Category Archives: Koch

Andy Serkis and John Rhys Davies head the cast for Piranha Bytes’ latest RPG, Risen.

Serkis takes the role of The Inquisitor, John Rhys Davies performs as Don Esteban, Lena Headey, (Sarah Connor Chronicles) takes the role of Patty.

Fincher is played by Burn Gorman, Brendan Coyle takes the role of Commandant Carlos, Damian O’Hare plays Olf, Simon Greenall plays Luis, Oscar is played by Donald McCorkindale and Stuart Organ plays Brogar.

The Archers actress, Louiza Patikas represents Sara and Timothy Watson from Eastenders and Casualty takes the role of Romanov.

“The quality of the voice casting reflects the quality of the game” stated Koch Meida’s Paul Nicholls. “With such an amazing lineup of talent from movies and TV, there is a voice everyone will recognize; we will attract a new generation of RPG players to the genre”.

Game’s out for PC and Xbox 360 October 2.

Full press release below.

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The GamesCom event in Cologne is just around the corner, and the press conference schedule has been confirmed.

Here’s what’s happening:

Tuesday, August 18

• Electronic Arts – 4:30-5:30pm
• Sony Computer Entertainment – 6:00-9:00pm

Wednesday, August 19

• Microsoft Game Studios/Lionhead – 10:00am
• Turtle Entertainment – 11:00am
• Konami – 12:00pm
• Koch/Deep Silver – 1:00pm
• Namco Bandai – 4:00pm
• Bethesda Softworks – 5:00pm
• Opening ceremonies GamesCom 2009 – 6:30pm

More over on XGN.

Koch Media and Deep Silver has announced that the board game Carcassonne is headed to DS.

Some of you may have already played in on Xbox Live. It’s rather fun.

The handheld version contains the main game including the River expansion and the addition of three new locations:

Story mode features numerous levels and a storyline, Quick game determines the number and strength of AI opponents for the next match, and Multiplayer contains both Single-Card Play and Multi-Card Play via Wi-Fi.

The game is expected to be released during the second half of the year.

Press release and more details are through the break.

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Piranha Bytes has announced that its latest RPG, Risen, will be released on October 2 for PC and Xbox 360.

The folks who brought you Gothic currently have the game in Beta, and are in the process of getting rid of those pesky bugs.

To make sure it’s ready to ship, three quality assurance teams are working on the game – one directly at Piranha Bytes, one at Deep Silver, plus an additional external studio.

Just in case you haven’t heard of it, Risen is set in a medieval world on a volcanic Mediterranean island, and offers multiple ways to develop the four-part story by your own actions and decisions.

Ancient temple ruins recently have risen from the ground, and bizarre creatures infest the island.

The screens for it look pretty, anyway.

Press release is through the break.

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This week there is a bit more going on in MMOs than last week.

Seems quite a few got game updates, WoW’s Midsummer Fire Festival is in full swing, and City of Heroes is getting power customization.

Loads of stuff really. Read on past the break for the lot of it.

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Deep Silver has released a video for the Wii exclusive horror title, Cursed Mountain.

The Himalayas aren’t all snow leopards, goats, and lovely vistas, apparently.

In the video, main character Simmons has found that the ancient artifact his brother Frank was hired to look for is more than it seems. Watch him encounter souls in limbo and a  snowy world where nothing is as it seems.

Spooky.

Cursed Mountain is set to be released sometime this year.

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Some more shots of the 360 version of Sacred 2 on GameInfoWire. It’s a Bank Holiday, OK?

It’s out in June.

There’s a video of the high elf’s special mount in Sacred 2 after the break.

It’s blue and it floats. It has snazzy stripes on the side. It looks a bit dragony.

The Koch RPG’s out on Marh 24.

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Ascaron put out new shots of the PS3 version of Sacred 2 today, showing the RPG looking pretty much like the other versions. Funny, that.

This is actually shaping up as a bit of a must-have for the dungeon massive, with little likely to oppose it in around its March 24 release.

Take a look.

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Koch’s delayed Sacred 2, Eurogamer reports.

