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Does the concept of Tom Clancy's EndWar's real-time tactical combat scare you? Are you intrigued by the story but scared of the immediacy of real-time? Well then perhaps the newly-announced handheld versions of the game are for you. Shipping on November 4th alongside their console big brothers, Tom Clancy's EndWar for the PSP and Nintendo DS contain all the thrill of the conflict between the U.S. Joint Strike Force, European Enforcers Corps and Russian Spetsnaz Guards Brigade in a turn-based strategy game...with a twist. Instead of each side taking turns, each declare their actions which are then carried out simultaneously. It sounds like a lovely compromise between real-time and turn-based, really.

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Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone, originally released in 2006 for the GameBoy Advance, is a tactical strategy RPG that features some rather unique battle mechanics. Instead of multiple units battling multiple enemies, only one unit at a time can fight, relying on battlefield position-dependent Unions to bring allies into the fight. Adding to the complex system are cards that represent your movement and power, adding special abilities to the fight and leveling as you use them. Much like it's predecessor, Riviera: The Promised Land, Yggdra has now made the leap from GBA to PSP, bringing with it a tweaked difficulty level, enhanced graphics, and a few other changes that players of the original game are sure to catch as they play. Were the changes enough to make a good game even better, or were they better off leaving well enough alone?

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Finally, a use for YouTube! Even with 25 years of access to the original Dragon's Lair, I've yet to beat the game and snatch the lovely Princess Daphne from the clutches of the evil Singe. Fortunately, some YouTube know-it-all has uploaded and annotated a very handy real-time guide to completing the game, making us absolutely adore the annotations feature.

It's not like we're lacking in DVD and Blu-ray ports of Dragon's Lair, so if you really want to give it a go and use the guide, now's your chance.

Dragon's Lair Complete Strategy Guide - With Annotations [YouTube via Waxy]

Battlefront.com and developers 1C have launched a developer diary for their upcoming strategy sequel Theatre Of War 2 : North Africa 1943.

The diary is the product of all the designers and coders who are working on the title & is intended to illustrate the kind of decisions and creative choices that go in to making a game.

Or rather, it will be - at the moment there are only two entries. The first — "What shall we do?" — looks at how the sequel came into being, and how the team decided on the North African campaign as the focus of the game (spoiler: it involved palm trees).

Next is "Blood, Sand... & Map Editor" which looks at how the map designers took real-world locations and turned them into playable environments. Honestly, its more interesting than it sounds.

Theatre Of War 2 Developer Diary [Battlefront.com]

Sony Online Entertainment announced the release of the fourth EverQuest: Legends of Norrath set, Oathbreaker, which completes the story arc that began in LoN's Oathbound, providing a "dramatic finale" for characters.

SOE said new gameplay will be introduced to build on the old system and allow for more strategies and combos in the online card-based strategy title. It adds 250 new cards, new loot and promo cards, and a new island guardian, Chel'Drak the dragon turtle (is it a dragon or a turtle? Seriously, man).

According to SOE, LoN players have thrown down over a million matches since the title launched nine months ago. Oathbreaker's to be the last release before the August tournament at Gen Con Indy - wannabe competitors must qualify by July 12-13. Why not try, if you're into it? There's $AU 105,000 at stake!

Full details after the jump.

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Just a quick one to all the Dominions 3 fans out there, myself included. There's a new patch out for Illwinter's super sexy strategy game, bringing the title to version 3.14. New features include:

-A new late ear nation called Bogarus!
-Bakemono got a new scout.
-New random events.
-Spell AI: Touch of madness and Berserkers avoids casters and archers to some extent.
-Spell AI: No longer casts LoS on armorless units.
-Modding: Increased maximum nbr of descriptions.
-Modding: Max number of nations and nametypes increased.
-Modding: New monster commands: #darkpower, #firepower, #coldpower, #stormpower, #fallpower, #winterpower, #summerpower, #springpower, #darkvision, #onebattlespell, #patrolbonus.
-Modding: New item commands: #newitem, #descr, #weapon, #armor, #type, #name, #copyspr.
-Modding: New spell command: #nextspell.

Dominions 3: The Awakening - Downloads [Official site, via Blue's News]

Gamasutra has an interesting little essay up on the potential future of RTS games - one focused less on total annihilation of the enemy and more on the subtle complexities that are the mark of war in the real world. Unlike a lot of pie-in-the-sky game design articles, this one simply mentions a few aspects that could be tweaked and modified in years to come, with the hopes of providing a more satisfying gaming experience:

No RTS game will ever be able to represent politics in lifelike detail. These games are, after all, simplifications of reality. Still, RTS game developers could add a tremendous amount of strategic depth by building politics into their games. Players could be released from micro-managing society and the battlefield, they could be exposed to enemies both within and outside their societies, and they could be given more strategic options than attrition.

It's an interesting little essay if you're into the RTS genre - a little innovation is never a bad thing, since even the most beloved of genres will get a little stale after years and years of more of the same - though I have to wonder how many players would be truly interested in big changes.

The Future Of The Real-Time Strategy Game [Gamasutra]

I bet you took one look at the screenshot above and thought: "When did 16-bit Windows games become popular again?".

They didn't. We're still living in a 32-bit world. But someone finally found the stones to make a new Harpoon game, and Harpoon has always been about strategy and realism over graphics.

Released today, the new game is called Larry Bond's Harpoon - Commander's Edition, and you can buy it, along with Advanced Naval Warfare, for $US 69.98.

For the younger players out there, take Introversion's Defcon, turn it into a good game, and you have Harpoon.

Full release after the jump.

LARRY BOND'S HARPOON - COMMANDER'S EDITION [Matrix Games, via Blue's News]

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