To be honest, Torchlight hadn't originally made it into our fall reviewing schedule, being a budget-priced game in a season filled with blockbuster PC and console titles. Our readers were adamant, however, and after an outpouring of support via our tips email, we decided to give this unapologetic Diablo clone a good hard look.

Set in the mining town of Torchlight, which serves as the player's base of operations, the game sends the player into a twisted underground dungeon network in order to root out a source of corruption that could endanger the entire world. With our trusty pet at our side, we delve into the dark depths of Torchlight.

Loved
Diabloriffic Gameplay: If you are looking for a quick and dirty Diablo alternative, this is it right here. Torchlight is your basic click-to-move isometric dungeon crawler, with fast action, randomly generated dungeons, experience points, red healing and blue mana potions, random named boss monsters, and enough equipment dropping to have you clicking on your Town Portal scroll every 10 minutes or so just to unload and restock on Identify Scrolls. It's so unabashedly a Diablo clone that I'd laugh - if the gameplay weren't so enjoyable.

Customization: Torchlight features a wealth of character customization options, from talent points granted when your character gains an experience or reputation level, to socketed gems that add stats and elements to weapons and armor, to the random enchanter, who can power up your equipment beyond belief or strip it of your favorite features. Each of the three classes has multiple talent skill trees to delve into, meaning going back through the game with the same class could yield you a relatively unique experience. If you're as big a fan of tweaking little details as I am, then there's plenty here to sidetrack you from the main event.

Man's Best Friend: Each character in Torchlight starts off with either a dog or a cat companion, a feature lifted directly from the Fate series of dungeon crawlers. Your pet follows you on your adventure, gaining power as you do, fighting by your side. By pausing in your adventure to do a little fishing, you can catch magical fish that transform your pet into another creature entirely, making an entirely new set of abilities available until the magic wears off. Torchlight may lack multiplayer options, but you're never quite alone with your trusty kitty by your side.

And a Side of Questing: Torchlight allows you to take a break from the main story line to do a little questing on the side. Certain NPCs grant you side quests, which either involve finding objects in the main story dungeons or journeying into levels created specifically for the quest. You can also purchase dungeon maps from certain vendors, which will give you even more new areas to explore.

The Look, The Sound, of DiabloCraft: The presentation of Torchlight is definitely Diablo meets Warcraft, resulting in a world that's definitely lighter than the dark realm of the former, with elements that seem lifted almost directly from the latter - the first time you run into a goblin riding a steampunk mech, you'll feel as if you just ported in from Warcraft's world of Azeroth. Aiding the similarities is a musical score by Diablo composer and sound designer Matt Uelmen, whose string arrangements bring you right back to the unfortunate town of Tristam.

The Random Item Vendor: I love the Random Item Vendor. He presents you with a list of statless weapons and armor, and only after you pay an exorbitant amount for them will you find out what you just bought. In one instance I walked away with an epic bow for my Vanquisher character (think rogue / ranger), which had me slaughtering smaller trash mobs with a single shot. It's a gamble, but when it pays off it is definitely worth it.

Hated
Something Vaguely Evil This Way Comes: An evil force is corrupting the magical ember beneath the mining town of Torchlight, and it's up to you to ignore any story points and go back to mindlessly slaughtering anything in your way. The story is simply a thin excuse to keep the player moving, and not much more than that.

The Random Item Vendor: I hate the Random Item Vendor. He presents you with a list of statless weapons and armor, and only after you pay an exorbitant amount for them will you find out what you just bought. In one instance I walked away with a set of armor that I could never hope to have my character wear without completely forgoing her main attribute to focus on one she had little need for. It's a gamble, and when it doesn't pay off it really bites.

To really enjoy Torchlight you have to accept it for what it is. It's a Diablo clone with bits of Warcraft and Fate thrown in, sure, but when the development team consists of people directly responsible for those titles you pretty much have to give them a pass. Once you overcome the initial shock of seeing just how much familiar material the team has pulled from previous projects, you can begin to appreciate the high level of polish they've given that material, and the proficiency that comes with their experience.

While it would have benefited greatly from a deeper story and a multiplayer component, Torchlight is one of the best Diablo-style games you're likely to find without the Blizzard logo displayed prominently on the front of it.

