I received a very distinct honor and privilege of being invited to a media event hosted by 1C and 1C Game Studios where three new products were discussed. The event was hosted on the USS Hornet, a WWII aircraft carrier with an amazing history. Just being onboard an icon like the Hornet was an honor in itself, but on top of that we also got to mingle with some great folks, talking about the games and simulations we love.

Who has a career making games and looks bad ass in a flight suit? These guys. (Courtesy of Traction PR)
Men of War: Assault Squad 2
www.menofwargame.com/games/assaultsquadMen of War by Digitalmindsoft is a storied series of top-down real-time strategy games that put players in charge of an assault team of infantry, vehicles, and more. While I’m not familiar with the series, it does have some great graphics and looks like a lot of fun. Men of War: Assault Squad 2 improves on the series and also integrates into Steam, including using the Steam Workshop and multiplayer matchmaking. Watch for it this winter.
Nuclear Union
www.nuclearunion.comNuclear Union is an RPG action game developed by Best Way that has many of the same aspects that made games like Fallout, Borderlands, and Metro cultishly successful. Set in a post-apocalyptic alternate history starting from the Cuban Missile Crisis, the game puts the player in control of a protaganist who has become lost in time, ending up in the year 2012 in world that has been ravaged by nuclear war. The Soviet Union still remains a powerhouse but fights militant gangs for control of resources. Great weapons, a promising storyline, and mutated creatures give this game some serious potential. Nuclear Union is expected to be available second quarter of 2014.
IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad
il2sturmovik.comOf course, the star of the event was the IL-2 Sturmovik follow-on, Battle of Stalingrad. Battle of Stalingrad takes pilots back to WWII to fly and fight the air war of the epic Battle of Stalingrad from both the Russian and German perspectives. Albert “Loft” Zhiltcov and Jason “Jason” Williams were on hand to walk us through the details of the development, showing us amazing clips and photos, and to give us hands-on time with the current pre-alpha version of the game.