Following the Electronic Arts second quarter reports, executives revealed that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is being delayed again. Once EA acquired Mythic in 2006, this became one of the biggest projects in development, yet the road to MMORPG success proves to be rougher than anticipated. The game was supposed to be out not even half a year from now in March 2008, but the release has been pushed back into the next EA fiscal year. Thus you can expect to start playing Warhammer Online next year, anywhere between April 1^st and September 30^th.

Warhammer was designed as a tabletop game by UK based Games Workshop more that twenty five years ago. The generous fantasy setting evolved and it was only a question of time before Warhammer entered the computer gaming world. Developer Climax came up with the idea in 2000 but the project was shut down when Microsoft ceased its financial support, after four years. That’s when independent developer Mythic Entertainment came in and took the license in 2005, but things changed yet again once EA bought Mythic one year later. News of yet another delay is troubling, especially when it comes from a newly acquired department.

Gamespot had the chance to talk to EA CEO John Riccitiello who reassured everyone that the EA Mythic studios in Virginia aren’t going to be shut down as some rumors say. In fact they will get extended. As to why Warhammer Online was delayed, he said: “Our game is going to live and die by two things. One is realm-versus-realm (RvR) gameplay. The second is overall quality. This is not 1999, 1997, or even 2001. This is 2007. We have to be able to release a game that, in terms of quality, without even going into game systems or RvR, is top-notch. We've seen too many games in this industry, and in this space, release without that, and we're not going to do that.”

It’s refreshing to see such a relevant EA figure speak about the game in comparison to current MMORPG titles. John Riccitiello stressed that he’s fully aware of the competition and the quality standards that need to be upheld in order to beat giants like World of Warcraft. I’m not the only one looking forward to yet another go at realm versus realm tactics. Dark Age of Camelot was Mythic’s first take at the concept. While it turned out well, time left its mark on the title and maybe Warhammer Online will take its strengths further.

On the day of 31 October, the developers have given the legions of fans and the beta testers (within the US territory) the start in the race to save London from the hordes of demons and evil spirits. On the 2nd of November, the European version of the game will be presented to the public and everyone should hurry up to buy the special Collector's Edition that has a lot of additional bonus content.

The gamers are offered the chance to buy online subscriptions for their favorite game so that they can gain some additional content while playing the game on the online multi-player version. There are also the custom die-kits (that come with the special edition) that can give a very sleek look to any armor the chosen character may wear during battles. The developers said that there might be some more room left for some more types of characters, levels and even new types of monsters.

Just released this Halloween night, Monster Mega Mayhem is a casual adventure title with a twist, the latest creation of independent developer Icevalk. I was going to tell you all about this Halloween’s productions, with a scent of horror and a taste for the thrill, since The Witcher just hit the shelves, along with Hellgate London and Clive Barker’s Jericho but I changed my mind. These were all long awaited games which will enthrall your senses for months and years to come, thus I chose Monster Mega Mayhem’s simple yet effective play. In the flash-like game, tree monsters will slash, claw and rip as you command, three characters each with a different background. It’s a small jewel of relaxed gaming and you can take it in all at once, so read right on for a sample of storyline ingenuity and catchy gameplay.

First we have Jack, a native of Moonwalker Ranch which basically prompts him as a mix between Michael Jackson and the Pumpkin King (from Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas). Jack is a friendly pumpkin monster but has a problem with trick or treaters. As he puts it, last year they carved a pumpkin he went in school with and that demands retribution. Now buddy Branden got killed by his brother Eric, so you must become a messenger of vengeance. Swinging the reaper’s blade never gets old and that’s what Jack does best, except maybe for his classic move. As a special, he takes off his pumpkin head and bows for full effect.

Lucy is the vampire type, fresh from the graveyards of Gothic City - Romania. If it’s not Gotham, then Gothic will have to do. She loves to turn into a cloud of bats and haunt its victims, for you see, the evil Half Dollar mastermind sent fans to cut down her ancient oaks. The blatant 50Cent reference made my day so you can check out the in-game billboards for a good image. That’s what Monster Mega Mayhem is all about, making fun of real life clichés as your sidekick on this level is Batgirl herself. There are two main abilities each of your characters can use, one being a form of attack while the other a type of scare. Halloween would not be complete without tricks (and treats) so the three avatars need to scare someone in order to advance each level.

Kevin is the quiet one and lets the chainsaw do most of the talking, a regular habit between Frankenstein style children born out of recycled flesh and circuitry. His “father” Viktor created him for the sole purpose of killing Uwe Hohl, the worst director of all times. It seems he’s going to mutilate Farcrow next in his movie, yet another piece of gaming goodness thrown to the dogs. The developers say that each and all connections to people alive or dead are purely coincidence, so I guess there’s no way in hell all this can be translated into Uwe Boll and Farcry. Be sure to notice the big bad bouncer at the theatre entrance. He needs to be scared, in this case, a joke in German.

With each level you must raise the score higher by scaring characters or clawing at them for moderate blood effects. You don’t have all day though, since the small bomb at the lower middle of the screen acts like a timer. The fuse eventually runs out as your avatar moves frantically faster. Maybe you can get that last kill and complete the level in time. Monster Mega Mayhem has the casual addictive feel of time wasters and does it with a taste for comedy. I came to appreciate the real life tie-ins for a good laugh and eventually this crazed story pushed me further in completing the levels. You too can give it a shot by trying the demo.