TalonSoft's Winter Lineup

Ever since it was founded in 1995, TalonSoft has been synonymous with quality wargames. It's no surprise, then, that all five of the company's upcoming winter titles - Imperial Conquest, Rising Sun, Codename Eagle, 12 O'Clock High, and Hidden & Dangerous: Devil's Bridge - revolve around the subject of war. TalonSoft founder Jim Rose stopped by the GameSpot offices yesterday to give us a quick tour of this lineup.

Imperial ConquestRose best likens Imperial Conquest to a cross between Age of Empires II and Warcraft III, an ambitious comparison. This real-time strategy, which was originally called "Tzar," features three primary factions: a medieval-style race complete with plate-armored knights, wizards, castles, broadswords and the like; Arabic-style people who boast plenty of genies, scimitars and tents; and an Asian race with samurai, shoguns, ronin, ninjas, and katanas-o-plenty. The game is played across five linear campaigns. The goal is to unite the three factions by force. Imperial Conquest's multiplayer aspect lets up to eight players - human or AI - play at once, while the game's random map generator will ensure that no two rounds are ever played the same. Imperial Conquest is set for a February 2000 release.

Codename EagleDeveloped by Refraction and PAN Interactive, Codename Eagle is an action shooter that can best be described as a World War I version of Rage's Incoming. The game takes place in an alternate universe in which the Soviet Union, not Germany, is the antagonistic power in Europe during the 1920s. Players will be able to jump across a number of different modes of play - including everything from standard first-person run-and-gun action to controlling an anti-aircraft battery - throughout the game's twelve levels. Codename Eagle is expected to ship in February 2000.

Rising SunTalonSoft has followed the success of its East Front and West Front World War II strategy titles with Rising Sun, the third of the company's Campaign Series. The focus of the game has shifted from the war in Europe to the Pacific Theater. As a result, brand-new graphics and terrain have been modeled to accurately capture the look and feel of the South Pacific. Players will be able to fight as the US, UK, or Japan, and each countries' forces will have their own advantages and disadvantages. Time permitting, TalonSoft plans on adding the Chinese as the fourth playable faction in Rising Sun. The game's 40 scenarios and five campaigns are all historically accurate, but they will also feature hypothetical events, such as an invasion of Japan. Rising Sun will be available this January.

12 O'Clock HighJim Rose calls 12 O'clock High "a planner's dream." Players are given control of the Allied bombing campaign over Europe in World War II, and they will have to strategize the entire war's air offensive. The game will take you through a number of planning screens and interfaces, and then simulate the outcome of the air battle depending on the choices made. 12 O'Clock High can be played alone, via standard multiplayer configurations and e-mail. The game will ship in November.

Hidden & Dangerous: Devil's BridgeThe expansion pack for the popular Hidden & Dangerous features nine new missions across three campaigns: Poland, Ardennes and Greece. The game takes place at the end of World War II and even extends through 1946, when British SAS agents launched hundreds of raids against Communists and Nazis holed up in Greece. Devil's Bridge adds a host of new weapons and enhancements to the original game's sharp graphics and sound effects. Look for this one in January.