Gamer Connect

Just Cause 2 - Emergent gameplay

2010-04-19T13:37:00.000-05:00

It's well known that we here at GamerConnect love emergent gameplay. I am happy to report that Just Cause 2 (PS3) has plenty of that.

When you are fighting alongside a friendly rebel faction, a rebel (AI) can come up with some non-trivial behavior emerging from your own actions. Two examples that surprised me recently:

Soon after I captured a military vehicle with a mounted gun, a friendly rebel got in the driver's seat and started driving us around with me still shooting the gun.
I landed a helicopter on the outskirts of a city dominated by the military but surrounded by rebels. One of the rebels got my armed helicopter and started shooting rockets and bullets at the military. In a sense, the rebel stole my helicopter (!), but it was still helpful because it weakened the military's position inside the city.

Both of these were completely unscripted. The location of the vehicles, the rebels, and the military had been made "random" by my previous actions.

I am sure you have great examples of how the rebel AI can be surprisingly "smart" in Just Cause 2. Please add them to the comments.

FIFA 10 (PS3)

2010-01-11T15:41:00.011-05:00

I've finally managed to enjoy playing a soccer video game. By myself I never felt inclined to invest my time on that kind of game, but yesterday I had a friend providing instructions and encouragement and now I'm hooked! (He also provided the game itself.)

I knew I was in the minority before. Most gamers I know enjoy sports video games in general and the FIFA games in particular. Francisco, for example, has been a huge fan for years. He did have a bad experience with FIFA 07 for the XBox 360. I would like to know his thoughts on FIFA 10.

For me, a recent convert to the genre, it was great. You have a huge selection of teams and stadiums, the players move with realistic dynamics (example: the faster you run the harder it is to turn), there are many single and multiplayer gaming modes, and you can even pick between day and night and dry weather, rain, or snow. There is also the "manager" mode that I didn't even try, and much more.

I suppose now I should get a copy of the game of my own.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

2010-01-06T15:18:00.004-05:00

I didn’t feel this game was as polished as previous titles by this company. The story is short and allows you to skip the most important scene in the game. When you are driving the snow mobiles, or in the truck, the length of the mission is just way to short. Seemed to me that either extending them, or having multiple instances would have been better. Overall the Single player was just OK for me.

The Co-Op, and /or single player Spec-Ops missions are a nice addition, I wish that they allowed more people, similar to the COD WAW Co-Op, which allows up to 4 players. COD MW2 only allows 2 players to work together, but the spec-ops missions are a lot of fun. You earn Stars for completing the missions on each difficulty, and after beating all missions on the hardest level you earn 69 stars, which actually feels like an accomplishment.

The Multiplayer has a couple different options, feels much faster to me, and still has the same ranking up, and weapon unlocking. To me this is addicting, and I am still working on my leveling up, and unlocking or completing perks, accolade, and achievements. The only downside to the multiplayer, is the option that they made to use their servers. Players get dropped out of a party, and everyone in the party must accept new invitations to get the party started again, to keep us together as a team. Overall, the Spec-ops and Multiplayer are great, and the single player is good.

The end is near (for PC gaming)

2009-10-14T09:26:00.009-05:00

Got myself a PS3. Going to a console feels a bit like a betrayal of my PC gaming past, but it was unavoidable. It was just a matter of time...

Since the release of the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii, the PC gaming scene has been visibly affected. There are so many signs: games that come very late to PC (e.g.: GTA) or never do, multi-platform games that come out solid on the consoles but with severe quality issues on the PC (Flatout, Call Of Duty), Top 10 sales almost exclusively made of console titles, stores dominated by all the console titles with a little corner for the PC games, etc.

I wish it wasn't so. Console gaming is great (I'm very happy with my purchase), but it is not perfect. For example, I think it is ridiculous to play a First Person Shooter without a mouse. Also, where the PC joined gamers, the consoles divide them. I can't play with all my gamer friends--I am restricted to play with those on the PS3 (sorry, Francisco, Matthew, and others!)

In summary, the PS3 is awesome, but a PC used to be better...

Magic has arrived to XBox Live

2009-07-02T21:47:00.008-05:00

And not a moment too soon. It's been a long time since I wished to get Magic: The Gathering onto XBox live. It seemed like a perfect game to be part of the Arcade collection. Should not require a huge download, could be sold for a pretty low price and, more importantly, could be one of the most addictive games on the platform. Like I am not already addicted to Magic: The Gathering... I've been playing the game, both physical and electronic for quite sometime now. ;-)

So how does Magic: The Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers fare? Well... the developers of the title had their job made hard by the fact that there is already an excellent title out there for the PC. Magic Online has already been around for quite sometime and it's hard, if not impossible, not to draw comparisons between the two. So this review will make several of those. So let's get this thing going, usual like/dislike format:

Liked

Magic! 'nough said! This is *the* card game you should try. The developers were able to get this working pretty well with the title. Nice to have the console do all the rule enforcing for you.
Graphics are pretty nice (although this is also a downside, see below). Cards look pretty decent, liked the zoom in feature to read card details.

Did not like

Animations can get old. There are controls to speed up some flow of the game but often I wish I could speed them up even more.
Inspecting the cards on the board can be a challenge. The most immediate are easy to zoom in and read but if you want to read your opponent's cards on the board that becomes a bit harder, harder to select and zoom in.
First and foremost, Magic is about building your own deck. The game mechanics is fun and there are a ton of nuances that make it a surprising and involving game but the majority of the fun is to get to build the "killer deck" the one you know by heart, the one you balance to do just exactly what you want it to do. And with that is also a lot of picking the right deck for the right opponent. This XBox version provides an extremely limited deck editing capability and that, more than anything else, makes what could be an excellent game into an ok game. The game limits your deck tweaking to adding or not cards you won in each match to your other, unchangeable cards. You end up, in essence, playing with canned decks. That's a disappointment. The PC version is superior in every way as far as deck editing is concerned presenting all the freedom to combine your cards in every way, shape or form. Strike one.
Marketplace. In my perspective the greatest lost opportunity ever. Everyone that has ever played Magic knows that to build your perfect deck you buy more decks and combine the cards. XBox Marketplace could be a great platform to allow you to buy more decks (and make a nice profit in the process for the developer and MS). Nope. Not here, at least not for now...again, hope they add that soon. Another point in favor of the PC version I'm afraid. You can buy decks online, even the more recent editions, and integrate them into your collection. Strike two.
Trading. Another pretty important part of the game. Trade your cards with others. Get the *exact ones* you want that way. Not a sniff of that on the XBox version, have my doubts it will ever get to be there. The PC version has even a parallel currency for that. Competition tickets. You can effectively get all the cards you want if you take the time to look for them. Strike three.

So what is the final verdict? It seems to me that this is a huge missed opportunity for much more. I still like the game (since I do love Magic: The Gathering) and I bought it in a heartbeat but I do think that if you're to play Magic you are much better off with the PC version. I sincerely hope this is a success for XBox live and that developers and MS start aiming a bit higher and adding the missing features. I will, for one, surely be willing to pay for them.

3 stars and a hope for more to come.

iPhone and John Carmack

2009-06-29T22:27:00.004-05:00

Here's an interesting interview with John Carmack. He talks about the various Doom and Quake games and how they may work on the various versions of iPhone hardware.

Rock Band: Pearl Jam

2009-05-13T22:14:00.003-05:00

Man, it's getting hard to keep track of all this "new" music games ... I mean, there are gazillions of bands out there ... this should keep Activision and Harmonix busy for quite a while ;-)
So Pearl Jam (remember them?) decided to get a piece of the action by teaming up with Harmonix to have their own version of Rock Band. In an effort to try to be original, they're letting people vote on the songs that'll be in the game. I'm sure this makes the American Idol crowd happy :-)

Guitar Hero: Van Halen

2009-05-09T21:00:00.004-05:00

Now, answer this question if you can: which game has more expansions, The Sims or Guitar Hero? :-)
Can you spell m-i-l-k-t-h-e-f-r-a-n-c-h-i-s-e? Hey, Activision, we're still waiting for GH: Resistência! LOL
Oh, BTW Guitar Hero 5.0 and other music-based games were also announced.

iFighter full version is out

2009-05-08T19:50:00.002-05:00

Quick update: if you enjoyed iFighter Lite, you can now pick up the full version at the App Store.

Cuboid Crazy...

2009-04-28T22:01:00.005-05:00

I have been checking a few of the inexpensive games out on the playstation network, such as pain, and magic ball, both of which are awesome... I recently checked out cuboid, and found myself addicted to the simple puzzle game, the graphics are great, and it is a simple game to learn. I think it is a great game for the $10. In fact, I think it is a must have for the $10. I think all 3 games I mentioned are $10 each, so if you have a ps3, log onto the PSN, and purchase some great cheap games...

iFighter: interview with James Hui

2009-04-27T11:05:00.015-05:00

iFighter Lite is currently one of the top free games at the App Store and is getting great reviews around the Web. We were fortunate to reach iFighter's lead programmer Mr. James Hui and to score an interview with him.

In this interview we learn about his journey from Apple ][ to iPhone OS 3.0, the pitfalls of cross-continent software development, how the App Store could be improved, and much more.

Q: How did EpicForce get started, where is the company located, and how big is it?

It all started with a game called CubicMan that I did for the 1.1.4 jailbroken iPhones by using the SDK toolchain. We later formed a hobbyist group to bring that to the official SDK. The artist from that group, a good friend of mine, and I then founded EpicForce to make it our full time career! Officially there are only 2 of us. I'm in Melbourne, Australia and my partner is in Hong Kong. Another friend will join us next month and the company will be incorporated in Hong Kong. We are expanding and will start recruiting extra helping hands!

Q: How did you, personally, get started in software in general and in game programming in particular?

I learned programming in order to make games back in the Apple ][ days! It was always a dream of mine to be a game developer, but I didn't join the game industry straightaway after graduation. It was a "dream come true" for me when I joined my previous employer Firemint (Flight Control!!! and Real Racing, etc...) few years ago. Lots of talented people there, especially the owner Mr. Rob Murray! I learned lots of tricks from them :)

Q: Outside of work what are some of your main interests? Do you have any free time for your own gaming? What is your favorite non-iPhone game at this time?

I spend most my spare time with my the family, when not coding. I'm married with two boys and that's good enough to keep me busy after work! I only have time for casual games nowadays and my favorites at the moment are World of Goo and a Flash game called Samorost 2.

Q: What aspect of game development appeals to you the most?

I believe it's the creative side of it that's most appealing, and the satisfaction to see other people playing your creations! As gamers ourselves, we just try to make games that we would like to play and experience. We don't have a particular guideline to follow.

Q: What attracted you to the iPhone as a gaming platform?

Firstly, the App Store! I have to thank Apple to make the App Store so approachable for everyone, even for a small developer like us!

The iPhone SDK is also nice! It's just superb when comparing to other mobile platforms, such as the Symbian SDK. Of course, iPhone and iPod Touch themselves are very attractive too. So cool to have them and to show off to friends ;)

Q: EpicForce's first iPhone game, ChocChocPop, was very well received, with top positions at the store and award nominations. In business terms, how successful was ChocChocPop?

