Appletell

Gather ‘round, folks, for the latest installment of the acclaimed Age Of Empires series is upon us. Whether its the intricate plot line or the strategic gameplay that floats your boat, chances are this game won’t disappoint the AOE fanatic. Whether you’re conquering Feudal Japan, or fighting the betraying Zamorins, a lot goes on in this one little game.

Read on for a full review of the game!

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It may be hard to believe, but the release date of one of the most anticipated video games in a long time is nearing. In recent months, starting with the Spore Creature Creator, we have been teased and taunted with little samples of the game, intended to keep our breath bated until the 12th of September. Now, the latest appetizer for the entree that is Spore has been released. The newest installment, titled Spore Origins, has been released for game-compatible iPods in the US. Through the 18 levels of Primordial Tide Pool goodness, EA hopes to give a taste of what the full version will present itself to be.

Read the full review of Spore Origins for the iPod after the break.

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Whether you’re in a warship, aircraft or submarine, you control the battle and lead it every step of the mission. Battlestations: Midway allows you to choose a different path on which to play the game. U.S. Campaign, Naval Academy, Ship Challenge, Plane Challenge and the Submarine Challenge are the five different battles of which you can take control. So, if you’re playing the Ship Challenge and are really getting annoyed from the submarine shooting missiles at your cruiser, play as a submarine and demolish a ship.

This fast, action-packed game has stunning graphics that make you wonder if they could get any better. Leading and controlling your ship, submarine, aircraft, shipyard or airfield requires more skill than pointing and shooting, such as creating tactics to avoid the emenies and complete your mission. Each unit has its own unique features which change gameplay and keeps it interesting.

Read the full review after the break.

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With the release of The Movies: Stunts and Effects, your virtual films can now be even cooler...well, provided you feel that stunts and effects are cool to begin with. The romantic comedy types may not need this, but those who share my belief that every single movie ever made could’ve been enhanced with a prolonged sword fighting skeleton scene (especially all those Jennifer Lopez movies that weren’t called The Cell) will find plenty to enjoy here.

Well, plenty to enjoy outside of sword fighting skeletons, anyway, which aren’t included. Maybe they should get an expansion pack of their own?

Jump past the break to find out what is included in this expansion pack for Feral Interactive’s acclaimed sim game: The Movies

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The Sims 3 has been in development since 2006, and a Mac version has been confirmed. In the typical spirit of computer games, the Mac version will come out a few months after our PC friends already have it running. While we Mac users wait a few months (the PC version isn’t due out until Q1 2009), I’ve found a few sites for some goodies to add to Sims 2. Expansion packs for the game add many new objects, clothing and other items to the game. Several fansites have put out goodies on the net for free, which allow you to add new objects, skins, hair, whatever, at no cost.

Some sites make you pay to add objects to the game. In the EA Tools End User License, it states that any third party material created for the game is owned by EA, and must be “… on your personal noncommercial website for the noncommercial benefit.” So, any sites that charge for bonus content or that have a subscription model are violating the license. What I’m trying to get to is that you shouldn’t feel guilty downloading free stuff; the pay sites are the ones who are breaking the rules.

Get the free stuff after the break.

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The thing I love above all other aspects of the Mac when compared to Windows is that free applications can often be on par with—or better than—paid ones. On Windows, you are hard pressed to find good, free software, but on Mac OS X, if you find a good program, chances are there is a free one that works just as well. The iPhone and iPod touch’s App Store is very much the same. Not only can you find free programs that do the same things as paid ones, but quite often the developers of paid applications will release free “lite” versions. Such is the case with Sol Free Solitaire, the free version of the full Solebon Solitaire.

Read the full review after the break.

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One of the perils of being a fake Mac journalist is that every four or five years you have to review new versions of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Together, they’re the death and taxes of Macintosh gaming. Now it’s Freeverse’s turn with them, and I’m afraid they’ve gone all ironic on us. Freeverse games, you see, are normally all about personality. Well, not all about, but the personality of the Freeverse cast of characters is often enough to drive fans to purchase one of their games even if they have no interest in the genre. So, it’s ironic that Freeverse would be the company to publish the most personality-free versions of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune to date.

And this isn’t just because Alex Trebek, Pat Sajak and Vanna White are nowhere to be found. The video snippets of Alex and Vanna killed the MacSoft versions of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, respectively. The load times were annoying, and the live motion video overtop of the computer animations were disjointed and kind of creepy. Even though technology has progressed since then, I’m still quite certain I wouldn’t want live video of these people in the game, but CGI characters or even voiceovers could work. Instead, we get nothing.

As I mentioned, though, that’s not the real problem here. Jump past the break to find out what went wrong.

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FROM GAMERTELL - Disney has announced that a Free Preview Weekend event will be running in Pirates of the Caribbean Online from August 15-18, 2008. All Basic accounts will temporarily be upgraded to Unlimited.
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Playing Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (ETQW), I find myself empathizing with Roger Ebert when he has to go see one of those Diary of the Princess Pants movies. I am not the target audience. This game is not meant for me. It’s meant for gamers who not only have the time to spend mastering the controls and strategies required to be effective, but the desire to do so. Perhaps a side-effect of reviewing Mac games for over 10 years is that I’m so used to being forced to move along quickly, that I now get bored if I don’t.

Which isn’t to say that ETQW is boring. Far from it. The action is relentless, the graphics are some of the best available in a Mac game (provided your computer can handle them), both the single-player and multiplayer versions are intense. This is a great game; most likely the best team-based FPS currently available on the Mac. I just wish I didn’t suck at it so badly.

Jump past the break for the full review.

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Last Thursday, the good folks at Feral Interactive announced they’d be publishing Sid Meier’s Pirates for the Mac. Having been a huge fan of the game back in its Apple IIGS incarnation, I was both surprised and thrilled with the announcement. What I found most intriguing, however, was the announcement that Sid Meier’s Pirates was being published as part of the “Feral Legends Series,” of which I’d previously heard no mention. So, immediately after posting the announcement, I got in contact with Brad Gibson at Feral to see if he could tell me a bit more about what this Legends Series entails.

Find out what he was willing (and not willing) to tell me after the break.

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