"This mod tools download includes everything you need to create your own own missions, maps, and units for Dawn of War. Requires the 1.10 patch to be installed."

Download them here

Discussion >>

"BloodRayne 2 demo, includes the Mansion level from this third person action game sequel."

Download here

Discussion >>

New drivers for ATI's line of Radeon graphics cards have been released.

This unified driver has been further enhanced to provide the highest level of power, performance, and reliability. The ATI CATALYST software suite is the ultimate in performance and stability.

Download them from ATI (26.8 Mb)
Source: MSFN

Discussion >>

A new high-res cinemtic trailer has been released for the follow up to The Sands of Time

Warrior Within is due for pc release this month, and fans of the previous game are said to be in for one hell of a roller coaster ride in the Warrior Within.

In order to accomplish his mission, the Prince benefits from a brand new free-form fighting system that allows gamers to channel his anger as they wage battle without boundaries. Each game fan will find his or her own unique fighting style as they manipulate their environment and control the Ravages of Time. You can dig into an arsenal of weapons that, when used in combination, create advanced arm attacks that verge on fatal artistry!

Download the cinematic trailer here (32.1 Mb)
Check out some screenshots and other videos here
Warrior Within Official Website

Discussion >>

"Version 0.40 of the Heat of Battle teamplay mod for Call of Duty."

Download here

Discussion >>

The Halo-based I Love Bees alternate reality game ended on 4 Nov, with an event that saw players get a chance to play Halo 2 early.

Lucky players also received a special commemorative DVD at the event, and the DVD is now available to all through Bit Torrent

The DVDs are our gift to the players. They are free and can be distributed to any and all.

We know that it was hard (if not impossible) for many of you to get to the live events where the DVDs were being handed out, and we’re doing our best to set up an alternate distribution mechanism.

In the meantime, it is absolutely fine to post and distribute the bit torrent versions of the DVD. We will try to post an official version on the site sometime soon.

Read on

The DVD's contain all the audio clips from the game (over 5 hours worth) and behind the scenes material with other extras.
Get the torrent file here

Fans of the game can also join a live phone-in chat with the I Love Bees actors tomorrow (13 Nov), for more info about this, check here.

More info:
Halo2 ILoveBees Game Ends With a Bang
I Love Bees Credits
Ilovebees Players Get Access to Probable Halo2 Preview (27 Oct)
Discussion >>

Some gamers have already received their copies of Half-Life 2 after retailers sold copies of the game early.
The game will still not be playable until the official release date on 16 Nov though, because each copy requires a one-time authentication through Steam.

Added 14 Nov
Valve have posted an apology to players who purchased the game but cannot yet play it, effectively blaming the publisher, Vivendi, for not allowing Valve to authenticate the copies before the official release date.
Link

More info:
Good Times: Half-Life 2 Is In My Hands!
Street Date Broken, I Got A Call From Eb
EB Breaks Half-Life 2 Street Date?
Gamespot: Half-Life 2 already in some gamers' hands
Half-Life 2 Hits Streets Early?
Discussion >>

5 out of 5 star review of Halo 2 up now, check it out here.

Cheers dek
Discussion >>

Nvidia has new Forceware drivers available on their ftp server, this time its version 66.93 and its WHQL certified, only for Windows 2000 and XP.

Release Highlights:

- Added support for GeForce 6600, GeForce 6600 GT, and GeForce 6200
- Added support for SLI
- Added support for using HDTV over DVI connectors
- Added support for 512 MB frame buffer GPUs
- Added support for advanced DVI timing on all GeForce 6 series GPUs
- Added support to recognize and display monitor name in all control panels
- Added support for TV/HDTV setup in the nView Display Setup Wizard
- Updated Gridlines for easier grid setup and management
- Microsoft DirectX 9.0c and OpenGL 1.5 support

Download them here

Discussion >>

Biggest ever Xbox online ad campaign launches on MSN

MSN UK has announced a new six-figure advertising deal with Xbox to promote the launch of Halo 2.

The campaign, which is part of a larger EMEA deal, will run from November 11th 25th. Halo 2 is officially the most highly anticipated console game with pre-sales already topping 1.5 million units the highest pre-order numbers for any game ever.