I would say ChocChocPop was doing just OK. It generated just enough income for us to survive in the past few months for the development of iFighter.

Q: In the sense of a technical "post mortem", what was the major learning experience with ChocChocPop?

It was during the development of ChocChocPop that we put together our programming framework which was based on OpenGL ES. The major advantage of our framework was that it's kind of cross platform. We can make a Windows build from the same source and give it to people who have no iPhone to play-test the game, but of course they can't experience the accelerometer control ;)

And now we built iFighter on top of that framework.

Q: You must be very proud of iFighter. Congratulations on the million downloads of the Lite version. Where did the idea for iFighter come from? Why did you want to develop a WWII-themed shooter for the iPhone?

Thank you! We all like to play old school shoot'em ups and we thought it'd be nice to make one for the iPhone. My partner is the artist + game designer and he came up with the idea of WWII theme, which was similar to the background of the classic 1942.

Q: Roughly, how big is the iFighter project when you add up programming, art, testing, etc?

We have spent almost 6 months on it, 1 artist, 1 full-time programmer + 1 part-time programmer. Since we're not working in the same office, we wasted some time with bad communication. If we were in one office, we would have done it in 4 months.

Q: Every review (including ours) praises the use of the accelerator in the game. Did you develop any special sensor-related routines or algorithms?

We don't have any special algorithms. Maybe it's just the fine tuning magic numbers that we put in that make it works well.

Q: Do you have any tips or tricks to share with iFighter players out there trying to beat their own best scores?

I personally prefer to use the accelerometer control with finger tapping to make it firing a little faster than the default auto-firing rate.

Q: Both ChocChocPop and iFighter Lite have a very polished look and feel to it. This is expected from the big companies, but not frequent in smaller companies. How do you explain the level of quality in your games? What would be your advice for others trying to accomplish the same?

Yes, our goal is to make the best quality games as best we can. Our artist is a perfectionist and we love to pay attention to the details. I've learned the magic word from my 4 years+ experience at Firemint: "polish!" This is what you need to make your games stand out from others.

Q: After writing ChocChocPop and iFighter, if you could ask Apple to improve one thing in the SDK, hardware, store, or other, what would it be?

The SDK is great, especially the upcoming 3.0, lots of promising new features.

As far as the App Store goes, there is just too much stuff out there. I think Apple needs to have some sort of filtering system to get this situation under control. People can just write a 'Hello World' app and sell it for $0.99.

Q: Have you started planning your next iPhone title? Can you tell us what gaming genre it will be or reveal anything else?

Yes, we have a few ideas floating around and we haven't decided exactly what will be the next one yet. And also, since we are getting some extra people next month, we may have more than one project going at the same time. Personally, I'd like to make another action title myself.

Thank you very much, Mr. James Hui. We look forward to the new missions in the full version of iFighter!

The latest games on my iPod Touch

2009-04-24T10:39:00.039-05:00

Every day new games arrive at the App Store. Here I review the latest ones I have downloaded to my iPod: Zen Bound Lite, Edge Lite, Wolfenstein 3D, and iFighter Lite.

I picked these to download because of the good reviews they are getting. However, as you will see below, I didn't like them all equally.

(As the name "Lite" indicates, I tried the free versions when available. This doesn't affect my reviews because I am not commenting on length of game, or variety of maps, or progressively increasing levels of complexity, or anything like that.)

Zen Bound Lite

Putting rope around this carved dog, I feel myself enlightened already...

I like original games, but this one is just silly. The objective of the game is to wrap objects with rope... I don't know why some people love this game so much. I do like the name "Zen Bound", though.

Edge Lite

I'm currently stuck on this spot...

Like Zen Bound, this is also one of those games that exploits the visceral experience of direct manipulation of a virtual world (through touch or through balance). Playing this simple game with keys, mouse, or gamepad wouldn't be half as fun.

The objective of this game is to make a cube tumble along a series of geometric and animated obstacles.

It takes a little bit to get used to cube-physics, but, once you get the mechanics of the movement figured out, you can appreciate how rich and varied the maps are. This game has that "let's try it again" quality that you see in classics like Tetris or Pac-Man. Speaking of classics...

Wolfenstein 3D

"Pressing" those touch buttons on the lower corners is cumbersome.

I was able to grab a couple of screen shots before getting too low on health.

When I saw this game announced (thanks, Pedro!), I knew I had to buy it and try it. Who can forget?... It was 1992, games were being release for MS-DOS, and not all PC's had a sound card...

Unfortunately, nostalgia is the main selling point in this iPod Touch port of the game. Even though there are many possible configurations for the controls, mixing the inertia sensors and touch sensors in various way, it never really stops feeling awkward. To play a first person shooter, nothing beats a mouse.

Still, if you want to relive the first moment you got surprised by a digital attack dog coming out of nowhere and jumping at you, you really can't go wrong here.

iFighter Lite

Pressing the "bomb" button brings in the big plane (B-17?) on the left.

This unpretentious game gets everything right: it's smooth, looks great, it's easy to control, and it provides immediate gratification.

iFighter is a conventional vertical shooter reminiscent of so many arcade games of the '80s. From your top-down perspective, you move your fighter plane left, right, up, and down, shoot other planes and ground-based forces, call in a bomber to wipe out many targets at once, all while the ground scrolls down under you.

Everything is very polished: control, graphics, sound, animations, interface, etc. It is one demo that will make you want to buy the full game.

Any other games I should try on my iPod?

Essential games for your iPhone

2009-03-26T21:51:00.004-05:00

Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. Do I need to say more? Here's some project background, as well as design and programming notes from id's CTO John Carmack himself. Happy fragging!

A Rube Goldberg machine with 'Crayon Physics'

2009-01-26T11:13:00.008-05:00

The player of Crayon Physics in the video below did a great job. For starters, he created a super elaborate solution for this puzzle, way beyond what was needed to solve it. But then, he also put together a great video that does more than just showing his final solution.

Crayon Physics.... One possible solution from Highway6 on Vimeo.

Obviously, the PC version and a mouse was used for the above solution. That level of detail would be harder (but not impossible) to achieve with the iPhone / iPod Touch and a fat finger.

Review of "Asphalt 4: Elite Racing" for the iPhone / iPod Touch

2009-01-12T10:04:00.023-05:00

Right now, the top 4 road racing games on the Apple AppStore are Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D, Moto Chaser, Cro-Mag Rally, and Asphalt 4: Elite Racing.

I am very happy with Moto Chaser and have finished it some time ago. I have not been interested in buying Nitro Kart 3D or Cro-Mag Rally because they look too cartoonish (just personal preference). I have recently bought Asphalt 4 ($5.99) and these are my impressions about it.

Likes:

A cool-looking intro movie.
It loads quickly (just skip the movie!).
Very complete racing game with several game modes: regular race, cop chase, etc.
Good graphics, fast pace, smooth scenery rendering.
Night and day racing. Weather effects such as snow.
Option of racing either cars or motorcycles. In your garage you can pick from many licensed models (BMW, Aston Martin, Kawasaki, etc.)
Three alternative control modes that explore the touch screen and inertia sensors in different ways.
You can play either in landscape mode or in portrait mode.
Lots of garage options to tune (pimp?) your ride.
Multi-player over Wi-fi (but I haven't been able to try it yet).

Dislikes:

The graphics of the intro movie may set your expectations too high compared to the graphics of the actual game.
As far as physics realism goes, Asphalt 4 is all the way to the "arcade" side of the arcade-to-simulator spectrum.
The car-tuning options are pointless given the low level of physics realism in the simulation.
[Edited] There is something wrong with the steering or with the visual feedback of the steering. It is either lack of smoothness or linearity or maybe a problem of delay. This can be seen with any of the three control methods.
The inclusion of "pit girls" is sophomoric.

In conclusion and on balance, Asphalt 4 is, for me, still an improvement over Moto Chaser and is worth the six dollars. However, I hope this game is not indicative of the best the iPhone / iPod Touch hardware can support in terms of racing simulation realism. I have faith that this amazing gaming platform can offer something even better in the future.

If you think you're good at Guitar Hero ...

2009-01-08T21:47:00.002-05:00

You may wanna try this. 'Cause real guitars have strings, not keys like pianos ;-) Too bad is expensive :-(

Games for Windows Live is now Free!

2008-07-22T19:47:00.003-05:00

No more excuses! The Live experience is now free for Games for Windows players...We just need to find a decent game that works properly across platforms to finally have a Gamer Connect gang online challenge! :-)

For details on this, see the About Live post.

Oops...except for the ones among us that are PS3 bound.... ;-)

Super Monkey Ball and Moonlight Mahjong Lite

2008-07-18T09:12:00.017-05:00

One week after the 2.0 firmware update, the iPhone is the new gaming platform everyone is talking about. Many of the news coming out of E3 are about it, for example.

Since the opening of the App Store, I have tried a few of the free and of the paid games available and am very pleased. The graphics, the sound, and the touch and/or accelerometer controls all work very well. I downloaded also a couple of other free games that managed to find a spot in the top 25 in the early days but were really just proof-of-concept kind of demos. I have quickly deleted those from my iPod and from my iTunes. Below is a screenshot with the games I have on my iPhone.

For me, the paid game that better illustrates the capabilities of the platform is Super Monkey Ball from Sega. It's a game at the level of something you would find on a Wii system. Carefully tilting the iPhone or iPod you guide a ball through several obstacles trying not to fall off the platform. It reminded me a lot of Rub a Dub (PS3), a game we like a lot here at GamerConnect.

As for free games, I am having the most fun with Moonlight Mahjong Lite:

90% of the fun comes from the Mahjong game itself, a game I first saw on the PC sometime in the late eighties. 10% comes from the touch controls. This is the application I have seen on the iPod with the most "multi-touch gesture" interactions. Besides tap to pick tiles, no less than four different gestures are available to position the board on the screen: "single finger drag" (moves in the XY plane), "two finger drag" (rotates on the X and Y axes), "two finger twist" (rotates in the Z axis), and "two finger pinch or expand" (zoom in and out).

If I wanted to get really fancy, the only thing I would add to Moonlight Mahjong Lite is the ability to reshuffle the board by shaking my iPod...

Just a few days old, the iPhone as a gaming platform is already fulfilling pretty much all the expectations and predictions of those who were waiting for it. I am, however, still kind of waiting for a Pac-man controlled by accelerometer. For some reason, the two Namco titles on the App Store seem to have preferred the use of a virtual touch D-pad.

Race Driver: GRID

2008-07-02T23:09:00.005-05:00

Here I am racing a Ford Mustang, a Formula 1000 car, and a Subaru Impreza.

For a racing simulator, the game gets everything right: many cars and tracks, realistic physics, great graphics and sound, support for multiplayer, etc. If you only care for jumps and crashes, stick to Flatout, but if you like to race, you can't go wrong with GRID.

Spore Creature Creator

2008-07-01T13:54:00.002-05:00

Can you think of any other game where the character-creation functionality was released before the actual game as a mini game of its own?

That's how awesome Spore is going to be: just the creature editor by itself is enough fun to exist as a standalone download and to jump to number one on the sales charts.

