Stalin vs Martians is an upcoming RTS by Russian developers Dreamlore and was brought to my attention by the usual fellas.

Stalin vs Martians has a simple premise. The year is 1942, Stalin is the Soviet leader and Martians have invaded Siberia and you are promised a crazy gaming experience later this year.

24 April 2008

Stalin vs. Martians unveiled

Black Wing Foundation, Dreamlore and N-Game announce a joint project Stalin vs. Martians and probably the most bizzare gaming experience of the year 2008.The name of the game is a work of art and actually it doesn’t really matter if the game is playable at all. The concept is enough. Simply makes your brain explode. But somehow we have more than that to offer.

Stalin vs. Martians is also a good real-time strategy. Fast, simple, intuitive and incredibly fun. Trashy and absolutely over-the-top, arthouse kitsch production in it’s finest. With a good technical basis and some healthy gameplay innovations. A natural choice for anyone bored of hundreds and hundreds identical “World War II strategies”. And a perfect choice for anyone who just hates the strategy genre.

Go read the ideology behind this game and wait for more info!

TrackMania Nations Forever has now been released by Nadeo. This is the free sequel to TrackMania Nations and features a new ‘Forever’ Stadium envrionment, a complete solo mode and 65 brand new tracks!

Also offered is the chance for owners of TrackMania United to play with people on TrackMania Nations Forever with a new patch for the purchasable game.

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(This short piece was written in response to this and this, two articles from Rock, Paper, Shotgun dealing with Pathologic.)

Do games have to be fun to be good? This is a question which following Quinns take on Pathologic over on Rock, Paper, Shotgun has been running around in my head like a hamster does on a wheel. Or is that a mouse…anyway one of the points that Quinns raised in his examination of Pathologic was that while it may not always be a fun game to play, it was a good game.

Of course this statement caused some debate among the RPS fanatics, another issue that was raised in response to this detailed examination of Pathologic was whether current reviewing methods are really all that good.

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There is a fine line between success and failure in games where getting a big score or appearing on a leader board are the driving features of the game. Games like Peggle have done fantastically well with this format, The Club however failed to perform as well as it could have.

Fortunately we have a new game to add to the list of successes, that is Red Lynx’s Trials 2 Second Edition. Trials 2 SE is based on the earlier Trials games and probably some even older imitators which I have never heard of or played. Trials 2 SE is the latest edition to the franchise, it is a heavily revised version of Trials 2 offering loads of new features and better chances for gaming fun.

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