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Freeverse and MrJoy today released Hordes of Orcs, a new "tower-defense" strategy game which challenges players to hold off a massive attacking army of the monstrous invaders. Players must construct walls and lethal towers to prevent the orcs from reaching the human village. If too many orcs make it to the village the defenders fail.

"We're very happy to release Hordes of Orcs with MrJoy.  I've found that fighting orcs that are running across my screen is infinitely more fun than getting actual work done.  Personally, I'm hoping this game may reduce productivity amongst Mac users by a full ten percent.  That's what we're going for!" said Ian Lynch Smith, President of Freeverse.

Hordes of Orcs is a “Tower Defense” game in which you must build walls and lethal towers to defend your village from the Orcs emerging from, what the village elders call, “The Glowing Portal of Really Bad Things That We Should Have Bricked-Up a Long Time Ago.” Sadly, the Portal is un-bricked and the Orcs are very, very hungry. If 20 Orcs make it to your village, you’re toast.

To kill the Orcs, buy some Towers. Arrow Towers are cheap and weak, Radiation towers are expensive and deadly. Each Tower has its own unique abilities, and each tower can be upgraded to do more damage or to have more range. Click on a tower to see its stats and upgrade cost. Should you build lots of Arrow Towers? Or a few Fire Towers? Well, that’s where the strategy comes in!

Hordes of Orcs is proud to use the +7systems Balance Engine to collect game-play information. The more info the Balance Engine collects, the better future versions of Hordes of Orcs can be tweaked, resulting in an awesome game only getting better. Only game-play information is transmitted back while you play Hordes of Orcs. At no time do we access any personal information (unless you count doing 683 damage to an Orc personal). You can opt out of this at any time. Click on Options in the main menu and select Other and un-check the “Participate in +7 Balance Engine?“ option.

- Mac OS X 10.3.9 or Better
- Intel GMA950 or better video card
- 384MB of RAM
- 1.83Ghz CPU (Intel or PowerPC)
- 35MB of disk space

Freeverse

MrJoy

Hordes of Orcs

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Macworld's Game Room recently posted a new review of Colin McRae Rally Mac. The game features over 30 cars, more than 300 stages, nine different international locations, and realistic physics and car handling. The Game Room gave Colin McRae a score of 4 out of 5 mice.

From the review:

Both graphics and sound effects are top-notch in this game. You have a few options to adjust that enable you to modulate graphics effects and performance; some are available when you first launch the game, in a front-loading interface Feral tacks on, and others are available within the game’s options itself.

Because of some of the graphics in the game, Colin McRae Rally Mac isn’t supported on MacBooks and Mac minis—systems that use Intel GMA graphics.

Sound effects aren’t extensively used; there a few different view modes, each of which offer you a different audio experience. Viewing the car from above and behind, for example, distances you from engine and road noises, while the bumper’s eye view will give you the steady rumble of the pavement and the clank of the transmission locking into different gears. The game supports game controllers, as well. I tested it with a MadCatz PC Con controller, which worked well—unfortunately I couldn’t test it out with a steering wheel (my fault, not Feral’s).

Colin McRae Rally Mac has multiplayer support, too. Up to four players can play on the same computer using a split screen, and over the Internet, the game defers to GameRanger, the Mac-only online game matching service, in order to find other players. That requires you to download a separate client application and register for an account, both of which are free for the purposes of playing the game online.

Macworld's Game Room: Colin McRae Rally Mac Review

Feral Interactive

Colin McRae Rally

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Apple Games has released a new feature, this one focusing on the just released Mac version of Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock. The game challenges players to keep up with the rhythm of the music as they rock their way to the top of the score board. The feature offers tips and tricks on becoming a guitar hero, cheat codes, and commentary from Aspyr Media's Glenda Adams.

In addition to embarking on a career, you can take on an opponent, at the same computer or over the Internet, in Guitar Battle mode. Battle Power replaces Star Power in these shredfests, allowing you to break your opponent’s guitar strings, overload her amplifier, or throw out other dirty tricks that will keep her from hitting the right notes. Of course, she has access to the same arsenal.

“Beating a song is great, but beating your friend at a song is even better,” laughs Adams. “The game also tracks your single- and multi-player games and adds your scores to the overall leader boards, so you can see how you stack up against other Mac and PC players.”

Adams and her team also made sure you can rock out even if you’re traveling with your laptop and didn’t pack your guitar. “We thought it would be great to let you play if you’re on a break at the office or in the airport,” she explains. “So we spent a considerable amount of time coming up with a way to use the keyboard, with or without the trackpad, to play the game. I think it worked out really well; sometimes I can play a song better on the keyboard than the guitar.”

Apple Games: Guitar Hero III

Aspyr Media

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

Buy Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

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Spiderweb Software has released an update for Geneforge 4: Rebellion, the latest installment in the RPG series. The update brings the game to version 1.0.3 and fixes problems with the graphics in the new Leopard operating system. Geneforge 4 chronicles the war between shapers and rebels, offering players the chance to aid either side in the conflict.

We have released a new version of Geneforge 4: Rebellion for the Macintosh. This v1.0.3 update fixes problems with the graphics in the new Leopard operating system. Getting the new version is strongly recommended if you are using Leopard.

MGF: Geneforge 4 1.0.3

Spiderweb Software

Geneforge 4

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