1Up Show: GTA IV

2008-06-13T22:37:00.002-05:00

Best episode ever. Smart discussion of GTA IV.

Cross-platform play for Call of Duty 5?

2008-06-09T20:38:00.004-05:00

One can only wish... If/when you have any information, add it to the comments.

Call of Duty 5 (thanks Danny for the heads-up).

Cross-platform play.

Call of Duty 5 cross-platform play (no relevant hits on Google).

I Hate you Rockstar!

2008-05-25T20:08:00.011-05:00

It was May the 9th when I bid "The Orange Box" and "Frontlines Fuel of War" farewell, hopped into the car and drove to the game store....While I felt bad about "The Orange Box", I did not shed a tear for "Frontlines Fuel of War" (theme for other reviews I guess) but, you see, filled with guilt of wanting to go get another game, I usually rationalize it by doing a trade...Either way I either get a "free" game in exchange for games I am no longer playing or at the very least I get a very cheap one...I had (almost) promised myself *not* to get GTA IV. The advertised violence and mature content actually turned off my appetite for the game and, to be honest, the game theme did not seem very enticing to me...I actually was convinced I would not like the game that much...probably would find it even boring...oh boy, was I setting myself up for a surprise...I gave in...I went into the store, traded in, ran out of the store (kind of like Niko Belic running free after a hit). Kept it on the shelve unopened for a day still trying to resist...and then... I hate you Rockstar....The moment I popped it into the XBox 360 tray, I got hooked....badly.

GTA IV is an amazing game...and worth every 5 stars review it has been getting!
Let me go into the details. Usual GammerConnect style. Likes and dislikes:
Disclaimers: To set the record straight, my experiences are on the XBox 360 version of the game, I have been playing single player only and have about 26% game completion...

Liked:

It's all about detail, and wow, does GTA IV has detail!

Besides supporting a whole slew of vehicle radio stations, filled with music and talk shows in some cases (!), the integration between the game and the outside world is really, really cool and innovative. The fact that you can call ZIT-555-0100 to get a message with the title of the song that is currently playing, and get that music information sent to Rockstar's Social Club is cool...that fact that the social club is also integrated into Amazon to allow you to easily buy the musics you called in online in DRM free MP3s is even cooler! Way cool! When games start to have this in-game, real world integration, I get fascinated...Halo 3 (see here)and Tiger Woods 08 (see here) already started doing that, GTA IV takes it to next level!
TV shows: just turn on your in-game TV and start watching the shows...these guys actually put some funny content in there! Detail, detail, detail...
Go to the cabaret and watch the shows...again...pretty cool!
On internet cafes, you can actually browse, get/send emails, read newspapers, cool...

On GTA IV, you can drive anything: cars, bikes, helis, trash trucks! Driving *is* fun! Each vehicle has it's driving characteristics and it actually makes a difference if you're driving a top-of-the-line super powered car or a little compact car! It really does...even the GPS in the cars are different...top of the line actually talk to you, give you heads-up info...amazing...and then there's taxis...and police cars with on-board computers...and other cars going out of their way to let you through when you turn on the police lights....All damage to your car is clearly visible....from bullet holes in your hood to scratches in the paint to pieces of the car just plain falling apart...nice.
This is one of those sandbox games where you can go anywhere...and they do it really nice...Even the initially locked islands are actually accessible...you *can* go there by jumping through the police barriers....you'll have the whole police force after you though...And it *is* fun just to drive/fly around and watch the details...in a last gamerconnect game night, we spent easily 4 hours just watching each other play, noticing the details and pretty much wreaking havoc throughout the city...it's that kind of game where it is just as fun to play it as to watch it being played!
People can actually be interacted with...Just try stealing a car from some characters and they will fight back...just go postal and start shooting anyone and you can actually do damage to everyone...and get a response by the police force for that matter...they will get called and will show up!
The story is actually interesting enough to make me want to play some more to learn what is going to happen!
The fighting mechanics are actually pretty good...from the covering system and blind fire (that were so popular in Gears of War), to some decent auto aiming, or free aiming, pretty varied weapon choices, all with different effects.

Disliked:

Cutscenes characters authenticity...After seeing Mass Effect, the characters in GTA IV seem a bit too rag doll like for my taste...On the other hand the voice acting is really nice.
GTA IV does have some collision issues. You often see your character running through walls.
Too addictive! ;-) (even stopped playing CoD 4 for this!).

Bottom line: Wow....I will not be surprised to see this be the game of the year....And I have not even started to explore all aspects of the single player game let alone the multiplayer.

Like I mentioned before in passing, the gamerconnect group got together recently and we spent a good amount of time playing GTA IV...It definitely passed the "group play" test...

5 stars on all fronts!

Guitar Hero III

2008-05-03T22:51:00.004-05:00

Since I finished the game once, on Easy mode, and am close to do it again, this time on Medium, I guess I qualify as a Legend of Rock :-)

Truth be said, I actually play the real thing (even if I'm very rusty), so this really isn't a big a surprise, but is also far from obvious. Why, do you ask? Due to the differences between a real guitar and the Wii control which ships with the game. However, the game gets really difficult on Hard and Expert modes, which I can attest to based on my time with the game. In fact, some people claim Guitar Hero 3 is much harder than Rock Band (and please let's ignore the lawsuits, shall we? ;-)

The song selection is pretty good, my favorite being Never Mind the Bollocks, by the Sex Pistols, and makes for an easy and sensible increase in game difficulty. The biggest downside of the Wii version is that it doesn't have music downloads (what were the guys at Neversoft thinking?! The Wii has Wi-Fi!) . In typical Wii fashion, the graphics look previous-gen, but it's not a big deal given the fact that music is the main focus of the game. All in all is a great game, worth the price of the admission ticket (around $90 at the time I got it). Rock on!

Assassin's Creed (PC) Positives and Negatives

2008-04-16T20:46:00.003-05:00

The video above was not recorded by me. I haven't climbed that high yet in the couple of hours I have played the game.

So far this is what I am liking about the game:

Climbing walls and jumping from roof to roof.
"Leap of faith" (a special kind of jump illustrated in the video above).
Free roaming.
NPC's: there are many of them on the streets (this is what first attracted me to this game reading the previews more than a year ago).
NPC's come with many different faces and clothes.

And these are some of the things that detract from the game:

Bad foreign accents.
Rambling dialogs.
Third-person camera is not always free to move.

I'll add more comments as I proceed through the game.

Making waves

2008-04-11T22:42:00.003-05:00

Our regular readers out there may have noticed that water screenshots are a somewhat recurring theme (dare I say fetiche?) in our game reviews. Back in the day, water meant a few blue pixels, but a lot has changed in recent years thanks to GPUs and their pixel shaders. The February 2008 edition of the Game Developer magazine has an interesting article on making waves written by one of the Surf's Up game developers. Unfortunately it is not publicly available, but a digital version can be purchased. On the other hand, there is a good article on the same topic, freely available on gamasutra . A word of caution, both articles are a bit heavy on math and physics.

April Fool's Gaming Related Pranks

2008-04-01T12:50:00.004-05:00

What's your favorite one ? Share it...only request...make it gaming related... :-)

Here's a nice one for XBox 360 gamers...

Funny video inspired by Portal

2008-03-24T21:15:00.002-05:00

After playing Portal, who hasn't wished they could get a "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" in real life?

To see the video go to the PC Gamer Video Podcast and either press "Play in Popup" or download the mp4.

The first half of the video is a game trailer; the second half, the funny video.

GamerConnect XBox 360 online events

2008-03-21T19:41:00.003-05:00

If you're an XBox 360 gamer and would like to join in a "GamerConnect XBox Live get together", send a friend request to gamertag gamerconnect. This XBox silver account will be used to gather people interested in scheduled games of Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, Burnout Paradise or any other game that might be making the rounds. So, send your friend requests along and we'll get something going...See you online!

TED: Will Wright

2008-03-10T20:00:00.004-05:00

I recommend the TED talks videos in general to everyone, and Will Wright's in particular to those gamers like me who are eagerly awaiting Spore.

Water effects in Crysis

2008-03-02T01:58:00.002-05:00

For those of us who care about water in games, here is a short clip I recorded with water effects in Crysis.

(HD in-game recording done with WeGame.)

The 10th IGF

2008-02-29T23:30:00.004-05:00

As Pedro reminded us a year ago, the Independent Games Festival is the place for independent, original games. This year's winner "allows players to experience what it would be like to transform drawings into physical objects". The video of the demo (embedded below) looks great. I am also going to checkout World of Goo and Audiosurf.

Half Life 2 - Our Mutual Fiend

2008-02-27T23:36:00.004-05:00

I finaly finished Half Life 2 - Episode 2 this weekend (yes, only now...) and I really liked it. All of it is very polished and entertaining, and some passages are even memorable.

One of these memorable passages is near the end in a section of the "A Mutual Fiend" level. It has it all: open spaces, gorgeous landscape, a car to drive around, and, for enemies, the fearsome hunters and, even more lethal, striders. Luckily the predictable Combine soldiers and the somewhat irritating Alyx Vance are absent.

I recorded a little bit of video with me going against a strider and two hunters to give you an idea of the gameplay. This shows the elimination of just one group of enemies. Try to imagine a map where a dozen of these packs of enemies come from any point in the valley, one after the other, with almost no breaks.

The tools I used to record and upload this video are available for free from WeGame.com. My only major complaint with the site so far is the limit of 100 MB for each video.

Gaming podcasts

2008-02-27T23:22:00.003-05:00

I had looked before for a video podcast about gaming but at the time the only example I found was The Totally Rad Show, which I didn't like much (even though I like Alex Albrecht in Diggnation.)

Today I ran into a gaming podcast that seems promising: The 1UP Show. 1UP publishes the magazines Games for Windows and Electronic Gaming Monthly; so, you may recognize some of the faces in the show.

Any other video podcasts about gaming that I should know about?

PS3 Entertainment Center

2008-02-18T15:02:00.001-05:00

I have been a die hard pc game fan for a long time. I have tried different console systems, and liked them for certain things, such as, fighting games like Mortal Combat, or Virtua Fighter, Driving games like Need for Speed, and even the sports games like football.
I was never really into the console games as I am the PC titles, and I still feel that PC first person shooters are far better than the consoles, but with Sony's new playstation 3, it is a combination of things that make this console a must have for any gamer.
I purchased the Sony PS3 80gig version. The console itself offers the best graphics available, for a console. Has a wide variety of options like bluetooth, wifi, Ethernet, card reader, usb support, HDMI 1080p resolution, and a blueray player, that not only reads the latest’s and greatest quality movies, but also works with cd's, dvd's and DVD - and + r/rw. That’s right; you can burn your own movies onto a DVD-r and use the ps3 for playback. It also has the ability to rip your cd collection onto the internal HDD, and play back the AAC audio later. With the wifi capability, you don't need to run any wires to your living room to update the console, or to download new content. The Sony store offers game demos, and full games for download, as well as, video trailers. The built in browser lets you surf the web, and although limited on certain options, because it is not a windows based system, you can still visit your favorite website, view your mail, etc... But, you can't play Windows Media Files. (Only certain file types are supported) You can save photos from the internet and use them as wallpapers, and really personalize your console.
Recently, I hooked the console up to a nice big High Definition TV, and experienced the blueray video, and game quality, it is absolutely awesome. Grand Tourismo, while not a great demo, has the most amazing graphics. They are as close to real as I have seen in any game. The video trailers I checked out were also beautiful, and you can see such great detail... There are a couple of different versions of the PS3 out. The 40gig version doesn't support ps2 compatibility, and doesn't have a flash card reader. The console is more than a gaming console; it is a multimedia entertainment center, and well worth the money.
HD-DVD has been dropped by many of the stores and rental places, and although the HD-DVD players and discs are still out there, they will gradually fade away. That is just one more selling point for the PS3, and Blueray. Most Blueray players are $300 and up. The PS3 starts at $399, and goes up to $499. If you are thinking of upgrading to blueray,
A high definition movie player, or HD TV, you should consider the PS3.
Some of the games I have tried and liked are, Madden 08, FIFA Street, NFL Street, Burnout Paradise, Rub a Dub, Virtua-Fighter, and MotorStorm.

