Spiderweb Software has officially announced the upcoming release of Avernum 5, the latest in the long running Exile/Avernum RPG series. Spiderweb has opened a new website for the game and is also offering a collection of screenshots.

Avernum 5 takes a new direction with the story, allowing players to play as a group of soldiers from the above ground world of the Empire who have descended into Avernum's depths to search for the murderer of their Empress. The game will feature hundreds of quests, an epic storyline, unique encounters, and a variety of spells and items to discover.

More about Avernum 5 from Jeff Vogel:

Since many of the neat new graphics aren't done (we have a pretty cool selection of new creatures coming up), these shots mostly have older stuff. This will, of course, change as we get closer to release.

The game world is about 40% done. I've been putting a lot of effort into having lots of funky scripted encounters, so it's been exhausting, but I've very happy with how it's coming together. Balancing it will be a bear, though.

Still shooting for the Mac version being out just before Thanksgiving. I'll have to put in some weekends, but having a product out for Black Friday is worth it.

Spiderweb Forums: June Avernum 5 Update

Spiderweb Software

Avernum 5

Buy Avernum 5

Click to enlarge

Inside Mac Games has posted a review for Introversion's DEFCON, ported by the venerable Ambrosia Software. Here's a clip from the review:

In case you haven’t already guessed, DEFCON is a strategy game, but it’s probably quite a bit different than anything you’ve already played. Obviously, with a name like “DEFCON,” if you assume that the purpose of the game is to nuke the enemy’s territory into a flat pane of glass, you can’t be far off. However, the sole indicator that determines your success or failure is not the number of enemy military units left at the end of the game—it’s the remaining civilian population occupying the many cities scattered around the globe. In an eerie departure from beautifully-rendered strategy games like Command and Conquer 3, DEFCON presents the world in sharply contrasted vector-based graphics that provide a uncanny sense of disconnect between the player and the events happening before him.

IMG Review of DEFCON

Ambrosia Software

DEFCON

MacSoft and Inside Mac Games are teaming up for a special giveaway to celebrate the release of Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs, the new expansion pack for Age of Empires III.

The winners (three in all) of the giveaway will each win a copy of Age of Empires III, Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs, and the Age of Empires III board game!

Only one entry per person will be allowed. The three winners will be randomly picked July 20th, 2007.

To enter the giveaway, please follow the link below.

Inside Mac Games Giveaway

MacSoft

Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs

Buy Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs

Click to enlarge

A new review of The Sims 2 add-on, Glamour Life Stuff, is now available from Applelinks. The Sims 2 Glamour Life Stuff was developed for Mac by Aspyr Studios, Aspyr's internal development team, and introduces 60 new items for Sims 2 players to enjoy. Applelinks gave the stuff pack a score of 2 out of 5.

From the review:

Glamour Life Stuff, then, is something of a less exciting add-on to the Sims canon; it doesn't allow your characters to go on jet-set trips to Rome or Monte Carlo, but allows them to dress up as if they did. An expansion of expensive items for your well-to-do Sims, it allows you to drench your characters and/or their house with modern art, expensive clothes, and other "finery," most of which is kind of garish: pop art and fur coats. It's sort of a middle class idea of what a rich person would have. But then, the Sims has always been about conspicuous consumption. The stuff all looks nice—and by that I mean well-designed from a computer standpoint, right down to the Lichtenstein print with the Sims dialogue box (choice of six different styles, no less) printed on it. Even the fur coat, which I suppose I should be upset about, but will wait until they come out with Sims 2: Fur Trapper and Seal Clubber expansion before I let it get my ire up.

The only question is, should you pay for this particular expansion when there's so much free content out on the web? Tough call. With the previous expansions, you were given new areas of the game to explore, new actions to take, and new ways to interact with other characters. With GLS, you're getting...a new chair.

Applelinks: The Sims 2 Glamour Life Stuff Review

The Sims 2 Glamour Life Stuff

Maxis

Aspyr Media

The Sims 2

Buy The Sims 2

IGN has posted a Q&A with Brian Reynolds about the upcoming Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties expansion for the PC. The interview covers the expansion's new features including the shift from the New World to the Far East, new elephant war units, and unique new Wonders.

IGNPC: The new Asian civs make use of Wonders and Consulates. How do these work for the Indian civilization? What opportunities do they present to the players?

Brian Reynolds: The Indian civilization has five unique Wonders such as the Taj Mahal or the Agra Fort, and they build one of their choice whenever they want to "age up". Each Wonder provides a unique and lasting benefit or ability in addition to a one-time bonus, so they're more powerful than the Politicians that the European nations use to age up, for instance. By way of example, the Agra Fort is a powerful fortress, which you can choose to build early in the game; whereas the Taj Mahal provides a special "Cease Fire" ability to prevent combat for a period of time.

The Consulate allows you to form an alliance with an overseas European power. The choices available to each civilization depend on which European powers had the most historical contact with them: in the case of the Indians, the choices available are the British, Portuguese, French, and Ottomans. Forming an alliance provides you with an extra bonus (for example, allying with the British provides your units with a hit point bonus, whereas allying with the French gives you a resource gathering bonus). It also allows you to exchange your exports (representing the Tea, Silk and Spice which the Asian powers controlled and the European powers sought) for military and technological aid from your ally. For example if you ally with the French you will gain access to occasional shipments of Cuirassiers and Horse Artillery.

IGN: AoE III Asian Dynasties

MacSoft

Age of Empires III

Buy Age of Empires III

Click to enlarge

Games Radar recently posted a preview of Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, the upcoming expansion for the popular turn based strategy title. The expansion will focus on increasing the play value in the late game after the introduction of gunpowder. The review previews some of the interesting new and improved scenarios included with the expansion.

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword. Instead, BtS spices things up with a ton of unexpected scenario extras, sporting everything from dragons and spell casters to creepy mechs and zombie-like aliens. With a staggering lineup of such strange and unexpected scenarios, BtS looks ready to carve its way around what might have otherwise been a rather anticlimactic add-on to the Civ IV universe.

Fans of the popular dungeon crawler-like mod, Fall from Heaven, can look forward to a new beefed up campaign in Beyond the Sword. Firaxis designers worked directly with the creators who made the original fantasy-based RPG mod to ensure that the Fall from Heaven: Age of Ice scenario was true to the original.

You’ll control, Kylorin, an ancient hero on a quest to stop the God of Winter, Mulcarn from his nonstop shenanigans of killing everyone with endless sheets of snow. Apparently, the God of Summer was on vacation or taking a nap during the Age of Ice. But that’s OK, because there’s plenty of dungeon crawling goodness infused with traditional Civ IV city-building play to make this four hour adventure worth your while.

Games Radar: Civ IV BtS Scenario Preview

Aspyr Media

Civilization IV

Buy Civilization IV

Click to enlarge

Electronic Arts shipped Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix this week, the latest installment in the Potter video game series. The Mac version of the game is planned for release next week. The game follows the adventures of Harry and his friends as they prepare to battle Voldemort.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’s non-linear gameplay allows the player to explore an interactive Hogwarts, discovering dark corridors and secret rooms along the way. Choose where you go, what you do and when you do it, using the innovative gesture-based spell casting system.

"In addition, attend a number of classes as side-missions and compete in wizard Mini-Games throughout Hogwarts to compete against the best from each house. Experience the most authentic-to-the-movie game experience in Harry Potter history, with authentic characters and locales that give the look, feel and sound of the movi

Mac Observer: Harry Potter For Mac Coming Next Week

Electronic Arts

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

Buy Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

Search for other Mac games news stories or browse our Mac Games News Archive.