have a good weekend and happy 4th.