I'm a (Wii) Tennis Pro!

2008-01-31T14:54:00.000-05:00

I got a Nintendo Wii as a Xmas gift, which was obviously very cool. I like its small form factor and silent operation, but dislike its GameCube 1.5 (or original XBox) like graphics and the fact it cannot play DVDs (even though it can do photo slideshows if you have photos on a SD car. Which one do you think is the more useful? Yeah, thought so.). The controller is not very sensitive, though it can be adjusted a bit, but it's ok once you get used to it. My main concern is that while it feels very natural for some types of games (for instance, the included Wii Sports game), I get the feeling most games will try to shoehorn weird, unnatural control schemes designed for games on other consoles and will fail miserably (hello Medal of Honor ;-) But by far, what I dislike most about the console is the ever present and hyper annoying lawyer-pushed warning messages everywhere, including the boot screen! Enough already!!! Makes me just want to throw the thing in the trash. It's supposed to be a fun activity, not to annoy the hell out of me!

Anyway, as I previously mentioned, a copy of Wii Sports is included. You can play Tennis, Golf, Bowling, Baseball, and Boxing (kinda surprising, as I'd thought Nintendo would stay away from violent games). Never tried Boxing, and with the exception of Tennis, only played the others a couple of times. Tennis is pretty realistic, but Golf feels very disconnected and really just a computer game. It took me only about 15 hours to become a Tennis Pro and since then I have stopped playing it. The graphics are nothing to brag about, although I understand that's not the point. I believe its true purpose is to get users familiar with the new controller as well as having something to play once they open the box. And by the way, it is a very good game for parties.

iPhone games

2008-01-30T12:44:00.000-05:00

What does the 'iPhone / iPod Touch' platform and John Malkovich have in common? They both are stars with actual talent. (And they both have names that are hard to type... I'll just refer to the platform by the name "iPhone" from now on.)

The iPhone is a sales success as an "appliance", but where it gets really interesting is in its talents as a computing platform. And nothing proves the merits of a computing platform like video games.

The iPhone ships with no games in it, but there are a few HTML games that have been adapted to fit nicely on the iPhone display. From those that I tried the one that I really liked is just a port of a very old game: Shredder Chess for iPhone. Apple's web site contains a list of such web-based games for iPhone. I see there several recent additions that I must try.

There are many problems with getting your gaming fix from a web app, and even more so on the iPhone. The first one is that you have to be online. This is particularly limiting for the iPod Touch. Another big, big problem is that the Safari browser running on the iPhone doesn't support Flash yet and will probably never support Java. That reduces the number of web games by an order of magnitude. Additionally, what makes the iPhone so interesting as an input device -- the multitouch -- is basically lost on a web app (finger "events" are dumbed down as they are converted to mouse events in a browser).

What everyone is waiting for is games for the iPhone that run natively. This will come soon with the release of an SDK. I am very optimistic about the number of teams, small and big, that will want to write to this platform.

In the meantime those that were tired of waiting for the platform to open, have opened it themselves. For those owners of an iPhone or of an iPod Touch brave enough to void its warranty, there are many native applications being written and released. Of these, some are games, naturally.

The number of native applications will increase dramatically once the SDK is released, and I expect to see some games take advantage not only of multitouch but also of the accelerometer contained in the iPhone. I think a PacMan controlled by slightly tilting the iPhone could be fun.

What do you think would be an interesting game (existing or completely new) to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the iPhone?

Original SimCity now open source

2008-01-29T18:47:00.001-05:00

Yes, you read that right. The original SimCity, codename Micropolis, is now open source, as Electronic Arts has released it under the GPL license. What are you waiting for?! Go get the code now! Note the code has been updated to modern C++ and also uses Python (there is also a Tcl/Tk version). I tried to build it on my Ubuntu box but didn't succeed due to version conflicts which I hope to iron out soon. Have fun!

Mass Effect: Truly "Where Do you want to go today ?"

2008-01-23T20:46:00.000-05:00

A lot has been said about Mass Effect...and mostly good...and, I believe, a lot overhyped. Let me start by setting the record straight...I loved the game but I do not believe this game to be perfect and I do believe the game could still be improved. Read on....

What I liked

The story for this game is absolutely fantastic...It really got me into it making me not drop my controller until I got to see the end of it...loved it. A good number of mysteries to discover and plot twists to keep you guessing what comes next. The richness of the universe created is impressive as you can attest by the huge number of codex entries you uncover throughout the game...the codex alone gives you a good number of hours of reading....if you can manage to stop and read it instead of eagerly advancing through the story.

The branching of stories you can get in the game. Through the typical multiple choice response to interactions you can really get to drive your story through several different branches producing quite different results. The replayability of that is immense and has kept me going back to it to try somethings in a totally different way. I was really impressed with this aspect of the game....I mean, in one specific instance you can get to choose to kill a key player in the game in at least two different ways or you can get to spare his life...all via interactions with that player and others...impressive and fascinating. Although the overall story follows a well pre-defined global line, these little deviations are enough to keep you coming back for more.

Character customization. Not a *huge* deal but I was really impressed how you can tweak your character background and looks and have that be reflected in your interactions (different reactions from different players) and throughout the cut scenes (you do see the player you tweaked not just some pre-made one)...again, pretty impressive.

The fighting mechanics. A, I will call it, semi-real-time mechanics where you can stop time to instruct your party members, evaluate the battle field, then go back into the fray madly firing at everything that moves

The vehicle you use to move around the planets. A pretty fun experience where you can use your vehicle to just blow your enemies to bits or just drive over them.

RPG. What can I say, I just love them....from using experience points to upgrade your character's skills to buying/acquiring new weapons...cool and fun.

What I did not like

Elevators. The most annoying part of the game...instead of some "loading screens" you usually get some time spent in elevators going up or down having your characters locked. Sounds good in principle (should beat a "loading" screen by a long shot), but it becomes extremely annoying when these elevators are placed between pretty used paths (e.g. in your ship between the upper level and the hangar, a path you should go through often to talk to your characters). No loading between these should be pretty important.

Unrealistic behaviors. Oh well..if you decide to go postal and start shooting everybody in your party or around you, nobody really cares that much...I mean, you could be firing directly at your soldiers and they will keep staring right back at you taking the damage....it gets even worse for NPC where they still do not care but also do not take any damage (must be exiles from the planet Krypton for sure...)...And you go unpunished for those actions....come on...probably not a huge leap to send some NPCs to wipe you out if this were to happen...

Repetitive maps. If you go around the universe just completing side quests you will see what I mean....Some space architect is sure to be a millionaire! All the floor plans follow the same layout...you just put a couple of crates in different places and you're all set...:-/ A little map randomizer would be welcome I guess.

Hills and your vehicle...sometimes it can be pretty frustrating to try to get from point A to point B on a map...with all the mountains around you, you can spend a good amount of time just trying to find the best way to go around a mountain...hardly the stuff to keep you excited about.

I've seen this game get a 10/10 score in lots of places....it does surprise me and worries me that today's reviewers get carried away in all the hype these days (BioShock anyone?)...come on, the faults above are, I believe, enough to lower a bit the grades.....a solid 9 no doubt...never a 10.

'nough talk....I'm back to trying to rake my Mass Effect achievements for being as despicable and aggressive as I can.... ;-)

Tiger Woods 08: If only I could play that well in real life!

2008-01-23T20:17:00.000-05:00

Not exactly an FPS like the majority of games reviewed here but this game is one that has been kept at the top of my "pile of games to play" and that says something about it since my pile keeps changing but this game stays there.

Tiger Woods 08 is the latest version of the long running Tiger Woods series and allows for people like me to get my golf fix (kind of) when snow is on the ground and you can not go hit some balls.

What I Like

The courses are pretty realistic and true to the real thing. Playing the game and then watching the pros play these courses really gives you a different perspective...You get to know all the kinks and difficulties of each hole and that contributes to the overall fun of the game experience.
The physics of the gameplay do seem to be right on the spot....from wind conditions to selection of clubs to hooking and slicing by mishandling the thumbstick...again, it can help you change the way you play the real thing through observation of possible results.

The overall RPGish feeling of starting with a beginner player and having it evolve as you play along.

The Tiger Challenge mode presents a series of challenges in a pretty interesting way...Kind of like a pavement where you need to cover each step of the way to get to the next. Cool overall (although I do have some things against it later on).

All the playing details...from reading the green, to club selection, to positioning of the ball in your stance, to ball lie status, all comes into play when hitting the ball.

Photo Game Face. This seems to me to be a huge innovation introduced by this game. You can take a couple of pictures with your digital camera, upload them via the web to the EA servers and then get to manipulate them on your XBox 360 to build a player looking like the pictures you uploaded...Believe me when I say it is dead simple to get a player with some resemblance to your picture...Mine looks impressive similar to me (at least I like to believe so)...pretty cool....seriously in 30 minutes I had my player ready...

GamerNet. Again some interesting possibilities here. You can upload clips from your games onto GamerNet and make them available to the world (check out my absolutely fantastic play clip on GamerNet using my game face player). Makes for some very nice boasting material...furthermore you can upload the clips and build challenges...you can set conditions for the challenge and put it out there to see who beats your challenge (e.g. see if you can do the same I did on my clip, see if you can beat the distance to the pin, etc....)

What I do not like

Realistic as they are, some characters still look a bit doll like...but then again, I understand I am being extremely demanding here.
The crowd has evolved a lot since previous versions but they still react weirdly to events. If your ball ends up in the middle of the audience you'll see what I mean...A FPS approach in the likes of Halo 3 with blood all splashed all over the place when a ball hits a spectator in the head would be a bit more realistic than the present spectator jumping up and down grabbing his/her leg. It is not uncommon also to have the crowd furiously clap to a really rotten play.

Although released with a decent amount of courses, Tiger Woods ships with a good number of them locked. The only way to unlock them is to beat the star players in Tiger challenge mode. A feat easier said than done due to the mechanics of the Tiger challenge. Remember how I said in the "What I do like" section about the pavement approach to playing Tiger challenge ? Well, you do have to go through a ton (and I do mean a ton) of challenges to unlock certain courses...if you are really into some of these courses (e.g. they are really next to you and you would really enjoy playing them) you're in for a good number of gameplay hours before you even get an opportunity to unlock them. I understand the notion of reward for beating the game but this is a bit frustrating.