Halo 2 Links
Official Website

Discussion >>

ELSPA has announced that GTA: San Andreas has become the fatest selling video game of all time selling over 1 million units in under 9 days.

This is a magnificent achievement and equates to a staggering estimated value of more than £35 million. The entire Grand Theft Auto series has been a phenomenal success worldwide, generating sales of more three and half million units in the UK alone. But best of all, this series is home grown, developed right here in UK.

ELPSA Website
GTA: San Andreas Website
Download videos, screenshots and more here

Discussion >>

Overshadowed by Halo 2 somewhat, EverQuest II launched yesterday, and an enormous amount of players (100,000) are expected to be in the game by the weekend.

The purchasing details:

EverQuest II comes in three retail versions, all of which include a 30-day
subscription (excluding SOE Station Access subscriptions) to the game's online
world. The Collector's Edition includes a number of in-game items, an
exclusive art book, bonus DVD with trailers, gameplay videos and behind-the-
scenes footage, a soundtrack CD, a collector's coin with a velvet pouch, a
cloth map of Norrath, and two posters. Pre-order numbers have been so high
that very few copies of the Collector's Edition will be available at launch.

EverQuest II carries a monthly subscription fee of $14.99 for continuing
access to the game world. Players can subscribe using a credit card, or
purchase 30-day and 90-day SOE Game Cards, which open the new world of Norrath
to those who choose not to use a credit card.

Additonally, EverQuest II is
included as part of the Station Access subscription, which includes all
SOE-published games, for only $21.99 per month. Titles included as part of
the Station Access subscription include: EverQuest, PlanetSide, EverQuest
Online Adventures, Infantry Online, Tanarus, Cosmic Rift, and EverQuest II
(all game software sold separately).

Read the full press release

The release date was greeted with scepticism when it was announced in late October, since there seemed to be much bugs in the beta, along with the closeness to the release of its main competition, World of Warcraft.

dek in his preview on IGNIQ said:

[...]this game is one month from its expected release date and if it ships now with such huge bugs in stability, combat, healing, encounters, and quest it will flop miserably even though its still much better in beta then SWG is now.

More info:
Official EverQuest II website
Slashdot | Everquest 2 Launches
Gamespy EverQuest II Weeklong Coverage
Interview: Heather Graham talks EQ II
Interview: Christopher Lee Embraces Evil in EverQuest 2
Discussion >>

WOW have now gone to open beta testing. You can sign up for a free account here
After you have signed up for your account it will allow you to download the WOW client. It is approximately 2GB.
Discussion >>

EA have released a new Q&A for Armies of Exigo, the fantasy real-time strategy game, due for release on 30 Nov.

Tell us about the world of Exigo, where the game is set?
The story starts in the land of Noran. It is a region that has seen much conflict over the centuries. It is an area known for its magical forests and peaceful farming communities. The western mountains protect these lands from the Howling Plains; known home to the Beast race. One of the big secrets/rumors of these lands is the intricate catacomb and cave systems below the ground. Few have entered these areas but the future prospects of war force the exploration of these areas.

Can you explain the differences between the three armies: the Empire, the
Beast and the Fallen?
The Empire is comprised of Humans and their fellow elves and gnomes. They
are basically very strong on defense and have heavily fortified structures. They are big on spells. They have partnered with gnomes, who have technology to build great siege weapons and vehicles. The gnomes also bring the miner units to the faction, which are critical for transporting units from one level to another. Finally, the human units level up individually and when they reach a higher level, they are able to cast their power to surrounding units. The Beast units are tribal and nomadic. They are comprised of strong individual units like the Ogres and Trolls. They are spiritual and use the energy within the souls of creatures to protect themselves. They have the ability to cast spells like a gas form which allows the units to penetrate through the two levels of the game. Healing is completed through the sacrifice of other units. The Fallen is a bunch of creatures from another dimension who take control of fellow creatures from the underground. Their ally is the dark elves who come to join their cause. They level up as a group taking every killed enemies soul and placing it into a spirit “pool”. Their means of multi-level transfer occur by way of a dimension gate. As long as they stand on their “home turf” or creep, they will be able to self heal themselves.

