Age of Empires Online is a freemium game, meaning it is free to play but have the option to purchase premium content like special items, blueprints, quests and other features. Players can choose to play the game in single-player or co-op and horde type mode in booster packs like the Defense of Crete booster pack. Age of Empires Online was developed by Gas Powered Games, the same company who developed the Dungeon Siege series.

If you’re not yet playing it or haven’t seen it, here’s the full cinematic trailer and several in-game screenshots.

Age of Empires Online Full Cinematic Trailer

Defense of Crete Booster Pack Preview

Screenshots:

Right now, players can only choose from two civilizations (free and premium content) – Greek and Egyptian but I’m sure they’ll be adding new civilizations like Persian, Celt, Roman, etc. soon. Graphics are very nice and the gameplay is basically the same as other Age of Empires versions. The only difference is that on Age of Empires Online, some features and options are only made available to players who purchase premium content. Premium civilizations cost $19.99, booster packs cost $9.99, extras (decors/blueprints) cost $4.99.

Some people are complaining about the art style which has a comic look & feel, lack of violence, etc. in this version. Personally, I find it fun and entertaining and I’m sure that most hard core Age of Empires fans will like this game because of the gameplay, not the graphics. I’ve been playing the game since it’s launch and I’m really enjoying and having fun with it. The only thing I don’t like with this game is that it requires an Internet connection and there’s no option to play it offline.

To check out or download the game, check out the official Age of Empires Online website.

Anybody else playing Age of Empires Online? Which civilization are you playing with? What features and options from this game do you like the most? Please share your thoughts.

Do you know the game Angry Birds? I’m sure you know about it or heard about it even if you haven’t played or seen it yourself. If not, then you must have been hiding under a rock. Hehe

The game was first released for the Apple iOS on December of 2009 and since then Angry Birds have been downloaded and purchased more than 12 million times from the App Store. It has become so popular that Rovio, the company that developed Angry Birds have created versions of the game for the Android operating system, other touchscreen smartphones as well as personal computer and gaming console versions.

I spent a lot of time playing Angry Birds on my iPhone when it first came out and it was very addicting. My 4-year old son loves the game and still plays it every now and then.

Anyways, I was browsing the web the other day and came across this video from Rooster Teeth – a trailer for Angry Birds: The Movie.

Angry Birds: The Movie Trailer


Angry Birds: The Movie starring Marshall Rimmer, John Erler, Gus Sorola, Joel Heyman, Becca Frasier, Brandon Farmahini, Chris Demarais, Kerry Shawcross. Music by Conor Brace. Production design by Griffon Ramsey. Special Thanks to Green Gate Farms and John-Mike Reed.

I doubt that there will be a real movie, but nevertheless the guys from Rooster Teeth did a good job producing this video. Based on the comments posted on the video, a lot of Angry Birds fans want to see a full length movie made from this video. Here’s my favorite line from the video:

“Is this some sort of game to you?” “No!”, “Yes?”

Any Angry Birds fans here? How do you like the Angry Birds: The Movie trailer? Would you like to see a real movie made from the trailer? Please share your thoughts.

To promote and help boost the popularity of their latest web browser Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft created an online game called Master of the Web. As a bonus, Microsoft is giving away cash prizes – $100 to the weekly top scorer for the next 12 weeks and a grand prize of $3,000 to the overall top scorer at the end of 12 weeks.

Master of the Web is made up of three lessons (levels) and three different games.

Lesson 1: Speedy Scrambling Hands Style
Objective: Catch as many eggs as you can within 1 minutes.

• You need to click on the egg once it is thrown at you and then click on the bowl to drop it.
• Each successfully deposited egg gives you 10 points.
• If you miss a egg and it hits you, you will be unable to catch any eggs for 3 seconds.

Lesson 2: Beginner’s Muck
Objective: Clean six paintings within two minutes.

• Click and drag over the paintings to clean them.
• As you are doing so, the sponge will dirtier – until it can no longer be used.
• Click on the sponge icon to get a new one and continue cleaning.
• Points will be allocated according to how fast you clean all paintings, or how much of them you clean.

Lesson 3: Trust or Bust!
Objective: Fend off your attackers.

• Click on the enemies to repel them.
• For every attacker you hit, you’ll score 10 points.
• If they manage to hit you, you’ll lose 5 points.
• Grab the IE9 icon for an immunity power-up. This means points will no longer be deducted when you get hit!

NOTE: This game is only available to a select number of countries namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and New Zealand. If you’re not from any of the countries listed, you can still play and enjoy the game but you won’t be eligible to enter the contest.