Torchlight was developed by Runic Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment, Inc. on October 27th for the PC. Retails for $19.99 USD on Steam, with a retail version coming early next year. A copy of the game was acquired via Steam press pass for reviewing purposes. Played through the entire story as a Vanquisher, dabbling briefly with the Destroyer and Alchemist classes.

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Ether Saga Online is another one of these extremely adorable Asian MMO titles, this time based on the classic Chinese story Journey to the West, which I was told soon after posting my last story on ESO was pretty much the basis for everything ever created, ever. Good to know!

With the official launch comes a slew of changes and enhancements to the free-to-play title, which makes you wonder who was testing them while everyone else was testing the beta version. That question aside, 15 more levels tacked onto the already existing 90 is nothing to sneeze at, and the addition of Easy and Hard dungeon modes should make things appropriately easier or harder, as the case may be.

Check out the full list of launch enhancements below, or visit eso.perfectworld.com to wade into the cuteness.

The latest Ether Saga Online game play update includes additional features and enhancements such as:

* Increased Level Cap to 105 - Characters gain access to 13 new class skills from levels 91-105, effectively doubling the number of core player skills.
* Quest Line Enhancements – The main quest line from levels 1-45 has been streamlined to introduce players to the game mechanics and reduce the number of kill quests.
* New Raid Encounter – A new raid has been introduced. Designed for 6-24 players, The Obscurity is sure to challenge adventurers.
* New Difficulty Modes – Now features Easy and Hard modes for dungeons to encourage more casual gamers to compete in quests.
* Enhanced Gear Upgrading – Enhancements to the gear upgrading system provide players with new options to increase their chances for successful upgrades.
* New Monsters! – The addition of new elite monsters and the White Dragon world boss further adds to one of the most compelling aspects of Ether Saga Online's game play.

These new game play elements further bolster Ether Saga Online's extensive feature set, which also includes:

* Integrated Quest/Navigation System – Players will not be confused about where to go or what monsters to kill. Quests will have "link" which allow players to click on them and automatically navigate to their quest objectives.
* Unique Races and Classes – Three different races as well as six different classes. Each class having its own unique play style and gameplay.
* In-Depth Pet System – Every player starts with their own pet. Players can tame and capture new pets as they adventure through the world.
* Element Leveling System – As players level up, they receive points that can be assigned to specific elements. Each element has its own characteristics and affects the core gameplay of each user.
* Unique Skill System – Each class has a set of unique skills. Skills are not learned from trainers but rather on the fly through a battlefield menu system.
* Birthday Skills – Each character receives special abilities and skills related to the day their character was born.
* Clan Skills – Players can create clans/guilds and have opportunities to learn new abilities and skills as a group.
* Fusion System – Players can actually fuse with their pets and gain access to new abilities and gameplay options.
* Monster Card System – Players can collect monster cards which allow them to transform into specific monsters. In monster form, players gain access to new abilities and skills.
* Crafting System – Players can choose from 9 different crafting and gathering skills.
* Reputation System – Monsters will have their own factions in-game. Players can gain reputation with these creatures and gain access to new content.
* Alliance System – Clans can group up into Alliances in order to combat difficult monsters or even other Alliances.

Ether Saga Online is based on the Chinese literary classic, Journey to the West, which means absolutely nothing to a man not well-versed in Chinese literary classics. What does mean something to me, however, is giant anime bears, as seen in the launch trailer for Ether Saga. It may not be driving a car, but sometimes your dreams come true in tiny pieces.

Those of you interested in trying out Ether Saga Online are directed to head over to eso.perfectworld.com and sign up for a chance to snag a key for the closed beta, which kicks off February 10th. Not sure you want to hang out with giant anime bears? Check out the screenshots below and see if anything tickles your fancy.

PERFECT WORLD ENTERTAINMENT CONFIRMS CLOSED BETA LAUNCH FOR FORTHCOMING MMORPG "ETHER SAGA ONLINE"

Gamers Invited to Register Online Today for Their Chance to Receive Beta Keys

January 22, 2009 – Redwood City, CA - Perfect World Entertainment Inc. ("PWE" or the "Company"), a wholly owned US subsidiary of Perfect World Co., Ltd., today announced the Closed Beta program for its newest MMORPG, Ether Saga Online will begin on February 10, 2009.