How is the single player game structured?
It’s a linear game comprised of three campaigns. Starting with the Empire,
continuing with the Fallen, and wrapping up with the Beast campaign. There are 12 missions per race for a total of 36. The story is laid out so that in the end, two forces who are long time rivals actually join together for an epic battle against the Fallen.

Does Armies of Exigo feature tutorials?
Yes. There is a level that covers the basic controls for an RTS. It covers some of
the new additions to the RTS genre like multi level movement. However, the way the game unfolds, you are always acquiring new units with new abilities. We believe this keeps the game fresh and interesting.

What type of units can the player control?
Ground units that are made up of both melee and ranged attack abilities. The
user will control aerial units that both attack and transport other units. There are units that are spell casters with a variety of different abilities (including autocasting of certain spells). Finally, there are units that carry special abilities to interact between the two levels. Some can cast poison fog to the surface from the underground for example.

Does Armies of Exigo feature online and multiplayer modes?
Armies of Exigo contains an extensive multiplayer experience. The user will be
able to host a 12 player game. We also have a variety of different game modes like capture the flag, king of the hill, team melee and a few other surprises. Of course we cover the basics like internet and LAN play. The final product will contain over 40 multi-player maps. If that isn’t good enough, the product will also launch with a game editor so that users can create and customize their own maps.

Also released were a selection of new screenshots, check them through the Discuss link.

More info:
Official website
Download a free demo (Single player & multi-player)
Gamespy preview
Discussion >>

Beginners Guide to RYL
As it's currently in beta, RYL doesn't supply or have a beginners guide. Their help menu doesn't work either so here are some beginning tips on how to play the game.

This guide will be aimed towards the human race as I have never played as the demon race.

Controls

• Forward=w
• Backwards=s
• Strafe left=a
• Strafe right=d
• Jump=space
• Sit down/restore=c
• Zoom in/out=mouse wheel
• Pick up=e
• Secondary Weapon=q
• Attack=Left Click
• Special Skills=Right Click
• Shift=Activates other menus
• Backdrop mode=ESC
• Party Window=Y
• Stats Window=U
• Inventory=I
• Skill Window=K
• Game Options=F11
• Party Chat=/p
• Whisper=/s [Name] [Message]
• Shout/Announce=/c [Message]
• Toggle Run=R

Available Classes:

Warrior
Defender-A defence fighter which uses his/her hit points at a major advantage.

Warrior-An Attacking style fighter which uses his/her strength at advantage

Rogue
Archer-A long range style fighter, which uses his/her speed and distance to defeat enemies

Assassin- A stealthy fighter uses his/her speed and deadly skills to kill and hide as quickly as possible.

Mage
Sorcerer- A magic user type fighter which uses his/her strong magic skills at advantage

An Enchanter- A supportive magic user which uses his/her distance skills ad support skills to help out others

Acolytes
Priest- A holy fighter which uses his/her high magic resistance and good fighting skills

Cleric- Another holy fighter which uses his/her supportive skills to aid the team
Now when you load up the game for the first time you will select on what you want you character to look like, his/her name and select 5 stats points. DO NOT CHOOSE ANY STATS UNTIL YOU HAVE DECIDED YOUR CLASS!

Whatever class you choose, you get skills designed for that class. It's best to use your stats and skills together carefully so you get the best out of both. So you don't want loads of skills as many will not be useful to your character stat point type. Most skills you want are around about 4. Sorcerers may need 5 for their protection though. Make sure you read each skill and see what it needs to level up. If it's not a main stat then don't bother as it will be weak.

Every 2 bonus points you receive per level, will only notch one stat if it's a main one, which you should do every time, so make sure you don't waste points into something you don't need. If you do there are certain things called stones of oblivions, they are kind of rare to find and if you want to buy one of someone it will cost in the region of 250k-300, then you have to pay 10k per level you are and you get to move 4 stat points, very expensive if you have done some stats wrong.

To start yourself off in the game, go visit the 2 people with highlighted name in Aldia harbour, which is Akkard and a guide, they have some simple quests which you can level up from. Make sure you get your quick slot out and drag your skills into it. Anyone highlighted green will have a quest for you, whether your high enough level is a different matter.