EA has released a very low number of downloadable content for the XBox 360...seems like a shame since they could really take advantage of this medium to release updates to the game (e.g. although I would prefer to see courses unlocked from the start, I would probably pay to unlock a couple of the locked courses at this point)

Overall this is an extremely well achieved game....and if you have the "golf fever", you should give it a try....I believe you will like it...A couple of months since I got it and I'm still hooked. :-)

Getting paid to play games

2008-01-21T22:39:00.000-05:00

Many people believe that being a game tester is the best job in the world. After all, they reason, they are getting paid to play games all day long! How cool is that?
Too bad that's just a huge misconception. Being a QA person in the game industry is actually quite a challenging and though job, often requiring long hours and offering very little job security. So next time you think you're gonna make a quick and fun buck, think again!

First post! ... of the year :-)

2008-01-11T22:47:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! No, no new games this time :-( Actually, I can reveal I was working on one (codenamed Ginza) to be released on Jan 1st, but things got way too busy at work and thus I had to put it on hold. The good news is, I still plan to finish it sometime this year (following the old "when it's done" mantra :-)
Kotaku has a nice image gallery of game industry people (including some famous ones) desks/cubes/offices. Quick, who has the largest monitor(s)? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to expense your computer/console? :-)

Blaming computer games

2007-11-30T22:58:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you read countless stories about violence and computer games. Maybe you can even recall a certain lawyer's name who often gets quoted and involved in the debate ;-)
That's so 20th century! Nowadays it seems everything bad can somehow be blamed on computer games: from literacy slide to soccer teams eliminations, anything goes. But fortunately not all is lost, apparently computer games can sometimes also be put to good use.

Games on TV

2007-11-13T07:01:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not referring to hooking up your console to a TV, but rather to Discovery Channel's TV documentary on games. Rise of the Video Game will start airing on Nov 21.

More CoD4 screenshots

2007-11-11T18:35:00.000-05:00

Here are some more screenshots to add to those that Danny that has posted. They are from the first single player combat mission. It's an attack on a container ship. The visuals are very impressive: rain, lightning, waves that send foam all over the deck, etc.

(Don't forget to click on the image to see bigger version.)

COD4 Modern Warfare

2007-11-09T12:20:00.000-05:00

At first, I felt this was just a new skin on an older game, and even though Call of Duty 2 is a great game, I have grown a bit tired of it after playing it for so long and many late nights. I tried the COD4 demo, and did like the game play, although again, had the same feel as COD2. I decided to get the full game, to play through the modern story, and had a feeling we'd all jump onto the multiplayer soon enough... Well, I was a bit surprised at how much I actually enjoyed the single player. They added some great new things and made a more explosive campaign than I expected. It is short, but oh so very sweet... I recently checked out the Multiplayer side of the game, and not only can you call in air strikes for support, you can also get helicopter support, which is nice to see in a MP game. I also like how you can create a class, although it isn't until your rank goes up and you start unlocking all the perks that you can see the full variety of weapons... It gives you something to work towards, similar to the achievements in TF2 or Portal. I give both the Singleplayer and Multiplayer a thumbs up... If you haven't got the game yet, stop reading, and get yourself the game now...

There are three lights!

2007-10-27T20:31:00.001-05:00

I am starting to feel like Jean-Luc Picard...the torture has begun...Unlike Picard I do see three lights...red flashing ones...and my XBox 360 is fried...:-(

Already called Microsoft about this...on the other side they where very helpful and friendly...a box is coming my way to get my console back to them to get it fixed...the overall process is however veeeery painful. Around 1 week to get the box, around 1 week for the box to get back to them, around 1 week to get the console fixed and....you are guessing it at this time, around 1 week to get it back to me....altogether the painful amount of 4 weeks...and that is if everything goes according to plans...and I am starting to see lights...other kinds of lights...like I'm about to faint from deprivation of my gaming addiction...I do see a bit more than 3 or 4 (like Picard)....torture....give me Madred anytime (No way I can hide another of my addictions now....ST:TNG rules!)...

Like something I read about this (when I was arrogant enough to think this whole red light thing had flown right by me), if it were not for the absolutely awesome lineup of games the XBox 360 has in store, Microsoft would be in (even more) serious trouble.

I am now going to take advantage of some of the millions MS put up to deal with this issue so I will be getting my console back without paying anything...but I will sure be grumpy and wondering why the hell have they not payed for faster shipping... :-(

And suddendly my alter-ego name makes even more sense...what a "Major Ouch"!

Modern Warfare, Call of Duty style...

2007-10-12T17:31:00.000-05:00

The game is the same as Call of Duty 2, Just in modern times, and has upgraded a few options. The upgrades include the graphics, which are very similar to Medal of Honor Airborne. There is also the depth of field, although not as much.
There is also new weapons, most of which we have seen in other games, but are new to the COD world... There is one rocket launcher you get in the demo that is pretty cool, it fires straight, then ejects or rockets straight up, and then crashes down on the enemy target you locked onto...
The gameplay is also the same as COD2, and that is good and bad...good because, the game is tight, and responsive, and bad because the single player AI is always waiting for you to get to that certain position in order to move forward.
The map was very nice in the demo, although they lead you down a road, and into a building, the road is wide enough, with various cover points to give you the feel of freedom. I like the variety of indoor and outdoor maps, and different fighting styles. The end of the demo is very much an outdoor area with alot of freedom to move around.
They also did a very nice job of making the same plant a demo charge here or put a indicator marker there better by having your actions finally call in an airstrike, or by having helicopters fly in over your position to help you out. This is very similar to COD2 when you plant the charges in 4 or 5 places on a building, and then run for cover as you then get to watch the building blow up and come tumbling down. This isn't done as a cut scene, which is nice...
I read that there will be "perks" which allow you to upgrade things and even let you configure a character, so, you can customize your weapons and what you carry.
I think COD2 is a great game. I think that COD4 is also going to be a great game, and play well both single player as well as multiplayer.
Be sure to try the demo...

F.E.A.R Perseus Mandate (demo)

2007-10-10T12:50:00.000-05:00

Fullsize Screenshot

My First Encounter with the demo, while I am a big fan of FEAR, was that it had not changed much. Although the graphics were a bit better and sharper, and the water was nicer, it still has the same feel, and effects. The feel and effects are awesome though, which is why I enjoyed both FEAR and FEAR Extraction Point. There is still the slow motion effect or bullet time as some people call it, and there are body parts that do go flying off the corpses you leave behind, all of which are great fun, but, why buy another game for the same effects that are in the previous version?
Then, I looked into the weapons, I started out with the same standard assault rifle as the previous game, but it wasn't too long until I got the new grenade launcher, which is a nice addition, and shortly there after, a new scope on a newer assault rifle, when I zoomed in with the scope I was suprised to see a red lens that has night vision integrated right into it, very nice! Then there is the sound, the fear games are great for creepy, spine tingling sounds and overall one of the great features, the demo is no exception. I almost shot my partner, because he comes upto a door and is banging on it and trying to force it open, but, the music and sounds are enough to make you feel threatened and when he does come through that door, well lets just say, he is one lucky SOB... Finally, There is the story, which hooked me when I got to the end of the demo. I am not giving anything away here, but the demo is worth it just for the last 30 seconds... Take the time and download it for yourself if you liked FEAR at all... I am planning on getting this title, even if it is just for the single player game. I will review the multiplayer side of it after release or if a MP demo becomes available...

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

2007-10-07T21:05:00.000-05:00

I have recently purchased ETQW, and so far have been enjoying it. I have good and bad things to say about this game, So, I will break my review down as such...
Like:
The graphics, while not the newest Direct X 10, still nice. (screenshot)
The gameplay, I do like the Call of Duty series, but I also like the change, and objectives.
The vehicles, not since Halo, Flatout 2, and UT2004 have I really enjoyed vehicle manslaughter. I also like the ease of control, even the "newbie option" as I call it is a great way to make use of vehicles even if you can't fly...
You get into your aircraft, and hit "W" to accelerate. If you do not move the mouse, you fly straight up and hover. Then if you press "shift"(forward) or "control"(backwards) it gives you a boost, and your aircraft stays perfectly flat, You can then use the "A" and "D" keys to rotate right and left. The "S" key is used to decrease your speed, or land.
The maps, I like the combination of open outdoor areas, as well as indoor tight quarters fighting, it balances the classes, and gives a variety of jobs for what people are good at. A person taking the role of a sniper maybe awesome outside, but, the character class isn't as effective indoors, and that person may not like or be any good at the tight quarter fighting. Same goes for a dedicated pilot.
The extras...Airstrikes, Turrets, and mines. I have been a fan of the extras for a long time. Tribes was one of the first games I played with deployable turrets, and I have liked them ever since...

Dislike:
Lack of help, or instruction. The game does give you a great little "cheat sheet", which has a small picture of the mission, and a simple breakdown of the objectives and which class is needed to perform the objectives. you also get a keyboard layout sheet, however, parachute is not on there, and neither is the key for decoy flares if fired upon, while in a helicopter, I know that feature is there, I have seen the flares deployed by the bots, I just don't know how to do it yet. I did figure out that the spacebar is used for the parachute, when jumping out of a helicopter...
I can also see why people might get frustrated with the game, it does require teamwork to win the game, if you are used to a run and gun, or solo approach, you will not get to far. I am the first person to say "hurry up, get in there..." but, at times it is better to sit back , look over the battlefield, and determine where to place your airstrike marker, wait for it to take out the turrets and then stroll through unharmed towards the objective.
Story, or lack there of... There is basically no real story, or anything, you have a campaign mode which is a series of 3 maps, and each team either attacks or defends against the other. While each class does have it's chance at both attacking or defending on different maps or campaigns, there is no story, other than the opening video, that let us know the Strogg have now made it to earth, and here we are in a battle...

I give the game a thumbs up. I was looking for a game with vehicles, objectives, and teams. I like the fact that you can add bots, incase you don't like playing online with strangers, you can play with 1 or 2 friends and take on the bots...
For me the game had more likes than dislikes, so it made a good fit...

Halo 3 Sucks!

2007-10-03T19:36:00.001-05:00

A game without a decent story, with lousy graphics, no gameplay grab whatsoever, filled with bugs and really boring to play...that is exactly the opposite of what Halo 3 is...did I say Halo 3 sucks ? It absolutely ROCKS! :-)

My initial impressions split in a couple of topics.

Fun factor

First of all, the fun factor. This is, after all, where all games should be measured...regardless of all the other parameters, if you have fun with a game I believe the game has met it's objective. Halo 3 is not only *really* fun but also the kind of game that keeps you wanting to go back for more and more...One of those that keep you awake through the night. I am actually eager to replay the campaign in 'Heroic' mode (I know I do not stand a chance in Legendary mode... ;-)), something I usually do not do at all in a game...but to be honest it is just too fun not to do it again!

