Super new games show up at, er, show

THQ HAD A BUNCH OF GOODIES at E3 this year, and one big no-show. It had a sequel to Full Spectrum Warrior, an addon to Warhammer 40K, and the gold version of Destroy all Humans. There also was a game called Company of Heroes by Relic. That, supposedly, was incredible, but I didn't brave the line to see it. The biggest no-show at the booth was Stalker, the highly anticipated game from last year's show, it was nowhere. When asked about it, the subject changed very quickly, which is a pity because it looked really good.

First up is FSW: Ten Hammers, a sequel to FSW, set this time in that hot area for military simulations, the generic "middle east". While it did not have the same input from the Army as the original game, hopefully this one will stay true to its roots and remain as much of a learning tool as its predecessor. It is set for release in late 2005 or early 2006 on the XBox, PS2 and PC.

Destroy All Humans was there in final form. It is due out in a month or so. It was a lot more fleshed out than the version from E3 2004, and I still think it is one of the hotter games on the show floor. It has all the demented humour that makes a game stand out, along with the potential for some new game play. Take a look June 21st on the Xbox and PS2. Last up is my personal favourite, Warhammer 40K. The Dawn of War game that came out late last year sucked me in for a while, but it had some rough edges. With the exception of vastly better artificial intelligence (AI( and pathfinding, which was addressed to a degree, everything I was annoyed with on the last game appear to be fixed.

In the expansion pack, Winter Assault, due out this autumn, there is a new race called the Imperial Guard. It is aimed at those who play with a defensive strategy, a very different thing from the assault based tactics of DoW. They have new units, as do all the old races, and many include flamethrowers. Fire is good, and when it is rendered well, it is really good. It is rendered well here. Yay, fire.

There are new campaign modes, in this case it's order versus chaos, where you play multiple races per campaign rather than a single one for the whole campaign. Relic tossed in a bunch of new multiplayer modes, cleaned up several nitpicks, and made everything bigger, better and more polished. I want this game badly, and unless THQ decides to have mercy on me, I won't get it until you do this autumn. µ