Petroglyph is known as a company to support the RTS games, but now with the new release (joined by True Games) “Mytheon”, the company takes a step further into the online games market.
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The new game “Mytheon” is revealed to be as a mixture of action, strategy, and RPG, further details being delivered by Peter Cesario, the director of product development at True Games and Chris Rubyor, the head of the design dept. at Petroglyph.

“Mytheon” is created as a game that mixes three genres addicted to an element that gives the ability to collect features. In this game players have to choose from a series of three different classes’ characters and start the quest for freedom that is reachable through powerful mythological gods. The ability to gain this godly freedom is possible due to the “Power Stones”, which are magical units converted into companions, structures and spells. The element that gives addiction to the game is gathering these innumerable stones that make the object of the player’s struggle.

The Petroglyph’s co-operation with True Games has the purpose to bring players an exciting gaming experience. The collaboration consisted in game mechanics, storyline, even web design. The beginning of the game is rendered by a fly over the city of Argos where the players start their quest into the Mytheon that is the connection place for the players to group, trade, and start new adventures. The trailer of the game displayed various combat encounters and plenty of creatures that players will be given the ability to control through Power Stones.

Mytheon is planned to be released as a 100% free to download and free to play for as long as one wants. The companies are striving to integrate the model into the experience of a normal play game in an attempt to avoid the oppositional effects over the dispute of “paying’ vs ‘non paying’ gamers. On the other hand the game gives the possibility of customizing the characters through the choice of three distinctive classes – Warcaster, Elementarist and Eidolon. The classes are strictly connected to power stone sets, thus enabling the gamers to gather a large amount of flexibility in playing solo or to group up for a tactical diversity.

The game is equipped also with an integrated social networking feature set, such as guild support, friends list, chat and in addition there will be a possibility to socialize through sites like Facebook and MySpace. Petroglyph in its turn brings a fresh perspective through the fact that Mytheon takes the best elements of strategy and action coloring them with light RPG features. This combination determines the game to be easier accessed to, and more exciting to the combat’s tactical elements while the settings keep the players deepened into the game. Mytheon, a quest into the mythical Ancient Greece is expected to be launched in 2010 and for anyone who needs updated news can access the company’s website.

“Knights in the Nightmare” is a role-playing game in which the tale of Aventhiem kingdom is told with several backward, forward leaps in time, between knights and nobility, with political strategies and betrayals and possibilities to skip between-battle story passages.
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The character, a lost soul, you are playing crosses a series of small battles, has the skill to make the fallen knights to regain their lives, using at the same time their souls to fight with the monsters and evil forces that stay in your way. Compared to other tactical RPG, this game offers battles that are dramatically conceived where the character lives and dies by the wisp. You use a stylus to handle the wisp around isometric playing field, you can deliver weapons to the knights, and attempt to avoid enemy attacks. The attacks come in different modes, such as a shower of stars, massive snakes, and so on.

At a first glance one may think that the battles are conducted in a precision-based manner than a tactical one, but actually the fights are run in an action combined with tactical insight. You need to take decisions that are a challenge in order to make you learn all the aspects you need to consider while deciding. The battles are displayed on squares with chess-like unit types that have specific ranges in the lines of their attacks. You are limited to get only four weapons based on class, level, and an “act phase”. Some other aspects are to be considered, such as the durability of the devices, the vulnerable points of the monsters, and the time you receive to charge the weapons. Three tutorial sections offer all the information you need for performing the game.

During the battles you have to take other decisions that prove to be crucial, such as fusing weapons and use units collected in the battle to enforce them. According to the amount of recruited units you gain points and go to another level. There is this “transoul” feature through which you can select a unit to be sacrificed for merging its soul with another unit. This feature allows you to improve the recipient, but you have to be very careful in taking the decisions. In the game there aren’t impossible situations even if you take the wrong decisions, since the wrong decision is seen as a poor one that determines you to fill your ranks with nameless knights that are deserting after one fight.

The RPG’s experience of “Knights in the Nightmare” delivers characters very beautiful ornate, colorful, and detailed, with settings in a great atmosphere and abundance, and a powerful display of the attacks. The visuals and language are very evocative; the sound effects are equal to the scenes displayed. Compared to other RPG, this role-playing game definitely offers you a brand new experience with unusual mechanics and complex tactics. The skilful way that created the “Knights in the Nightmare” renders the game the look of perfect combination of elements that result in something new and exciting.

Soldak Entertainment Inc. was founded by Steven Peeler as a small independent developer, the main attention being focused on bringing new unique games to the entertainment industry. Its Kivi’s Underworld has come up to cover the desire of those who fantasize the action-RPG action. The developer has announced a new expansion that adds multiplayer to the mix and available for both PC and Mac versions. The Kivi’s Underworld Multiplayer Expansion is a team up game where players gather to defeat the forces of evil and share adventures with friends.
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The gamers can explore the mysterious underworld as mighty warriors cast in battles with rain down fire on enemies, sneak disguises with stealth accessories to confound the foes as a Scout or experience adventures with any of the others numerous playable characters. The story goes like that: in a mining expedition, led by Kivi (a young lumen warrior), you venture into unknown territory where an opened pathway is unfolding to a deadly race. There is an encounter with dark elves, but Kivi is the only survivor to tell about the threat that elves represent. Kivi has to persuade his people of the existence of these deadly elves and he realizes that he is all alone in this battle.

Being Kivi or any of his partners, you need to recruit more lumen and defeat the growing dark elf menace, before they destroy your homeland and all lumens. This makes that the lumens’ fate is in your hand; the question is – can you save them? It is very easy to be learned as a game, but mastering Kivi’s Underworld turns out to be a real challenge for the players that are into it.

The basics of the game are easy to handle through the mouse left or right clicking. There are though keyboard’s shortcuts to speed most things, while moving around the Kivi’s Underworld is simply done by pointing the cursor where you want to go and then press the left mouse button.

You can choose the character with which you want to start the adventure, in the game being 20 characters available. Scoring high points helps you to gather more characters to your clan, even secret characters can join and they will prove to be helpful in your task to rescue your people. There are passive and active skills to improve the evolution of your characters in the adventure and these skills can be increasingly improved in the various ways (some temporary and some permanent) the game offers.

System Requirements for the Multiplayer Expansion are Mac Minimum specs: OS X 10.4 or 10.5; 1.2 GHz processor (PowerPC or Intel); 128MB RAM; GeForce 2 (or other equivalent); 100MB of hard drive space; DSL or better internet connection (for games on internet). Mac Recommended specs: 2.0 GHz processor (Power PC or Intel); 256MB RAM; GeForce 3 or better (or other equivalent). Windows Minimum specs: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista; 1.2 GHz Pentium 4 (or other equivalent); 128MB RAM; GeForce 2 (or other equivalent); 100 MB of hard drive space.