Fun factor: 5 stars

AI

The IA in Halo 3 might be a bit of an issue. Granted I have only played the 'Normal' mode so far but during the campaign I was having some issues in particular with my fellow troops actually being able to drive a warthog. To the point where I often abandoned the gun turret, kicked the driver out, drove the warthog to the next combat area, climbed out to kick the turret guy out and let him drive again... Kind of "I give up, let me do the driving since you can not really go around a boulder!". To be fair, I should try harder modes and see how the AI changes with that. I had not complaints with the enemy AI (apart from the fact that they should probably chase me
a bit more but hey, need to try harder levels!)

AI factor: 4 stars

Graphics

Regardless of what some reviews have been saying, I found the graphics pretty amazing. Crispness, shading are really amazing. They do not reach the "realism" of a Gears of War but are, in my opinion, up to par to a next-gen game. I, of course, have spent sometime looking at water pools (not an unusual activity for me, see previous post) and found it to be pretty amazing ("will you stop shooting at me for crying out loud ?!?!?! I'm trying to stare at some water!").

Graphics factor: 5 stars
Music

Music is not all of the game but it does help to set a lot of the tone/mood of a game. Halo's music is way up-there setting the mood. Pretty epic, desperate at some times, it does set you into that "last resort to saving the world" frame. The fact that I included music as one topic of evaluation should say it all...Pretty nice.

Music factor: 5 stars

Gameplay

Ahhhh! This is where Halo 3 really shines! It does feel like all attention has been given to detail and they did get it right! You do not feel "on-rails" ever (see Bioshock post, see Gears of War post). You do get the "open world" feeling when playing Halo 3. There is indeed more than one way to achieve your objectives. You have a ton of different weapons/equipments combinations, you have a really rich array of vehicles to take advantage of to keep going. You can move around freely in every section of the maps (with some goody "Skulls" hidden in the most amazing places). And details go on and on making for an extraordinary gameplay. A couple of examples (just to name a few nice ones)...if you find a turret, guess what ? You can yank it out of it's tripod and walk around with it...you move slower but hey, your fire rate is awesome...but then again you loose the infinite ammo you would get in the tripod...sweet...In vehicles, they all have soft-spots that you can hit...And you get
that "destructible environment" feel with vehicles....if you fire at some sections of say a wraith tank, you see the plates coming out to expose some juicy critical part that can blow it apart...and of course, you can either blow it from afar or you can simply find a way to board it and plant a couple of grenades to dispose of the little (actually quite huge) critter...Same thing for all other vehicles...now is that sweet or not ? It does bring a bit more of strategy to the game (e.g. get your friends to draw the vehicle attention while you blow it to pieces by boarding it and getting to that soft spot). Weapons also bring some pretty fun combos...from firing your overloaded plasma pistol to drain the enemy's shields in one shot then finishing him off with a single head-shot, to planting proximity mines to dispose of really large ones...The list goes on and on... It's all in the details....and boy...they did get it right!

Gameplay factor: 6 stars out of 5 ;-)

Story/Campaign

This is where a lot of flak has been coming Halo 3's way...and rightly so I guess... The story is cool and get's you hooked...You really want to know what comes next... That would be my measure of a successful story and that is achieved. The story is however really short...you can indeed run through it in a short amount of time... 8-10 hours will probably cut it for a hardcore gamer...I agree that this was something that could have been a bit more expanded...

Story/Campaign factor: 4 stars

Multiplayer

Multiplayer is another place where this game really shines. You got a nice combination of maps and game modes. I would say more than enough to get you playing for a long, long time. Will not go into much detail there since I have been mainly trying to finish up the campaign before diving into the multiplayer...but the maps I have explored are really awesome and offer the potential for some really intense confrontations (where I will surely end up splashed into a wall dead, dead, dead....;-) ). Does not seem to bring a whole lot of innovation to the mix though...

Multiplayer factor: 4.5 stars (mainly because of lack of innovation, but a pretty strong 4.5).

Innovation

There are two aspects of Halo which are absolutely brilliant and bring some innovation to the mix. The Forge allows you to "play god" during a game, dropping vehicles, equipment into a map as you play it...pretty sweet...Had it been possible to create new maps, I can only imagine the legs this would give to Halo 3 but then again, Bungie probably wants to sell new maps via XBox Live so this would probably not be a good business call (and technically would surely be a different ball game). In Theater you can review the full movie of your latest confrontation, you can save it, take snapshots (the ones on this post were taken that way) and share it with friends. Again, pretty sweet...You can learn a lot from watching other players play against you...not even to mention the coolness of the boasting "with proof"...

Bungie.net brings the game together in an absolutely fantastic way by gathering stats on your gaming experience including accumulated medals, encounter history lists and, get this, overview maps of each encounter with detailed info on where kills happened layered over the map...this web/XBox Live integration is a very, very interesting feature of Halo 3. Check out my Bungie Halo 3 record.

As for the rest, it follows the previous Halo formula so there is a bit more of the same....but like I said, it's all in the details and this is, in my opinion not a straight rehash of previous titles...

Innovation: 4.5 stars

The Bottom Line

Loving the game, really loving it...It is, I believe, an absolutely must buy...really worth your $60. If I did not have an XBox 360 already, I would definitely be considering getting one heavily at this point. This is indeed a system seller. If you already have an XBox 360 and do not have Halo 3, what are you waiting for ?

But...what are your thoughts on Halo 3 ? Send them away....and if you want to meet online, my gamercard is 'Major Ouch' (as in 'Ouch! I've been killed again! ;-) ;-) ;-) )...

Believe.

P.S.
Click on the images for a full size high-res view...now spot all the details like bullet shells in the air, water transparency, water splashes, far details...

2007-09-20T13:33:00.000-05:00

Valve has opened the Steam Community web site. I created an ID for me.

Because Steam Community connects players and keeps track of stats, it seems to me this is a rival to Microsoft's "Games for Windows - LIVE". Which one has my preference? Well, let's just say that Steam Community is completely free...

At this point I think Steam could be spun off as its own company. I am sure the game-download business is profitable. They would probably get even more games to sell if they were not part of a games developer company. That neutrality would also give more legitimacy to Steam Community itself.

Anyone knows of other competitors to Games for Windows - LIVE?

Team Fortress 2

2007-09-18T15:23:00.001-05:00

ACME world, funny characters, rockets, turrets, snipers...
OH MY !!!
When you jump into a full server, and see the battle, the smoke trails, the animation, it is almost enough to bring you back to the days of being a kid, watching Sunday morning cartoons...

The game runs very well, looks great (cartoon), and has a wide variety of characters to choose from. The pre-release version has 6 maps, all are preset with a game type, like capture point, where there are 3 bases on the map that you need to control or capture. There are also variations of this, you may start a map with 2 bases already controlled, and need to gain the only free base and then hold the 3 of them or more, as the other team tries to do the same. There is also a game where you control all the bases, and just need to prevent the other team from capturing all of your bases. It is obviously a team oriented game, and you can use the classes together, like heal your heavy gunner as a medic, he does the most damage, but he is also very slow.
There is a little learning curve that goes with this game, just as with any other team based strategy game, and there are alot of classes to explore, which is a welcomed change from the run and gun games I have been playing...

Sniper Zoom in MOHA

2007-09-14T16:43:00.000-05:00

Sniping with Zoom and holding your breath are must have features, and Medal of honor Airborne does have those features...

It took me a while to figure the features out, but they are there. The spacebar is for holding your breath while in scoped mode, and the mousewheel zooms you in and out. The "X" and "Z" keys are alternate options for zooming.

Sniping with Depth of Field in Medal of Honor: Airborne

2007-09-11T09:13:00.000-05:00

In video games about military combat, a scoped rifle always comes with various handicaps to keep it from being unfairly powerful compared to the other guns. Typical handicaps are a low rate of fire, a slow reload, and inaccuracy for close-quarters combat.

Snipers in MoH:A have to contend with all that plus depth of field. The image you see through the scope has sometimes a very narrow depth of field: only a tiny bit of what you see is in focus and everything else that is closer or further away is out of focus. This effect, however, is temporary. You can see this effect on the animated gif below:

The cobblestone streets of an Italian town and the depth of field of a rifle scope.

Does this complication make sniping any less fun in MoH:A? Not for me. It is more challenging because it makes you lose a couple of seconds when aiming, but it is also more rewarding because it increases realism. A that's what "fun" is: a delicate balance between challenge and reward.

How to add a handle to your PC case

2007-09-05T23:08:00.000-05:00

I wrote a page about a PC case handle mod. I know this is only marginally related to this blog, but I did add this handle with the purpose of making it easier to take the computer to LAN parties... :)

Grand Theft Auto IV advertising

2007-09-03T21:51:00.000-05:00

As I was walking down the street in Chinatown, NYC, I saw this 5-stories tall advertising for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV (to be released in 2008) and could not resist taking a picture.

Note that Rockstar is based in NYC and that the game will be set there too.

If you are curious about the game, check a couple of HD videos at GameTrailers.com.

Overlord: It's good to be bad!

2007-08-28T20:04:00.000-05:00

It has been sometime since I had so much fun with a game. Overlord is a mix of RPG and RTS with a heavy dose of humor. You take the role of a recently found (you were buried under rubble) potential overlord, and take up the task of living up to that title.

The gameplay itself is pretty interesting and I would say original. You set out in third person view whacking things around but also get the chance to command an army (more of a gang really) of minions to go with you and do your evil biddings. But all minions are not born alike and this is where it starts to get fun. You have four kinds of minions that you can command throughout the game and puzzles throughout that get solved through the use of the appropriate kind of minions. Minions are really there to be sacrificed at your whim and it's a blast to send them their way breaking things all around. The characters in the game are pretty funny with the minions taking the prize with their subservient attitude and pure delight in wreaking havoc everywhere they go (while bringing us some loot: "For Youuuuu masssterr"). The heroes in the game are, let's say, outside the typical hero profile and enough to keep me looking for the next one.

Suffice to say, this was one of the games which has kept me awake till the early hours of the morning...I simply could not put down my controller...one more minion nest, one more hero defeated...one more...unslept night! The game is out for both XBox 360 and PC so if you get a chance, give it a try...but do not blame me those lost hours...;-)

I did not buy it, I am more into the renting mode these days (XBox 360 games are expensive for crying out loud!)...I played Overlord as a rental and I'm going back there to rent it again!

Airborne

2007-08-26T21:39:00.000-05:00

Parachuting in over enemy territory, I see the green smoke where I was told to land, unless I wanted to win the war by myself, but I decide to try a "Rambo" approach. I land on a roof top, and proceed to pick off the enemy from a vertical advantage. The Airborne demo is short and sweet, although not original at all, in fact it looks more like call of duty 2 than the original MOH games, it does have beautiful graphics, and a more open feel to it. I actually liked the controls, the standard "A" and "D" keys used for strafeing, are altered when aiming down the barrel and become the lean buttons, it was a little more comfortable for me while playing. The enviroment has plenty of detail, and good lighting. The game does use the Unreal 3 engine, which for me is great, I have no issues running any game yet that utilizes the engine. I would recommend trying the demo, I think all of you gamers will enjoy it.

