Act of War: Direct Action is Eugen Systems' recently released RTS game with a storyline and game universe created in cooperation with Dale Brown. Atari has released a multiplayer demo featuring two maps (Fistful of Sand and The Last Battlefield), playable as the US Army over LAN/online, and in skirmish mode (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for download links ...

Alien Swarm: Infested is an upcoming action strategy game, using Valve's Source engine, featuring a unique blend of co-op play and squad level tactics all in an overhead view.

Borderzone is a combat oriented game, combining elements of role-play and action. Players assume the role of Olaf, one of the few remaining humans on the planet Terra. Having to leave the safety of their outpost, gamers venture on quests and into battle, running up to five characters simultaneously and amassing weapons, skills and magic. The action and strategy of the non-linear plot unfolds in a pseudo-turn based format, leading explorers to various endings depending on which paths they choose.

Earlier today a game listing was spotted on Gamestop revealing an expansion pack for Rome: Total War, scheduled for October 17, 2005. PC Zone UK confirms this rumor as they are running a preview in their current issue. Here is a snip : "The expansion pack's called Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion and is set well after Rome: Total War spanning the years 364AD to 476AD. You can play as one of the Barbarian factions (including the Vandals, Saxons and Huns) and take revenge against the Roman Empire, or as the Western and Eastern Roman empires attempting to drive back the Barbarians. The big new feature is the addition of night-time battles, but lighter troops - including cavalry - can now also swim across rivers. There are also a load of new units to look forward to."

One of the PlanetBattlefield editors is currently attending a community event at the EA campus and during a presentation executive producers Scott Evans revealed that a Battlefield 2 demo is in the works and it is expected to be released Mid June featuring one map. No details whether this will be a single or multiplayer demo, but judging from EA's trackrecord, we can assume it will probably be MP. The official Battlefield 2 release date is set for June 23, 2005 in North America and Europeans will get lucky a few days earlier on the 17th.

Myelin Media today revealed details about the online gameplay in STACKED with Daniel Negreanu. The game will feature its own sanctioned multi-table tournament system called “STACKED Masters” and will also include involvement from the seven professional players associated with the game, providing the most in-depth online play and community experience for any console poker game.

Dragonshard will incorporate classic role-playing themes, a powerful and dynamic real-time strategy engine all woven together with a rich storyline involving a global conflict for an immensely powerful artifact with the power to change the fate of Eberron itself.

After Sony Europe renamed Wanda & the Colossus to Shadow of the Colossus over a month ago, SCEA is now following suit and had taken the name change on as well. The reason to to rename SCEI's upcoming action/adventure game is the same as before, "to better reflect the game's atmosphere and to avoid possible translation issues." Wanda is Japanese translates to "wonder" in English. Situated in the same universe as its prequel, the Collossus will follow a totally different story line.

THQ has released details of what people can expect for the upcoming first patch for Relic's 3D RTS Dawn Of War. While no specific release date has been announced yet, the new v1.3 patch is currently in Q&A testing, so it should not take too much longer. The new patch will address a slew of tweaks & unit balancing for all 4 races, game performance improvement, bug fixes, ability fixes and adds Observer mode, mod manager, friends list and plenty more (thanks RelicNews). Read more for detailed fix list....

A few weeks ago VIS Entertainment closed its Dundee office and laid off several people at its other remaining Edinburgh studio, virtually halting all production on its titles in development, State of Emergency 2 and Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer. Today DC Studios announced that it has acquired the rights to Rockstar's 2002 sequel and will resume development on State of Emergency 2, which is now schedule for late this year, PS2 confirmed, but no other platforms are specified at this point in time. DC Studios most recently finished Ubisoft's Rayman DS and is currently also developing a multiplatform title for Konami of Europe.