The RPG was supposed to hit in March, but will now appear in the second quarter.

It’s the 360 and PS3 versions taking the hit. They were originally planned to release alongside the PC SKU last November.

No dice. More through the link.

Koch Media has told Eurogamer that the PS3 and 360 versions of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel have slipped to Q1 2009.

No reason was given for the delay.

PC gamers get the game November 7 as promised. And that’s that.

By Mike Bowden

Ascaron’s released a demo for RPG Sacred 2, available now from FilePlanet.

Apparently, “This exciting new demo immerses gamers in the mystical world of Ancaria, as they experience a small sampling of the quests, environments and monsters that will be part of the grand adventure of the full game. Playing as the beautiful and deadly Seraphim, a powerful guardian of the world of Ancaria and its T-Energy, gamers will explore the lush lands of the High Elves, encountering a variety of creatures and environments.”

It does not get better than that. Remember that Eurogamer’s Rob Purchese does some of the voices in it. So try it.

Eurogamer news chap Rob Purchese clearly isn’t just a pretty face. As seen in this EGTV video, the writer’s done voiceover for three of Sacred 2′s characters – a jester, a little green man thing and an old chap – and his performance has pretty much knocked out the development team.

“I think Rob’s a magnificent talent,” said Ascaron’s Alan Wild. “His delivery was superb, and the range of voices was just incredible.”

Take a look. The game’s out for PC and 360 later this year, with a PS3 version following in early 2009.

According this this Shacknews story, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky has been confirmed for a September 15 launch in the US.

The game was delayed at the end of August thanks to a lack of CD keys in the initial shipment.

More through the link.

According to this EG story, Sacred 2′s going to make it out on November 7 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

The Koch RPG is an isometric affair with online co-op, so there should be plenty there to keep beard-lovers happy.

More through the link.

That’s it, really. PC Gamer’s given S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky a miserable 6.8/10, as you can see on CVG.

Probably won’t play it, if we’re being honest. Get more sad-smiley-face scores here.

Eurogamer’s given S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky 7/10, which added to IGN’s 70 percent and PC Zone’s cover score of 88 percent should give you a good idea that this probably isn’t quite what it was supposed to be. Snip:

There’s been a lot of negativity, hasn’t there? There’s still a lot of what made Stalker so appealing here. It shows how having these sorts of character-improvement and living world elements can improve a shooter’s appeal. Why do you think we’re so angry when they take away all our stuff? Between the improved weapon modification and the more living Zone, a certain strand of Stalker fan will find much here to applaud, and those who’ve never actually played the earlier game at all will still be enchanted by the unique atmosphere of the place… but would be recommended going there first, perhaps with the Oblivion Lost mod attached.

Full thing through the link.

Uh oh. Despite an 88 percent cover review from PCZone, IGN UK’s posted a 7/10 for the GSC sequel, saying it has a “reactorful of misfires” and “so much decaying flesh attached to it that cutting through to the admittedly very healthy bone below may prove too tall an order.”

Snip:

There’s also a stack of bugs and balance issues, perhaps unsurprisingly given Stalker 1′s messy gestation, and we suffered an AI failure at one point that broke the faction war system. As well as that, that aforementioned difficulty feels like an over-enthusiastic mod – enemies often turn up in ridiculous numbers and are almost always aware of exactly where you are – plus there’s those damnable grenades. A hardcore reward for the hardcore player, perhaps, but for the more casual Zone-wanderer or total newbie it gets too much like hard work, crushing the desire to press onwards.

Full thing through the link. Not the prettiest thing in the world.

The first S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky review’s in, and it’s an 88 percent from UK mag PC Zone.

The review lauds the shooter for being the “game Shadow of Chernobyl was meant to be,” but decries it for “crap script.” Swings and roundabouts.

You can read the entire thing on Oblivion-Lost.de.

According to Shacknews, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky’s been delayed “a few days” in the US, as copies shipped to stores have been recalled.

The problem, says Bluesnews, is that initial shipments didn’t contain CD keys.

Clear Sky was supposed to release on September 5.