Bioshock Sucks

2007-08-24T17:17:00.000-05:00

I know Bioshock got the best reviews from magazines and web sites. My opinion is based not just on playing the demo but also reading those supposedly positive reviews. I also know that those of you who bought and tried the game love it, and I appreciate your reviews.

Yes, Bioshock has gorgeous graphics: water, fire, and reflections, etc. And the captivating ambiance is an original twist on Art Deco. It also has great characters and a great script. The idea of the Little Sisters and the Big Daddies is brilliant, and some of scripted events based on these characters capture your attention like a good movie does.

But that's exactly the problem: Bioshock would be better as a movie than it is as a game.

How innovative is Bioshock where it matters--in gameplay?

Because there is a limit to what plasmids you load, you have to decide what powers you want and when. But isn't that basic RPG mechanics?...

You also have many mini games or puzzles to solve, which add many hours to the gameplay. But if I wanted to play mini games, I would just go to Yahoo! Games...

The choices you make affect the game. You can choose whether to attack Little Sisters, for example. But how is this different from Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II released back in 1997, where the player could choose from the Light path or the Dark path?...

In Bioshock there are dozens of ways to attack each enemy and situation, some that work better than others. But how is this different from what Splinter Cell was doing 5 years ago?...

The great problem with Bioshock for me is a lack of non-linearity. Yes, there is some storyline branching (or so I've heard) and there are RPG elements to the game. But essentially you are still very limited on how much gameplay you can manufacture yourself. Playing Bioshock (or is it "watching"?) you are still experiencing situations meticulously crafted by the script writers as you would in a movie.

The qualities that made Grand Theft Auto, Oblivion, and Stalker innovative games--nonlinear, sandbox, emergent gameplay--are simply just not present in Bioshock. It only took me two doors to close permanently behind me and a glass bridge to rupture and block my way back to realize how much "on rails" my progress would be through the game.

I have to confess that one reason for going against Bioshock is the pleasure of being a contrarian. But that doesn't make my points any less valid.

Bioshock

2007-08-20T23:08:00.000-05:00

I am sure you have heard of Bioshock by now. The game "BioShock is the "genetically enhanced" first person shooter that lets you do things never before possible in the genre: turn everything into a weapon, biologically mod your body with plasmids, hack devices and systems, upgrade your weapons and craft new ammo variants, and experiment with different battle techniques in an incredible and unique underwater city. " I just finished the playable demo and let me just say, they got it all right... The graphics are amazing, I of course am using Direct X 10 which must add something special to this already impressive looking game. The feel of the game is right on as well. The game play is responsive and fun. You can stun your enemy with a lightning bolt, then smack the enemy with your wrench, or shoot them with your pistol. Mod yourself with one of 2 plasmids you get in the demo either the lighting bolt or fire, both are impressive. During the game play I had absolutely no stuttering, or lag of any kind. I was also playing the game on high settings, DX10, and a resolution of 1680x1050. The story so far is good, It does have some similarities to another game I played that you may have heard of "Far Cry". You get a radio that a guy (Atlas) talks to you on and helps you learn the ropes, and of course needs help himself, but, the environment, characters, and storyline are very different, well at least from what I can tell in the demo. The characters are amazing, the cartoon like people have nice detail, and some wear the best outfits and masks, which do fly off when hit. I also like the blood effect which is very cartoonish as well. I am definitely thinking "Game of the Year". The only negative thing I can say about the game is...there is no multiplayer... I would actually really enjoy cooking you guys with the inferno plasmid or stunning you with the lightning bolt prior to smashing your skull in with a wrench...Hopefully they can make a multiplayer game called "Bioshocked" soon...

QuakeCon 2007

2007-08-03T22:21:00.000-05:00

Of all the announcements made at QuakeCon 2007, probably the most exciting one is Rage, id Software's latest game/franchise. It uses their new next-gen engine, id Tech5, and will be available for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. Check out this video!

Other important/interesting announcements include:

Quake Zero, a free (ie, ad supported) web based Quake 3
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars will be released on October 2
id's old games are now available on Valve's Steam
A Wolfenstein movie is in the works

My first reaction: I need to upgrade my PC again :-)

Stalker : Clear Sky

2007-08-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

I am a fan of Stalker : Shadow of Chernobyl. I haven't had any major issues with running the game. I am also looking forward to the prequel "Clear Sky". The game should include a multiplayer game very different than what Stalker SOC is now, It is supposed to include vehicles, as was the first single player Stalker SOC game, but due to time restraints, and technical issues Stalker SOC didn't have the vehicles. "Clear Sky" also has a single player game, that is more of a faction based story line, and leads up to the beginning of Stalker SOC . I believe the idea is that you can join different factions and help them fight for their cause or territory, as well as go on your own, avoid the conflicts and make your way through a more story driven campaign. As more news comes out, and as the release date closes in, there will be new updates, and I am sure changes. But for now there are a couple of videos out there, showing off game play footage, to entertain us, and I am looking forward to the game...

Rockstar: an insider story

2007-07-25T21:07:00.000-05:00

Today, this pretty interesting first person account (not shooter :-) of living the dream (or the nightmare? you decide!) has made the covers of Kotaku, Joystick, and now Gamer Connect.
And speaking of rock star, here's the reason why I've been very quiet lately.

XBox player against PC player

2007-06-30T20:08:00.000-05:00

The idea of having XBox players and PC players in the same FPS multiplayer game is interesting, but my prediction is that in practice it will not work. I just found out that Infinity Ward's Studio Head Grant Collier, who gave us Call of Duty 1 and 2 and is releasing the 4th installment this year, thinks the same:

...who wants to be playing an RTS on a console and have some guy on a PC clicking and dragging all his troops, attacking your base while you're sitting there with your thumb sticks. So I think for FPSs and RTSs, no way, but for, y'know, card games or Tetris or something like that.

See his interview.

This is a subject that we touched on before in this blog, but until we actually get two of us to play the same game against each other, one on an XBox and one on a PC, we can't really know.

The upcoming FPS wars...

2007-06-19T12:46:00.000-05:00

As someone who has played the Halo 3 beta, I share much of the impression out there that, while a really cool and nice game, Halo 3 is missing some of the impressive graphics one would expect of a next-gen first person shooter (Gears of War being the example of beauuutiful graphics). Now the first screens of Quake Wars start coming out and first impression it looks a lot more eye pleasing than Halo 3. Check for yourself here...Unreal Tournament 3 is also coming soon with even more jaw-dropping screens (see here). Being developed by Epic Games, URT3 already sports those amazing graphics that made Gears of War what it is. According to reviewers who actually got to put their hands on it, looking even more impressive than GoW...

Bungie has already stated that graphics will probably change for the final version of Halo 3...We'll see...

It is bound to be a really interesting fall/holiday season with the likes of Halo 3, Quake Wars, Unreal Tournament 3....Let the FPS war begin!

And BTW..what's your bet for the next best FPS of the lot ?

Red vs Blue

2007-05-19T19:11:00.000-05:00

If you have not seen anything from the Red vs Blue series, do yourself a favor and head over to their site and take a look at a couple of the videos they come out with...These are some of the most hilarious videos placed in the Halo universe, built within the Halo gaming engine. A really good example of Machinima out there on the web....I have been consistently amazed at the imagination (and time) these guys have to produce these videos...You can catch their videos on their site or buy the season DVDs on the gaming stores out there...:-)

And of course, being placed on the Halo universe, the Red vs Blue team had to produce a little video about the Halo 3 Beta program....pretty worth taking a look at...both from the humor involved (which is in Red vs Blue pretty much always present) and from the sneak peek at the amazing graphics that the new Halo 3 seems to support. You can (and should if you call yourself a gamer!) take a look at this video from their site.

For my part, I could not resist anymore and after seeing this video ran to the video store and rented a copy of Crackdown to be able to jump onto the Halo 3 beta...Can't wait to give it a try...;-)

Black Site: Area 51

2007-05-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

The demo at the Midway press event was running on an Xbox 360, though the game will also be available on PC and PS3. Getting used to the control scheme was a snap, with all of the buttons mapped out just where you'd expect to find them. Conveniently, a shoulder button sets a waypoint for your squad, causing them to either set up defensive positions or take action. The obvious path from your starting point leads you to the rear of a gas station, with the most obvious point of entry being a locked rear door. Once you've pointed at the door and clicked your squad button, your team attaches a small explosive device and clears, allowing you to gain access to the building through a darkened rear stock room... and the tension begins to build. An interesting twist on the squad play is that your buddies react to however you are faring. Start kicking some alien ass and you'll find they are quite effective in assisting you in mowing down the enemy. If you find yourself on the receiving end of that ass kicking, you'll notice that your team will react accordingly: accuracy will decrease, morale will drop, and fatigue will set in.
Rounding the corner you spot some sort of tall alien beating the bejeesus out of an automobile and its driver parked just outside of the front window a few feet away. Pow - Pow - Pow - die alien scum! Oh wait... bullet proof glass? Oh well... an open front door into the parking lot is the obvious course of action. Once you've made your grand entrance, things go from bad to worse as the single alien aggressively attacks and you notice that it has brought its friends to the party. Close Encounters of the Third Kind or ET this is not. These things are clearly not pleased to see you. One interesting note is that gunning down this type of alien won't necessarily spell the end as its torso will continue to drag itself towards you, clearly with ill will. These things hate me! There's no doubt that your grenade is the way to deal with these baddies, as it tends to leave fewer pieces lying about.
Fighting is fast and furious, punctuated by the destructible environment. Blacksite borrows the "Massive D" technology from its sister studio working on Stranglehold. Chunks of concrete fly and cars explode after taking too much punishment making the play area much more dynamic. Not to the level of games like Company of Heroes, in which entire buildings can be brought down (at least not in this demonstration!), but you can very well find yourself making a run for it when your cover is blown away. Likewise, detonating automobiles or any of the handful of propane tanks lying about can be used to your own advantage.
We were not able to experience it, but were told that the final game will include a number of multiplayer options, including Death- Match, Team-Death-Match, Capture-the-Flag, Human vs. Reborn mode and a Siege mode, in which teams attempt to control territory by capturing each other’s squad members. Also not seen, but promised were guns using alien technology and a number of vehicle encounters, such driving military HMMWVs, ATVs, and civilian vehicles, or acting as the gunner in low-level helicopter raids. Project lead Harvey Smith, of Deus-Ex fame, also promises a more serious and topical storyline, including topics such as Iraq and "black" sites (of course).
Blacksite is looking good, throwing all of the expected UE3 goodies your way such as specular lighting giving the ground that convincing "wet" look. The camera rocked with explosions, the sounds seemed pretty convincing and well placed, and smoke rolled up from the blazing scenery... in other words, it's looking and sounding pretty damned nice!
With some of the past successes of the project lead in mind and Unreal Engine 3 in tow, Blacksite: Area 51 could very well shape up to be one of the more exciting action titles of the year. Hopefully, the rest of the game will follow in the footsteps, and build upon, what we've seen so far.

