Be there or be Cubed

Fans of the low-budget Canadian film franchise "Cube" may be interested to hear about the release of the Hypercube Source mod for Half-Life 2.

The film Cube involved seven complete strangers waking up in a giant contraption full of deadly puzzles and traps; obviously something developer "CubeDude89" has tried to recreate in the Hypercube mod. This multiplayer mod will see players trying to navigate a series of trapped rooms in order to escape via one of three exits, and to make things more difficult, only one exit is activated at time.

Cube-inspired traps featured in Hypercube:
- Laser beam trap
- Spike trap
- Teleportation trap
- Explosive trap
- Gas trap
- Swinging wire trap
- Fire trap

Staying faithful to the film, players will be able to use their boots to test out the various traps in order to determine the best strategy to bypass them.

The general consensus is that Hypercube: Source is a little buggy, although that shouldn't stop Cube fans from checking out this neat little mod.

2K Games announces Dungeon Siege 2: Broken World will be on sale August 1

Beginning straight after the events of Dungeon Siege 2, the player character returns to find their actions in the previous game have not been well received. Along with a new threat, the player must embark on a new quest to save the world from evil.

Players can choose from a set of premade characters if they did not play or finish the original Dungeon Siege 2. Otherwise, there is also the option to import existing characters into the expansion.

New content includes a few hundred combat modifiers that can appear on items, new armour, weapons and classes. The new Blood Assassin class uses a combination of ranged and magic attacks, while the Fist of Stone class is comparable to a battlemage. There is also the option to reallocate skill points by talking with certain characters in town. Quite handy if you run in to trouble against a specific type of enemy.

With all new content and dungeons to "siege", Dungeon Siege 2: Broken World should keep many fans satisfied. It is expected to ship on August 1.

Trailer links:
GameArena
Worth Downloading
FileFront

Now that we've gone and got you all excited about Clive Barker's new game, it's good timing on Atari's part to release the first handful of screens that show off the true extent of Barker's twisted, sicko vision. We're talking knights. We're talking blood. We're probably talking sorcerers making voodoo dolls out of poo-poo as well. (1: 629K, 2: 418K, 3: 629K)

The US Cartoon Netowrk has announced a partnership with Korean developer Grigon Entertainment to produce a new MMORPG based on the network's lineup of entertainment. The game is expected to be released in 2007 and will be free to play, with extra features available to paying players.


This marketing campaign may be a clue as to why so many new MMORPGs are struggling for attention at the moment, since the vast majority of Western online games seem to be designed for a rather specific audience. By aiming for young, cartoon viewers, The Cartoon Network may well be tapping into a market ripe for the pickings, competing with Disney's aging, but still popular ToonTown Online.

Anticipated Half-Life 2 mod folds

The highly anticipated singleplayer Half-Life 2 modification Nightwatch has officially been terminated, according to this news item on the Nightwatch website:


The Nightwatch mod was described as a single player experience "set parallel to the events of the original Half-Life, allowing the player to experience a completely new side of the Black Mesa disaster with a compelling storyline, unique characters, new weapons, and stunning visual environments".

Ryan "Professional Victim" Desgroseilliers, the project director and programmer for Nightwatch, posted a rather honest developer diary about the mod's cancellation and the factors leading up to the decision. Definitely worth a read for anyone who has even a passing interest in what goes on behind the scenes of a mod team.