When you reach level 10 make sure you visit your trainer for some gear. Then the journey is for you to explore GOOD LUCK!

EXP and Drops
You get exp for completing quests and defeat your enemies, the harder the enemies the more exp you get. If the enemy is a higher level then all of your team mates, the more of you there that are lower then the enemies level, the more exp you shall receive, but there is a disadvantage if the enemy is a lower level, or similar level to you and your party members the exp will be shared for what your level of character is and will be less as well. You get drops of most enemies of certain items, the harder the enemy you fight, the better the drops, it may take you longer and get you less exp overall in that amount of time it takes you, but the drop rate is very much increased.
Also on a note as a sorcerer if they group the amount of enemies, your drop rate also increases, whilst they can use their magic to hit around 5 enemies at a time, which gets killer exp and drops and that's why their books are very expensive.

Bartering
Another very important thing to this game. You find something that has no use to you, maybe someone else needs it. But if you wish to sell in a store you get poor cash for, but you can up the value of what you can sell in the store for, to get that extra bit of cash. Maybe you find something rare where you can only find and not buy like level 3 books or a gem. You are able to up the value straight away. If it's not too ridiculous I'm sure someone will buy.

How to receive fame
To receive fame you have to kill Ak Kan's aka demons. You will find them on Scynca Island, Caervan or the Isle of Pain. You can be in a party or solo, and kill demons to get fame. If they are too low a level you wont receive anything, or if their too high a level you wont lose any either.
1 Bar = 2000>1, 2 Bars = 10,000>2000, 3 Bars = 20,000>10,000

To create a guild
Go to the guild personal in any city, you have to pay 1 million gold to open an account, and have 4 personnel in your guild within 24hrs.
If you wish to have a symbol/crest you have to pay 5 million gold, and it will cost 5 million each time you wish to change it.
Also if you want more members you have to receive fame, which will be done on an average of the amount of people in the guild.

Blacksmith
You are able to upgrade your armour and weapons at the blacksmith. The only armour that cannot be upgraded is your helmet or hood etc. You can upgrade armour with silvin, mithril, iternum. Silvin is the lowest quality and is most likely to fail, so you use that on the worst things, mithril is medium quality and iternum is the best. All can fail and if you fail once it takes you down to + 0 again. Silvin and mithril does + 3 whilst iternum does + 6. You first upgrade does the weapon, armour or shield increased, the 2nd does another slot, the third does another upgrade whilst the next does a slot and so forth.

Silvin sells between 30-50k, Mithril sells between 70-100k, and Iternum sells between 200-300k.

More info:
Risk Your Life CD Giveaway
Risk Your Life Info List
IGNIQ SNEAK PEEK AT RYL ARTWORK
RYL Journey
Discussion >>

With the release of Halo 2 today, we've collected top links to add to the hype:

• "Halo 2 is a lot like Halo 1, only it's Halo 1 on fire, going 130 miles per hour through a hospital zone, being chased by helicopters and ninjas ... And, the ninjas are all on fire, too."
  
• How big is Halo 2?
  
• Early Halo 2 copy sells for almost 5 times its recommended price on eBay
  
• Buy this game and prepare to lose big, sleep-deprived chunks of your time
  
• Halo 2 Plans to Sell Out by Midnight
  
• Joystiq has a selection of screens to oggle
  
• Going to a Halo 2 Event? Send me a picture of it...and win!
  
• Halo 2 store locator
  
• Bungie's web guide to Halo 2
  
• Track Your Friends Halo 2 Stats
  
• 11 early Halo 2 reviews
• Halo 2: Brian Jarrard Interview
  
• Halo 2 -Making of- Video
• Halo 2 Everything We Know Movie
  
• Halo 2 Multiplayer Featurette Trailer
  
• Halo 2 RFG Music Video
• Halo 2 Theatrical Trailer Very Hi-Res
  
• Halo 2 Zanzibar Gameplay Hi-Res Movie
  
• Download 12 sample pages of the Official Halo 2 Guide (available from 11 Nov)
  
• Halo 2 skin for Windows Media Player 10
  
• Augmented reality Halo derivative goes nutso (22 Aug)

Discussion >>

Boomtown.net warn on malicious programs that have surfaced that claim to unlock the preloaded Half-Life 2 files that have been downloaded to Steam users.

