Bienvenuti back my friends to that useless post that refuses to end and this, DaC's numero 4 mash-up. Alora attenzione, bambini.

Uno) First off, I went spelunking again in Iron Tower territories, this time to check out the hows and whys with Age of Decadence. Unfortunately, the site looks just as dead as Dead State's. Fortunately, the forums heralded a bit of a surprise, as the team is currently in the process of beta testing a demo that's purported to be ready for consumption sometime later this year. Some words from one of the testers left me quite intrigued (some spoilers):

It's a good game ;)

- great freedom of actions and choices, incl. interesting workarounds for problematic situations; non-lethal fails encourage you to explore other opportunities, and sometimes you're even rewarded with something like +5 to Streetwise, Dodge, etc., so you have better chances to succeed in another situation,

- abundance of SP rewards for choosing your own special ways (for example, 35-40 in each one of Etiquette, Streetwise, Persuasion and Lore allowed me to achieve much more - and to kill more people - than 50 in all CS, Crossbow and Dodge),

- your choices and actions having logical and often long-term consequences; alliances and reputations with different factions really open and close exciting opportunities, and each way seems equally attractive, so I'm always saving the game before making a crucial decision - to explore each one of these mutually exclusive ways,

- in combats involving many participants (8-12) the outcomes really depend on your tactics as both parties have more or less equal chances; sometimes, if your character is not an epic fighter, retreating away from the main battle and distracting 1-2 opponents by making them pursue you (and then surviving, hehe) can do the trick; even if you lose SP because it's your allies who kill most (or all) enemies, the fact that the combat is usually very challenging (I think it's even close to impossible for new players not seasoned and scarred in combat demo) and great rewards for winning a battle make you ignore the SP you lose this way,

- the game is really addictive, and although the quests you choose to accomplish are serious and having 'global' consequences from the very beginning of the game (no FedEx, kill 5 rats - get 10 gold or kill a dragon - get emerald sword ones, but ones that involve making really essential decisions immediately affecting your and other factions), so the game feels fast-paced, still it takes much time to explore all opportunities you have around - and the set of opportunities really depends on your build's characteristics (that is, an Assassin with Perception 10, high CS and Sneaking will have a different experience in the game than an Assassin with Charisma 10, high Disguise and Alchemy). After playing the beta for one week (for ~1-4 hours a day?) I've only explored a great portion of Assassin's path (incl. the vignette and available side quests and shifts to other factions), half of Mercenary's path and a great portion of Knight's path; winning a tough battle or passing a hard check by mere 1 SP brings a certain degree of ecstasy of course, keeping me playing until late at night instead of working on my research...

- the hardest path involving numerous and diverse checks (e.g. Crafting and Lore for an Assassin or Critical Strike and Streetwise for a Knight) brings most epic rewards, at that these rewards are not necessarily immediate, only unlocking some future opportunities...

Combat demo out now; This demo tentatively out Nov/Dec; Game out sometime this century (hopefully).

Due) Firefly Studios' second Stronghold sequel, the imaginatively named Stronghold 3, made its review rounds this week. For those not in the know, Stronghold (the original) was quite interesting, in a Settlers meets castle building simulator-way and was a generally satisfying ant farm, if quite slow. Number 3, however, seems not to have corrected that problem, if the RPS review is anything to go by. If that's no way to tell for you, consider watching the (quite extensive) Giant Bomb video below. Out now.

Tre) Elder Canoli: Skyrim is close to debuting, and its review copies are fumbling about as we "speak". However, since none of us care about the game itself, I though I'd show you what Bethesda does best (suing the competition aside) and, as you'd expect, it's anything but the game itself. At least the man-child looks suitably impressed. Out Novem- wait, who cares?

Quattro) One of the most curious things I came across this week was an old-style point and click adventure by the name of Gemini Rue. In the developer's words:

Azriel Odin, ex-assassin, arrives on the rain-drenched planet of Barracus. When things go horribly wrong, he can only seek help from the very criminals he used to work for.

Meanwhile, across the galaxy, a man called Delta-Six wakes up in a hospital with no memory. Without knowing where to turn or who to trust, he vows to escape before he loses his identity completely.

Sounds intriguing? Looks intriguing as well, if the screenshots and video are anything to go by.

RPS had good things to say about it and you can get a demo here. Out Now.

E... Berlusconi!) Tragedy hit the shores at nerdtown Blizzcon this week, where a clip from a slightly douchy display during an interview with a level 80 nerdmaster Cannibal Corpse's George Fisher was used on the main stage, and showed said nerdchieftain musician using homophobic slurs for comedic effect. Some nerds people took offense. Some other nerds people thought it was funny. I'd like to ask a few things, though:

1) Why is a nerd someone being a douche news? (1) (2) (3)
2) Why is some other nerd someone else being offended news? (1) (2) (3)
3) Why would Blizzard use that (particularly unfunny) clip in the first place?

And why oh why can't we stick all these nerds cretins in a boat and light it on fire?