Beginning today, gamers are invited to visit: eso.perfectworld.com, for a chance to receive beta keys that will provide early access to the Ether Saga Online game world prior to its official launch this spring.

Based on the Chinese literary classic, Journey to the West, Ether Saga Online combines lavish graphics with a youthful anime style and features a variety of unique features and systems for a truly one of a kind experience. Unlike other MMORPG games that charge subscription fees, Ether Saga Online will be free-to-play. Once inside the game world, players can earn and spend money to upgrade a large variety of items in real-time to enhance and personalize their game play experience.

"We are excited to provide gamers with early access to Ether Saga Online as we're confident they'll find its robust feature set, expansive game play world, and free-to-play model offers a greater level of player immersion and overall customization than traditional MMORPG games," said Dr. Alan Chen, CEO of Perfect World Entertainment Inc.

Gamers can visit the official Ether Saga Online website at: http://eso.perfectworld.com/ to view additional game play details, trailers, and screenshots.

Perfect World Entertainment

Perfect World Entertainment, a subsidiary of Perfect World Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: PWRD), publishes free-to-play, online games and provides online services in North America. The Company primarily publishes three-dimensional, or 3D, online games based on the Perfect World proprietary Angelica 3D game engine and game development platform. In September 2008, the Company released "Perfect World International," a free-to-play MMORPG which is currently played by more than 50 million people worldwide.

BEIJING, Oct. 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ — Perfect World Co., Ltd. ("Perfect World" or the "Company"), a leading online game developer andoperator in China, today announced that it recently signed an agreement withC&C Media Company Limited ("C&C Media"), an online game operator in Japan, tolicense "Chi Bi," the Company's 3D massively multiplayer online role playing game ("MMORPG") based on the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, to the Japanese market. "Chi Bi" is Perfect World's fourth MMORPG licensed in Japan after "Perfect World II," "Legend of Martial Arts" and "Zhu Xian."

"Chi Bi" has been popular with online game players since its launch inChina in early 2008 because of its unique system settings, aesthetic graphicdesigns and vivid representation of the history of the Three Kingdoms. The Company has since succeeded in signing agreements to distribute "Chi Bi" toMalaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other countries and regions. The recent launch of "Horseback Fighters," an expansion pack for "Chi Bi," has introduced newin-game experiences to online game players with its large number of updatesand exciting new content.

Mr. Kensuke Chikaishi, President and Chief Executive Officer of C&C Media,said, "The Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history is not only famous in China but is also well known to many online game players in Japan. With its high quality, I believe 'Chi Bi' will be able to bring a memorable game experience to Japanese online game players. I'm confident that 'Chi Bi' willbe a success here in Japan given our good and long-time partnership with Perfect World."

Mr. Michael Chi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Perfect World, commented, "We have a great long-term relationship with C&C Media and we arevery pleased to cooperate again on bringing 'Chi Bi' to Japanese online game players. We believe that C&C Media's proven experience in operating games in Japan will help make this release another success."

I might go so far as to say my preferred play style is inherently incompatible with the mere idea of MMOs, never mind personality quirks that make spending time online with strangers sound more like torture than fun. I'm a solitary gamer, so when I fire up a console or turn on a handheld, I’m looking for a solitary escape. I want to get sucked in, be it flinging chickens in Harvest Moon or sinking into an RPG for hours on end. Generally, I don’t want to share my gaming experience — sure, I do multiplayer games at parties, I’ve sat around with friends and watched them play or had them watch me as we discuss games. But in general? Please, please, please leave me alone.

But when an email from a Perfect World PR person popped up in my Kotaku inbox, asking if I’d like to take the new ‘international’ version of Wanmei shijie for a spin, I — against my better judgment — said ‘Oh, what the hell,’ booted my poor little Mac up into Windows, and downloaded my first MMO client. Because as solitary a gamer as I am, I do write a lot about MMOs, have friends who play MMOs and delight in telling me their latest exploits, am interested in the mechanics and social elements of MMOs. I’m generally fascinated by the dynamics of online communities, so wouldn’t it be nice to be an observer from the inside for once? I marveled at the character creation options, selected the human melee ‘blademaster’ class (with a minimum of eye rolling), and ran with it.

An MMO with Training Wheels: the Test Servers

After killing a handful of squealing, carnivorous plants, I was on my way to the first big city. I stepped through the gates, and was greeted with … absolutely empty streets.