Be wary of files named Half-Life 2 unlocker, hl2unlock.exe or rft-hl2u

When run, the program asks for the user's Steam login details and password. "Fair enough," you think. "I'll soon be playing Half-Life 2 before my friends."

Except you won't. Idiot. Because you've just downloaded a Trojan. The program will not unlock Half-Life 2; instead your Steam login details will be sent to the hacker who created the file.
Read more

Link via kotaku
Discussion >>

IGNIQ have some special preview CD copies of Risk Your Life to give away.

Check here for details.
Discussion >>

This current-events centered first person action game from Merscom has gone Gold and will be available in the U.S. within the next two weeks for $19.99.

A percentage of the profits generated by the game will be donated to the charity Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF).

Steeped in today's headlines with vivid 3D environments and powerful special effects, "Terrorist Takedown" is nonstop military action. Take control of AH-64 and UH-1 helicopters, operate High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs), and fire heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, and more as you strike at known terrorists and their sponsors. In 16 heart-pounding missions, you must defeat the terrorists and protect our homeland.

More info:
Official website
Terrorist Takedown trailer
Special Operations Warrior Foundation
Merscom.biz - publishers of Terrorist Takedown
Discussion >>

The first Halo 2 reviews have been flooding onto the 'Net following the lifting of a press embargo.
EvilAvatar investigate whether Halo 2 lived up to the massive hype? and IGN.com have collected 11 reviews, with a near perfect score overall:

• 1UP - 10
• EGM - 10
• Eurogamer - 9
• Gamers Europe - 8.0
• GameSpot - 9.4
• GameSpy - 5/5
• GMR - 10
• IGN - 9.8
• Telefragged - They liked it
• Voodoo Extreme - I loved it
• XBN - 10

More info:
Slashdot | Halo 2 Reviews
Official website
MSNBC Preview: Halo 2
MTV.com Making the Game: Halo 2
Discussion >>

Although no release date set before May of next year, a new trailer has been released for Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.

In the Star Wars: Episode III video game, players will control all the Jedi abilities of both Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, including devastating Force powers and advanced lightsaber techniques involving robust combo attacks and defensive maneuvers. As Anakin, players will unleash the power of the dark side in ruthless lightsaber and Force attacks. As Obi-Wan, players will struggle to save the galaxy from darkness by focusing the power of the light side into swift and precise lightsaber attacks and using the Force to control enemy actions.

Download it here (18.1 Mb)
You will need Quicktime installed (11.73 Mb)
Official Website

Discussion >>

Some fixes include:

- Increased stability between game sessions and map cycling.
- Fixed mapping of mouse movements to controls in Key Configuration screen.
- Install process for North American region discs on non-English operating
systems has been optimized.
- Difficulty entering vehicles due to latency has been addressed.

Download it from 3dgamers (18.3 Mb)
Star Wars Battlefront Website

Discussion >>

About Joint Operations Retail Patch 1.4.17

"Update for Joint Operations, updates the game to v1.4.17. Takes care of several issues, click additional info for details."

Download it here

Discussion >>

Browse our archives:

Igniq.com Weekly News Archives

Archive for this week:

13.11.04 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Mod Tools
 BloodRayne 2 Demo
12.11.04 Catalyst 4.11 available
 Warrior Within: Cinematic Trailer
 Heat Of Battle v.40
 I Love Bees Ends - DVD Edition Available
 Copies of Half-Life 2 Sold Early
11.11.04 Halo 2 Review Up
10.11.04 New Nvidia Forceware 66.93 WHQL available
 MSN to promote launch of Halo 2
 GTA: San Andreas notches up a million
9.11.04 Everquest II Launch
 WOW Open Beta Sign Ups
 Armies of Exigo Q&A/Screenshots
 Beginners Guide to RYL
 Halo 2 Links
 Trojan Claims to Unlock HL2 Preload
8.11.04 Risk Your Life CD Giveaway
 Terrorist Takedown - Gold
 Halo 2 Early Reviews Hit 'Net
 Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - Trailer
7.11.04 Star Wars Battlefront retail v1.1 patch
 Joint Operations Retail Patch 1.4.17