Thirteen1

The 100% free-to-read August issue of Thirteen1 is available now, featuring more reviews, previews and original features than you can shake a C.O.G Lancer’s chainsaw at!

Click here and read it now!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, August’s cover star is StarCraft II, the sequel to Blizzard’s genre-defining RTS, which has finally burst onto the scene after 12 years of agonising anticipation. But does T1’s self-confessed fan-boy think it was worth the wait? And just what did he get up to at the midnight launch event in London? You’ll find the answer to both right here in the latest issue.

The upcoming Nintendo 3DS is the talk of gaming-town right now, so Thirteen1 decided it was high time to get hands-on with the device themselves. The DrunkenGamer brings you his honest report of just how effective the handheld console is, as well as his take on some of the games you can expect to play on it. All in mind-boggling 3D!
He also got the chance to look at some of the titles shaping the Wii’s future, including Metroid Prime: Other M, Donkey Kong Country Returns, GoldenEye 007, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and more. So much gaming goodness..and T1’s got it all covered for you.

In fact, this month’s issue of Thirteen1 is packed with reviews and previews, from Frima’s surprisingly polished PSN title, Young Thor, to a hands-on with FunCom’s latest MOBA (that’s Massive Online Battle Arena, if you didn’t know), Bloodline Champions, and a full tilt look at Youda Games fascinating casual poker game sequel, Governor of Poker II. It’s poker ‘and’ a proper game!

The latest iPhone adaptation of a classic Fighting Fantasy gamebook has been released in the iTunes store.

Creature of Havoc, the fourth Fighting Fantasy gamebook on the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, has players take on the role of a feral beast whose goal is to learn more about itself and unveil its destiny.

Developer Big Blue Bubble Inc said: “You begin this adventure not knowing where you are or who you are. All you know is that you are some kind of creature of instinct, understanding little.

“But even if you know all this, success is by no means certain, for the traps and terrors of Trolltooth Pass are many … Are you ready— to become the Creature of Havoc?”

The adaptation include a new feature allowing players to earn in-game achievements.

Former Rockstar Games developers announced yesterday that they are working on a casual online social boardgame called Push.

Push will be a “stylish and addictive” turn-based browser game that allows friends to compete against each other using social networking sites such as Facebook.

“After almost 10 years of developing big budget, AAA titles such as Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne for Rockstar Games it is a breath of fresh air to focus on developing independent games with a direct connection to our fans and players on social networks around the World,” says Helmut Hutterer, CEO of Socialspiel.

“Our goal … is to develop richly crafted online games, with high quality production values and appealing experiences for players and their friends to enjoy throughout their daily life online”.

Soar on the aircurrents in a relaxing and unique new game for Xbox Live Marketplace – Breeze.

In the game players take control of a fan in order to gently blow a flower to its goal while collecting items and listening to a smooth, chilled-out soundtrack.

The press release explains why Breeze will keep gamers coming back for more: “Breeze features 60 unique levels of flowery twitch play for you to enjoy.

“This game will have you itching to try and beat the levels which vary in difficulty from the very easy to the infuriatingly hard. There’s plenty of content to explore with unique and interesting traps and game mechanics. Breeze has been designed to offer high replay value with each level having a record time set by the developer.”

IPad RTS favourite Knights of the Phantom Castle has hit the iPhone and iPod Touch in all its 16-bit glory.

Based on medieval warfare, Hudson Entertainment’s Knights lets users construct and conduct a unit of class-based knights with the objective of clearing over 50 stages set with various obstacles, treasures, and monsters; with gameplay specifically designed for the multi-touch interface.

Same as the iPad version, Knights of the Phantom Castle takes place across 3 scenes: Camp, Combat Deployment, and Stage Battle. Camp is where users create a unit of knights to deploy in to a later battle. In Combat Deployment, users set the formation of the unit, while Stage Battle is when they fight. Knights are classed in 6 groups: Defender, Soldier, Assassin, Ranger, Mage and Healer. Each class has unique skills (shields, special fighting techniques, etc.) which hold the keys to successfully conquering the stages.

MMO behemoth Perfect World Entertainment Inc have announced the latest expansion to Jade Dynasty, entitles Vengeance.

The update, which is released on August 25th,  adds two new playable factions, daily events and a territory war system that will allow alliances to battle it out, as well as a new story.

Players will be faced with a tough decision between aiding the humans in their search for immortality, or joining the immortal Athan race to destroy the humans.

“New and existing players can look forward to new features and content in the upcoming expansion that will help progress the ongoing story between humans and the immortals,” said Andrew Brown, Product Manager.

Activision’s latest fps hit, Singularity, has been a highly anticipated release since its announcement. It’s instantly very clear that they’ve taken a large step, rather, a leap away from the realism of the Call of Duty titles in this time-travelling, Ruski-shooter.

The convoluted and, at times, disturbing plot is far from simple; in brief, you play as Nathan Renko, a captain in the US Army, sent to a secret Russian Island, where the Soviets have been experimenting, for what of a better word, in time-travel. Of course, when you arrive at the island, the game immediately begins to seep with predictability; you get split up from your partner, you get ambushed several times by admittedly creepy mutants, you find your partner, he gets killed by an angry Russian, and you get saved by a female rebel, who believes that you are the saviour of mankind. Drawing any parallels yet?

When an indie company proudly calling themselves The Bearded Ladies (and the award for “Best Company Name Ever” goes to…) bursts onto the gaming scene, you’d be right to expect something a little different. Landit Bandit, their first release, is something of a revelation for the PSN Store. Not only is it a cracking title worthy of your time, it’s almost an entirely unique concept in the age of copycat companies and endless bedroom indies duplicating each other’s designs.

To put it simply; Landit Bandit plays out like every other retro-advanced-casual-physics-based-chopper-game you’ve ever played. That’ll be none, then…

If you want to get anywhere in the MMO business the major thing you need is innovation. But the trouble is that there are so many ideas floating around out there that it’s damned difficult to come up with a truly unique approach to gaming.

Most browser games suffer from ‘copycat syndrome’, a condition where game designers flat out lift ideas from other, more successful games. Crime RPG ‘Biker Battles’ is one of the few games that actually seems to be innovating, at least at the moment anyway.

Inspired by his love for the TV show Sons of Anarchy, Biker Battles is the brainchild of one Stefan Gaasbeek and is currently in open alpha, meaning anyone can register a character and get playing – just remeber that because game is still developing you currently only have the bare bones to play with. However, Gaasbeek had a spark of ingenuity when creating the game, deciding that the players themselves should play a big role in forging the gameplay of the new MMO.