Sign number one I was probably not cut out for this MMO thing: instead of being disappointed, my heart leapt with joy. The first time I ran into someone in the game — actually, a giant panda-headed person riding a snake sort of came out of nowhere while I was puzzling over a ‘jumping quest’ (dear Perfect World, if I wanted to have my accuracy skills tested re: jumping on stuff, I would’ve picked up a platformer, not an RPG) — I was so shocked I nearly dropped my laptop, and it’s quite possible that I squealed in terror. As a friend drily commented, ‘You’re probably the only person who gets freaked out by running into people in massively multiplayer games.’

But other than a few people I ran into here and there, Perfect World was — as far as I was concerned — just about perfect, because it was wonderfully, blissfully empty. I was cognizant of the fact that I was theoretically missing out on the primary, very social draw of MMOs, but I was having fun despite myself. So much fun, actually, I managed to ignore the fact that my laptop gets very, very hot when running Windows and had put a nice, oval-shaped burn on my left thigh (which has yet to go away completely, a month and a half after the fact). OK, so maybe playing with my laptop in my lap wasn’t the best idea. My revised setup was indication number two that I maybe wasn’t taking this seriously enough: who needs a dedicated machine when you’ve got a laptop stand, some USB peripherals, and a dog who likes to lay right on the mouse? Not me, that’s for damn sure.

‘Empty,’ though, does come with some problems. While it’s pretty easy to march up the first forty levels or so by yourself, there are the occasional dungeons that won’t let you in unless you’re in a party. Lucky for me, the nice PR guy swooped in and offered his assistance, in the form of a maxed out cleric (Me: ‘How in the hell did you just one-shot that thing when I’m doing no damage?’ Him: ‘Well, I am at 105.’ Me: ‘Yeah, having 80 levels on me would probably do that.’). I spent most of that dungeon flat on my back, and very dead, but it was at least a vantage point to see what all the fuss was about. I found myself biting my nails after the servers went down while we were still in the instance, afraid that a rollback would kill all my hard work spent dead and/or doing roughly zero damage, even with my fanciest moves. I breathed a sigh of relief when I logged back in and discovered that all was well and nothing had rolled back.

For an MMO newbie, and someone who wasn’t too sure about that whole ‘other people playing’ thing, the test servers were a really nice chance for me to get comfortable with the game and things like ‘using a keyboard’ for gaming. We were given a ridiculous amount of cash shop currency, so I bought myself a nice, giant boa, which facilitated a lot of wandering — there was a certain je ne sais quoi about meandering around a massive, empty MMO. I wandered here, I wandered there, and there was no one to revive me if I died, and no one to foul up a nice virtual sunset.

‘Maybe if I just stand still, they’ll leave me alone!’: Closed Beta

My laptop conveniently died right before the closed beta started; after it had been returned from wherever the Mac ‘Geniuses’ sent it, I signed up again, managed to create a reasonable facsimile of my first character, and girded my loins to brave people.

While getting used to the fact the game was no longer empty, I also had to get used to the fact that other people have different standards for online communiqués. My basic standard is simply that I want to know what you want; a year and a half of working for Kotaku and having a published IM account has made me rather adverse to people trying to get my attention thusly:

Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. HEY. ??? Hey. Hey Maggie. Are you there? MAGGIE. Hey MAGGIE. Hey. Hey. Hey. HEY. MAGGIE.

Really, I just want some basic courtesy instead of someone spamming me while I’m trying to get other work done, otherwise I’m going to click ‘close window.’ It’s not hard. Still, I wasn’t terribly surprised (nor enthused) when my first MMO interaction with random people happened in much the same manner - I was swarmed by a group of people, all babbling at me. If there had been a character action for ‘crawl under nearest object,’ I would’ve made use of it. Instead, I took the dog out for a walk, hoping by the time I got back they’d be gone and would stop sending me ‘So-and-so would like to pick you up’ requests.

Despite anxiety over actually interacting with other players, I did watch the goings on with some interest. From the people who wanted to tag along with higher level groups because ‘I’m too lazy to level via quests *lulz*’ to the clerics who hovered around and buffed everyone who came through to the occasional temper tantrum over kill stealing, it was my first real taste of playing around — if not with — a pretty wide spectrum of people.

