By Peter Muench Dec 11, 2011, 3:06 GMT
Berlin - If you like planning a strategy or plotting an adventure, then the December PC gaming season should be good for you, with a gaming palette ranging from bleak futuristic scenarios to colourful fantasy adventures.
Some of the potential new titles for your computer include: Anno 2070; Defenders of Ardania; Sword of the Stars 2: Lords of Winter; Trine 2; and The Fall - Mutant City.
With its switch from frigates to high-tech craft, Anno 2070 from Ubisoft has been especially long anticipated.
The developers have stuck true to their principles, only this time the business of building a society and plotting a strategy is in the far future, instead of the distant past. In the game, a global catastrophe has set humanity on the search for a new home. They end up on a half-flooded world trying to create a home.
Players choose to play one of three camps, with many settlements beneath the waves. The game has introduced new ways for players to extract resources and the order of play is supposed to be easier to follow. The game is for players aged 6 and older and costs about 47 euros (63 dollars). A demo version is available for testing online.
Moving on to the next post-apocalyptic society, The Fall - Mutant City is about the fight for survival between humans and mutants.
While a predecessor game was more of a tactical role-playing game, this new version from publisher F+F is more of a classic adventure. The choices players make can affect the outcome of this non-linear game. Graphically, the game switches between day and night. It's recommended for players aged 16 and up and costs about 20 euros.
Sword of the Stars 2: Lords of Winter, from Kerberos Productions, takes place in the endless stretches of outer space. An online version of the games has been available since October, with a DVD version just now becoming available.
Players choose between five different races, picking one to lead in the race to take control of and colonize planets. Exploration and manufacturing resources are performed in round-based play, meaning low stress levels. But fights are in real-time and 3D.
Nevertheless, there are still plenty of situations that lend themselves better to diplomacy than laser guns. Violence is kept to a minimum, meaning the game is recommended for players starting at age 6, costing 37 euros.
Players are called upon to build towers and then defend them in the strategy title Defenders of Ardania, from Paradox Interactive. Players can choose 24 different kinds of towers defended by three different races. Unlike other such games, players can also opt to storm a tower themselves, instead of just defending it.
Campaigns and missions are done in single-player mode, though there is a multi-player mode for building and tearing down towers. The computer takes on the role of any missing co-players. The PC version of the game costs 14 euros, though there are also XBox 360, Playstation 3 and iOS versions planned. It is recommended for players aged 12 and older.
Trine 2 is just as fantastical and colourful. From dtp Entertainment, the game is both a jump-and-run and puzzle game.
Players pick one of three heroes and jump into a fairytale style world full of wizards, fairies and dwarves. What makes Trine 2 stand out is its puzzles, which are based on real-world physics. The powers of fire, water, gravity and magic all have to work together to overcome obstacles on the way to defeating your foes.
Your Talkback on this Story