Akella Games, the same publisher which sent us a preview copy of The Bad, the Ugly, and the Sober, is coming out with a new naval simulation called PT Boats: Knights of the Sea. We were lucky enough to get our hands on a preview copy of the game and take it for a spin. If you guys might want to find out how this game is shaping up, don't hesitate to click on the "read more" link below for more information.

If you've made it a New Year's vow to stray from mainstream games once in a while, then maybe in your search for promising game ideas you've probably come across Primal Software's Heavy Duty. And rightfully so, because the RTS, squad-based tactical action game to be published by Akella dares to be different in many ways. But it's an effort to scrounge up whatever development we could for the title itself. Luckily, Akella set out to change all that. More at the full story.

We here at QJ.NET are always on the look out for good point-and-click adventure games such as LucasArts and Telltale Games' Sam & Max. We were pleasantly surprised to know that Akella Games and Litera were coming out with a new one called The Bad, the Ugly, and the Sober for the PC. Much to our pleasure, we were able to give the pre-release version of this game a run through. Want to know what we found? Head on over to the full article for the complete preview.

Akella has announced that the official Postal III (PC, Xbox 360) website is now live. You can check it out by clicking on the Read link below, but before you do that, check out these Postal III features first.

• Choose between three ways to play through the game: The Good, The Bad, and Insane.
• Interact with numerous NPC factions, powered by reactive AI and complex behavior.
• Fusion of linear story-driven missions and huge free-roaming areas.
• Features a wide array of real-life celebrities: from Playboy Playmates to film stars and musicians.
• The game is being developed on Source Engine by Valve for Xbox 360 and PC.

Gamers can start celebrating a decade of Postal goodness with Akella and Running With Scissors' Postal III when it drops in Q4 of next year. Yeah, it's still a long way off. Thankfully, Akella has also released the following new screenshots to ride fans over. Check 'em out too.

If you enjoy detective and spy stories and games, then you might just enjoy this upcoming video game from Akella and Spline. It's called A Stroke of Fate, and guess whose fate you'll be smiting in this title: Adolf Hitler.

The game is set in Germany in the 1940s. You'll be playing as a spy-slash-detective with a mammoth mission on your shoulders. You'll have to arrange for Lieber Fuhrer's assassination (*insert collective gasp here*). To fulfill a goal like that, you'll have to be convincing in playing your role as a true patriot, especially when you're trying to get yourself into Hitler's most elite inner circle. One wrong slip and you won't want to know what the Gestapo will dish out on your sorry behind.

A Stroke of Fate is an adventure set in the genuine places and locations that were relevant back in 1940 to 1945. Players will also be able to meet the movers and shakers of the time: Hitler, Himmler, Muller, and Goebbels.

Here are the other features:

• Compelling pseudo-historical plot
• Ingenious brainteasers and quests to reflect German peculiarities of the 1940s
• Realistic graphics
• Authentic places and historically derived personalities: Muller, Goebbels, and Hitler
• You can walk along the Secret Police building and Hitler’s private study

Interested? Check out screenshots and tell us what you think. We'll keep an eye out for more info on A Stroke of Fate, so stay tuned. By the way, this PC game is scheduled for a Q4 release.

More screenshots after the jump!

 

Silent Dreams' and Akella's Grotesque - Heroes Hunted isn't your usual RPG. Instead of focusing on the massive world concept that's been popular in recent RPG releases, the developers have decided to put an emphasis on a storyline in an attempt to channel the aura of Planescape: Torment, another well-known RPG offering.

What's the story behind this game, you might ask? Well, instead of starting off with one universe, imagine yourself as the denizen of a second. Your story follows that of Roger Sun's, a heavy metal guitarist who inexplicably gets sent off into another world in order to save it. To do so, he must recruit the forces of light to help him in his quest... except for one problem: the "forces of light" are arrogant, egotistical, and really don't get along.

How you get past this as a player is evidently up to your role-playing skill, and your ability to learn how to survive in an alien world. The question is, are you up to it?

Expect Grotesque - Heroes Hunted to give gamers some interesting surprises in the coming months. For now, feel free to enjoy these screenshots.

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Being the third major installment of the long-running Disciples series, Disciples III has long been in hiding from the limelight. It was no secret that developers Strategy First and publisher Akella have been toiling away hours on the critically-acclaimed strategy game based on the World of Disciples.

But since updates were virtually limited to the "Euro circle" and the fans of the game, it was probably just outright necessary to establish a full blown shrine dedicated to the upcoming game. And so following an official announcement by Strategy First and Akella, an official site for Disciples III: Renaissance has been launched.

Like all other official websites, the new site will serve as a resource depot for fans closely following developments on the game, including videos, screenshots, concept art, unit proposals, stories and backgrounds to further the plot of the game. The site will also sport a new and dedicated forum for Disciples III so that new concepts and ideas can be suggested and discussed.

No longer sitting in the old disciples3.ru site, the new portal is now openly accessible to other fans from the other regions in the world hoping to gain more info on the Heroes of Might & Magic contender. You may reach the site through the "Read" link provided below.

Find yourself a little confused with all the names cropping up for this month's Game Developers Conference (GDC)? It shouldn't be too surprising - aside from being a major demonstrations and announcements area  for established heavyweights like Sony and Nintendo, the conference is also a potential starting point for young aspiring developers and publishers by way of its Game Connections event. This event will provide these young publishers and developers with a chance to meet and (possibly) sign contracts for what could  become the next generation of hot titles.

Now, given the large number of companies setting up shop at the event grounds, we thought everybody could benefit from this complete list of exhibitors. Game Connection@GDC is set for March 5 to 6, with Game Connection Services following up on March 8 to 9. Both events will be taking place in the Moscone Theater's South Hall at San Francisco.

Here are some of the GDC 2007 attendees:

• 1C Company
• Game Refuge Inc
• Pinata
• Akella Games
• GI Play Technologies
• Anyfun games
• Gamesauce
• Play Ten Interactive
• Artificial Mind & Movement
• GSC Game World

The full list revealed at full article.

What do you get if you stick an RTS like Command & Conquer and a mech suit action game like Gundam in a blender? Shards of mangled tanks, battered armor suits, and pureed army units. Well, here's a game that mixes all the good things about RTS and action games in all the right proportions.

So. An evil dictator has amassed an army of alien villains from all over the universe and is bent on taking over your home planet. So what do you do? Fight back, of course. With an arsenal of 9 robots, around 50 weapons and 40 upgrades, Heavy Duty by Primal Software and Akella was first shown off at E3 last year and intrigued the audience.

The game is set in a world of chaos and desolation caused by an alien invasion and the title boasts of a world that is fully interactive, where explosions also leave marks on the world itself and players can zoom in and out of the action. These elements will be put into good use in the game's 30 single-player missions, and the multiplayer deathmatch and teamplay modes.

The real interesting thing about this game is that players can switch from playing RTS to action shooter and control a single unit and blast away. How cool is that?

Heavy Duty is set for release by the second quarter of 2007. Anyway, here's a few screens of what's to come.