‘Just call me Lady Xu, bourgeois impediment to class struggle’: Open Beta and Beyond

Closed beta didn’t last very long, and with open beta, there was no threat of a character wipe – so I set out to create a second facsimile of the character I'd started with and the character I’d be sticking with for a while. All was well up to the point where I needed a name — because my name was unavailable. This was irksome — because it’s my Chinese name, so I’m rather attached to it in the real world, too, and besides, I’m terrible at coming up with names. I drummed my fingers on my keyboard and contemplated. Something akin to ‘CutiePie004’ isn’t really my style. ‘KotakuMaggie’ was a little too literal, and even though I picked a PvE server to play on, I worried about outing myself and being too obvious. Casting my eye over my bookshelf, I hit on a well-loved volume, and with an apology to my favorite Chinese poet, I jacked her name. In an ultra-rebellious act of defiance against the Wade-Giles hegemony imposed by whoever translated the game, I used pinyin, lodging my own little protest against ‘Shih’ and ‘Hsi’ and ‘Tao.’ Just call me Maggie, Pinyin Guerilla — saving the world, one 'hsu' at a time.

Before open beta opened, I meandered over to the Perfect World boards to see what people were talking about. Community doesn’t end when you log out, at least that's the theory. A little naively, perhaps, I was expecting some warm fuzzies and a bit of excitement about having an English version of the game that wasn’t piggybacking on Malaysian servers, but was quickly disabused of that notion. I was fascinated to discover the hysteria over PWI’s decision to offer a PvP and a PvE server. Not being sold on this whole ‘MMO’ thing in the first place, the PvE server seemed like the best choice for me — other people clearly enjoy the whole PvP experience, and they had a server for that, too. Surely that couldn’t be cause for consternation, could it? Of course it could, this is the internet we’re talking about. I’d always associated MMOs with slightly more sandbox-type play than my preferred console titles, where you’re locked into a specific play style because the designers said so, so why would people stress about someone choosing not to play the game in the same way? Open beta wasn’t even open, and battle lines were already being drawn.

The hysterics reached a higher pitch over cash shop pricing. I think the free to play model is an interesting one – Perfect World actually started life as a subscription game and swapped to FTP – for a number of reasons. I certainly have the disposable income to spend on a monthly subscription — or several — if I so choose, but I generally dislike spending money on things I’m not using. Since my gaming goes in cycles as time allows, there are many months were I just don’t have to time to make ample use of a subscription, which (in addition to aforementioned general unease in regards to multiplayer games) has stopped me from taking friends up on offers to join whatever subscription game they’re playing.

With a lot of free to play models, that concern is tossed out the window. Not playing a lot? Don’t spend any money. Hell, don't spend any money if you don't feel like it, period. There are games that lock off certain features, dungeons, and the like if you’re not paying what amounts to a subscription fee, but PW just charges you for premium, and sometimes frivolous, items. I’ve come to the conclusion the game is certainly easier in a number of respects if you’re willing to pay real cash for certain items, and probably makes grinding your way to the end a lot easier. But in my low level existence, I’ve somehow managed to struggle on without paying real money for virtual fashion, which costs a lot more than my boring regen charms I replace every couple of weeks. People also resell cash shop items in game for regular (virtual) game currency, so pinch your virtual pennies long enough and you, too, can buy cash shop items — without spending any real money.

I can see how it would be easy to blow past what you'd spend on a monthly subscription, but a lot of people seem to be quite cognizant of how much they're actually spending in FTP games, and PW is no exception; angry foot stomping about how 'free to play' is 'free to pay' is silly at best. Apparently, sign number three that I maybe don't take this stuff as seriously as I should is that I'm not burning through consumable cash shop items like there's no tomorrow, thus have no reason to foam at the mouth about pricing, since a couple of bucks a month is doable. It gets too rich for my blood, consumables get too necessary? Simple solution — I'll stop playing.

Many players coming from the Malaysian version of the game were shocked that higher prices were being charged for the International version, where the hypothetical gaming population probably has slightly more disposable income (sadly, guys, my lunch also costs me more in San Diego than it does in China). Mass hysteria ensued, and topics sprung up that would make a Marxist proud. I said ‘OK’ to the somewhat fixed pricing and shelled out a few dollars for a couple of useful items that I knew I wanted from my previous forays into the game, and based on a lot of posts on the forums, I think this qualifies me for a couple of labels: 'bourgeois' and 'capitalist roader' being tops. I think it would probably be a smart decision on the part of the Perfect World overlords to knock down pricing for a variety of reasons, but the palpable despair of people is certainly something to behold – and a bit odd when one is talking about a game where you really don’t need to spend anything to just play the game.