If you’re into these type of games and have time to spare, why don’t you give it a shot? Aside from enjoying and having fun, you also get a shot at winning the $100 weekly prize and the $3,000 grand prize. Btw, if you want to play this game make sure to use Internet Explorer 9 to get the best gaming experience. Master of the Web was designed/optimized to work with IE9.

Who else tried the Master of the Web Internet Explorer 9 game? Do you like the game? What’s your best score?

To celebrate the holiday season, popular online gaming platform and video game distributor Steam is having a holiday sale. The sale started last week, December 20th and will run until January 2nd. For this holiday sale, Steam is offering huge discounts for more than 1,000 games, including popular games like Team Fortress 2, Grand Theft Auto, Bioshock, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 etc. and the latest and biggest game titles like Assassins Creed 2, Civilization V, Fallout: New Vegas, Call of Duty: Black Ops, etc.

There are daily deals each day for individual games, game bundles and publisher catalogs. They also have game specials under $10 and $5. Yesterday, they had Civilization V for only $29.99 (retail price is $49.99). Today’s deals include:

• Assassins Creed 2 – $14.99 (retail price $29.99)
• F.E.A.R 2 Complete Pack – $9.99 (retail price $39.97)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – $29.99 (retail price $59.99)
• Darksiders – $9.99 (retail price $39.99)
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light – $5.10 (retail price $14.99)
• Wings of Prey – $5.99 (retail price $29.99)
• Dead Rising 2 – $19.99 (retail price 39.99)

I don’t play video games that much these days but the huge discounts was so tempting I decided to purchase Torghlight, Civilization IV Complete Pack and Battlefield Bad Company 2 and the Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam expansion pack. I’m not sure if they’ve already offered a discount for Call of Duty: Black Ops, so they might have it on sale any day until January 2nd.

NOTE: You’ll need a Steam account to purchase, download and access these games. Some games may not be available in some countries. If you’re running Windows 7 64-bit, make sure to check from the Windows 7 Compatibility Center if the game you want to purchase is compatible with your system (especially with older games) and that your computer meets at least, the minimum requirements before purchasing it.

Check out the Steam website for more details.

Epic Games previewed an upcoming iOS game during an Apple keynote earlier this year. Powered by Epic’s cutting-edge Unreal Engine 3 technology, this game displayed unparalleled graphics never before seen on the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or any portable gaming console like the Sony PSP or Nintendo DS. If you were able to try the free preview of the game called Epic Citadel, then you know how awesome this game’s graphics are. This is the same game that you’ve seen on the iPhone 4 and iPad commercials.

The game’s full version now called Infinity Blade, is now available at the App Store for $5.99. Infinity Blade is optimized for the iPhone 4′s retina display but it is also a universal app, meaning it will play on any device running iOS 3.2+ (iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPod Touch 3 (16 GB and above), or iPod Touch 4).

I haven’t tried Infinity Blade yet as I’m still downloading it at the time of writing. The app is 318MB which is huge for an iOS app. Anyways, here are some reviews from some of the top gaming and tech websites:

IGN: “A surefire Game of the Year contender. It just may be the best iPhone game of all time.”

TouchGen: “This is the best game I’ve played on my iPhone. This is the game we’ve been waiting for!”

Slide: “A unique and enthralling experience from the start.”

Ars Technica: “It’s one of the few games on the iPhone that if I were to get an e-mail tomorrow saying that it’s available, I would stop everything I was doing, find my iPhone and buy it.”

Screenshots:

Features:

• DYNAMIC SINGLE-PLAYER CAMPAIGN – Spectacular 3D characters and environments powered by the award-winning Unreal Engine 3 bring to life the story of a lone knight’s pursuit to save civilization.
• RESPONSIVE AND INTUITIVE TOUCH CONTROLS – Attack, dodge, block, and cast devastating spells – all with the simple swipe of a finger.
• SIMPLE NAVIGATION – Easy to use, tap-to-move controls enable players to effortlessly navigate and explore the castle realm while searching for collectable items such as treasure, swords, shields, armor and other magical objects.
• DEEP CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION – Dozens of Swords, Shields, Helmets, Armor, and Magic Rings to acquire and master – leveling up your character and increasing Attack, Health, Shield and Magic skills.
• GAME CENTER – Achievements and Leaderboards

With all the rave reviews this game is getting, it won’t be surprising if Infinity Blade was chosen as game of the year.

Infinity Blade is now available for download from the App Store

Anyone already tried and played Epic Game’s latest game Infinity Blade for iOS? What are your first impressions of the game? What device are you playing it on – iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad? Please share your thoughts.