Despite topics — mostly related to the cash shop — that made it sound like the entire gaming population was going to up and leave, bound for Malaysian servers, the open beta is crowded. Well, it seems crowded to me, the non-MMO player, so take that for what it’s worth. The first time I came face to face with server lag, I also came face to face with a veritable army of little cats (player shops), which made packed Taiwanese night markets look empty — and made me question the wisdom of setting up shop in such tight quarters that you can’t even see what they’re selling. I’m still learning how to navigate my way around hordes of people in the field, have yowled in frustration a few times when someone launches an attack on a monster right before I have a chance to land the opening blow, and am getting used to role players doing their thing and sending lines of text swooshing past my ‘common chat’ window.

I still haven’t gotten over some of my neuroses — my pathological shyness has hindered me in going out and, say, finding groups to run dungeons with on the fly — but I have run into couple of fun people to play with, lured some MMO-playing friends in to at least dabble in PW as an addendum to their subscription-based MMOs (the general response has been ‘It’s like WoW with the serial filed off and some Asian flair -– and hey, it’s free!’), gotten a lot more in the swing of things than I ever thought I would. I’m still baffled by some of the more social options — like selecting and joining a guild — but I figure like everything else I’ve gotten used to the past month and change, this too will come with time.

And I’ve gotta say … I kinda like it. So much so, in fact, I'll probably take up those friends on their offers to join in subscription-based fun, having eased into the whole idea without actually being tied to a subscription. Until then, I'll just be hanging with the Rhinodrakes.

I've been galloping around the test servers for the past week or so, and I've been having a reasonably good time (especially considering I usually abhor actually playing MMORPGs). It's pretty, it's free, and if you haven't already, may be worth checking out.

'The War of the Red Cliff' Breaks the Traditional Game Model

BEIJING, Aug. 23 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/— Beijing Perfect World Technology Co., Ltd. announces that their new game, ''The War of the Red Cliff'' will break the traditional computer gaming concept. This game is nostalgic for many gamers who grew up playing ''3 Kingdoms 2 — The War of the Red Cliff," but rest assured that this new game does not conform to the traditional mould of games.

Beijing Perfect World will release "The War of the Red Cliff" in the fourth quarter of 2007. This game is sure to bring excitement to gamers. The game's eighteen characters each posses a unique weapon, which players can enhance the use of throughout the game. A great deal of fanatic movements along with various skills featuring special effects guarantees that this game will entertain game enthusiasts.

Contrary to other online games, Beijing Perfect World will add software that will allow fighting motions throughout the game. Most other games have limitations such as skill ability, where the majority of attacks occur in actionless conditions. This limitation was seen in a game labelled ''Fury Warfare,'' where two players were fighting to the death, had their characters in a stand still mode during combat. In ''The War of the Red Cliff,'' courageous and valiant generals move in a combination of attack manners in order re-create a motion-plus-assault mode. In the game, players can experience the tussles in fighting, which only exists in the wrestling games.

Besides common motions found the wrestling games, many other kinds of action motions underline detailed motions of players are present in ''The War of The Red Cliff.'' This action game will improve the sense of reality in the battlefield of the troubled era of the three kingdoms.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, Beijing Perfect World plans to launch the second big-scale MMORPG called "The War of the Red Cliff" which uses the self- developed new-version of the Angelica 3D game engine. Differentiated from the traditional Japanese game "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", this newly-produced game highlights the most grandiose scenery. "The War of the Red Cliff" aims to provide gamers with the reality and trueness of real battle scenes from the three kingdoms era, so players have the chance to experience a Chinese version of the pure, traditional "Romance of Three Kingdoms."

I'm really excited because my favorite Chinese actor, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, will be making an appearance (no Maggie Cheung, sadly). The movie is scheduled for release in two parts next year, the first scheduled for release before the Olympics. If you can read Chinese, you can find out more about the game at the official Chibi Online website.

Perfect World Reaches Agreement with CFGC on Both the Film and Game Versions of 'The War of the Red Cliff'