"Crysis"

2007-05-04T10:05:00.000-05:00

“Set in the year 2020, you play as Jake Dunn, a united states delta force operator. Dunn along with his squad mates including a fleet of navy aircraft carriers, have been sent to investigate an asteroid which has mysteriously crashed into the Spratly Islands.The North Korean Government quickly seals off the island chain before the US arrives. On arrival, it's your job to force your way through 100's of Korean militants with the goal of getting closer to the asteroid. Amid rising tensions between the US and North Koreans, the asteroid suddenly bursts open, revealing a massive 2km high alien ship. The ship generates an immense ice sphere, freezing a vast portion of the island and drastically altering the global weather system. The invasion of Earth has begun.”

There are many things to look forward to in Crysis, some of which are… DirectX 10 support, Time of day lighting, light beams, facial and skeletal animation, breakable environments, and vehicle damage. I have posted a couple new videos on my website, showing off these new features as well as the new cryengine2 editor, which looks amazing. I also looked into the multiplayer side of the game, every multiplayer game mode offers vehicles, but only “power struggle” offers all of the vehicles, even allows you to combine alien technology with the vehicles, to give you for example an invisible tank. The only other game I know of to offer time of day lighting, as well as weather changes during game play, which a cool feature, and allows you to see the same maps at night, and during the day is Stalker.

Crysis will support directX 9 as well as 10, and do this nicely. Players, who have directX 10 capabilities, can run their game down in directX 9 for multiplayer, and still connect with players who are running direct 9, so the only limit is that a directX 9 player is unable to join a directX 10 server. But, everyone can run in directX 9 and connect on a server. I am really looking forward to this game.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum

2007-04-26T20:50:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe the Speccy was introduced a quarter century ago! (and man, do I feel old! :-) Manic Miner, anyone? PEEK & POKE? LOAD ""? Tape Loading Error :-(
BASIC and Zilog Z80 assembly language? Still have my Timex 2068 and a Spectrum +2 (and another Z80-powered machine, a Phillips MSX2) gathering dust somewhere in my parent's attic. A few years ago I tried a couple of emulators but I'm afraid it's not the same thing. The date didn't get lost on many gaming sites/blogs, here's just a few: Guardian Unlimited, Tech Digest, and Digg.

Emergent gameplay

2007-04-21T22:52:00.000-05:00

I just love emergent gameplay. Half Life has plenty of it with the physics engine and the gravity gun, Oblivion seems to have a lot of it too, and Stalker has it too.

In Stalker the emergent gameplay arises from the AI and from the fact that there are several factions and some of them fight against themselves, not just against you.

Getting two AI entities to fight each other is not, by itself, really ground breaking. After all, provoking monster infighting was already popular all the way back to Doom 2 (1994).

But with Stalker (and a few other modern games, such as Oblivion) what makes AI-based emergent gameplay so engrossing and rewarding seems to be the scale of the distances involved and the number of fighters intelligently battling each other.

Let me tell you about one example.

There is a place where a Stalker camp is not very far from a military base, but far enough that the two sides don't usually see each other or interact with each other. The stalkers in the camp seem to always be more or less in the same position. Some may walk a few meters, others may sit down and start to play the guitar (!), but that's all. The three soldiers guarding the entrance to the base also have a repetitive routine, walking back and forth in front of the main gate.

In most other games things would stay this way to the end.

Here's what happened. I tried to attack the soldiers. I brought two down, but many more quickly came out of the base. They started chasing me. Running over the hills out of their sight was not reason enough for their AI to stop chasing me. I decided to hide in the camp, realizing that the laid back campers would probably spring to action when provoked by the invading Ukrainian soldiers.

That's exactly what happened. A major battle unfolded. Over 20 AI units were involved in fighting at one point.

There were fewer military personnel than civilians, but they were much better armed and shielded. Both sides fought in a realistic way, looking for cover, trying to flank each other, etc.

And all of that... totally unscripted. Awesome.

Oblivion's Physics Engine!

2007-04-19T12:27:00.000-05:00

Just watch this movie out to see how cool the Oblivion physics engine is...also check out how much time some people have on their hands! :-) :-):-)

Be an Achiever!

2007-04-19T11:17:00.000-05:00

If someone told me about the Xbox 360 achievement list feature before I tried it, I would say this would be a nice feature to have but would probably not pay too much attention to it. Now after trying it, I can honestly say that this little feature was, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant features added to the system. Granted it does not really make sense without all the other related aspects of the console: great games, unique account throughout games, a really impressive integrated online experience. I mean, the concept of the achievements is really addictive if you just play offline, but it becomes incredibly addictive associated with online and your friends list. It's the boasting rights of proving you've done it in a game, it's the inherit competition aspect of comparing your achievement score to your friends or just the fun of knowing what your friends have played and how well they are doing at it.

Achievements are also a great way to have you really enjoy the games you play. A typical before-achievements experience could be to go through a game to get to the final screen. Achievements will probably get you to explore the little cool aspects of a game that you would not otherwise explore. A nicely sketched out achievement list for a game will point out the cool things in the game and will leave you playing the extra hours thus taking much more out of a game.

This has been, so far, kind of an exclusive experience for XBox 360 owners but that is about to change. PC owners will get to enjoy the addictiveness in new Windows Live games (even if they go for the free account), PlayStation 3 will get to enjoy a similar thing via their Home online offering although I'm not sure about this last one, the beauty of the XBox 360 achievements is in part how simple they really are!

It does seem like achievements are here to stay! So..be an achiever!

P.S.
Here is my gamercard...in case you want to compare your achievements to mine! ;-)

What am I playing? S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

2007-04-10T12:42:00.000-05:00

I have only played a little bit. Overall, I am having great fun.

Likes:

Graphics and maps.
Non-linear; open ended.
The correct mix of FPS and RPG: more FPS, less RPG.

Dislikes:

Hardware requirements.
Sluggish even in low settings.
Games with acronyms (like in the case of F.E.A.R.) irritate me... :)

I'll comment more when I make further progress in the game. I haven't even tried multiplayer yet.

Hands-on Wii

2007-03-18T12:46:00.000-05:00

Here's another installment of "Marcelino goes to retailer store to play with a console he will probably never buy".

While I was at the mall, I stepped in a EB Games store just to kill some time and I saw a Wii on display. I noticed that it was not running just a promotional video like in other stores; it was actually running a game: Zelda. I personally couldn't care less about a game like Zelda, but I was excited with the opportunity to experience the revolutionary wiimote for the first time.

I noticed the kiosk was missing a controller; so, I went to the counter and asked if I could try the Wii. They took my for driver's license and gave me the controller. They said they were now holding on to the ID of whoever borrowed the wiimote because some had been stolen before.

Non-chuck in one hand and Wii remote in the other I walked back to the console. There, using the optical sensor (which knows where the remote is pointing at) I picked one of the options offered by the demo: fishing. To pick a menu selection I had to press both the top and bottom buttons on the remote (A and B). I suspect this design is to avoid accidental button presses. Making a selection provides feedback in the form of rumble.

With any other controller, fishing (be it through the hands of Zelda, the Master Chief, or Pac-Man) would be the least interesting gaming scenario I could ever think of. But with the wiimote, it was a good way of testing the the innovative human-machine interface.

Once you stop paddling and grab the fishing rod, there are a few actions you can perform in order to catch a fish, such as throwing and reeling, and they all use the motion sensing capabilities of the non-chuck and the remote. As I expected, controlling the game this way is very satisfying.

You can see someone else throwing and reeling in the first 30 seconds of this YouTube video.

Besides the lake, the other map offered in the Zelda demo was one for training how to fight. The weapons available are the Sword and the Bow and Arrows. The motion sensing capabilities of the wiimote are under-utilized in sword attacks, so I spent very little time with that.

The Bow and Arrows weapon gave me the chance to try the optical sensor for something other than picking menu options. My first impression is that it is difficult to aim precisely at one spot on the screen with the remote. It's still easier than with a gamepad, but harder than with a mouse. Maybe with more practice (of which we all have a lot when it comes to the mouse) aiming accuracy improves. I hope so, for the sake of the prospects of playing a FPS on the Wii.

But even if the wiimote never proves to be a good choice for a FPS, I can still picture myself having a lot of fun with a Wii just playing the other games that make good use of motion sensing.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to try the acclaimed Wii Sports. If only I could find an in-store kiosk with that installed...

Windows Live! about to debut

2007-03-15T11:21:00.000-05:00

Windows Live is now about to make its debut. This will be a pretty cool development for "Games for Windows" that will finally allow the merging of the PC + XBox 360 world of gaming. Heard around May would be the launch date and that one of it's first titles would be....(drumroll please)...Halo 2! The lucky PC gamers will get Achievements for playing Halo 2, something that the XBox 360 using their old game discs, will not be able to do...These are excelent news as I hope to be able to hook up with a couple of GamerConnect members for some online gaming! :-)

Major Nelson Radio has a nice interview about the new games for windows platform where things like Windows Live! are discussed. Filter through the MS Kool-aid and you should find it interesting. You can find the podcast here.

XBox 360 party

2007-02-20T16:55:00.000-05:00

A few days ago the Gamer Connect editors got together to play Xbox 360. I was looking forward to it because I wanted to experience personally what a next-gen console can do and, most of all, because I wanted to kick back on a Friday night and have fun with my friends.

One of the themes of the night was the comparison of PC gaming against console gaming. There are many aspects to this comparison (please add comments), but for me the main drawback of the console was the control. While playing an FPS, even someone with a lot of experience with the gamepad (not my case) doesn't aim as quickly as the average PC gamer.

I don't plan on leaving the PC side and joining the console side any time soon, but we did have a great time playing several Xbox games, new and old, together. Gathering around a TV, making comments on software and on hardware, and making fun of each other is a lot of fun. Because each person is not playing 100% of the time, it is also more conducive to eating and drinking which are important parts of any party.

In my opinion, this party aspect of the console gaming experience cannot be reproduced with a PC.

Gamer Dads

2007-02-12T21:34:00.000-05:00

We're now in the 21^st century and finally the male teenager gamer stereotype is slowly fading away (that is, until you look at game's box art ;-) It seems that everybody plays games these days and dads are no exception. When should kids start to play videogames? And what kind of games should they play? (my psychic powers tell me you're thinking games for young children should be educative, not Doom-in-Diapers). First Games is a new project that tries to address those (and many other) issues. GamerDad is another useful resource. From a games developer perspective (com'on, you saw this coming, didn't ya?) is very interesting to read what Chris Taylor, a 19 years industry veteran, has to say about being a parent in his industry. And the now famous ea_spouse has also written an interesting article on The Escapist explaining why parents make great game developers (EA developers with kids be warned! LOL)

Gears of War

2007-02-07T22:33:00.000-05:00

I am perfectly aware that everything I say will be dwarfed by the fact that Gears of War (GoW) sold already more than 3 million copies making the biggest of XBox 360 successes. But I wonder how much of that is really hype.

Ok...I start by admitting that the game does have some pretty addictive qualities. But I still believe this is far from the best of games around...and here is why... Let me divide my review into what I liked and what I did not like about the game.

Liked:

Graphics. Simply amazing graphics (just click on the image above). The quality, crispness of the graphics is *absolutely* amazing. Probably XBox 360 at it's best.
Mood/Environment. Pretty dark and well designed. It does get you into that whole post-apocalyptic experience. Absolutely amazing.
Weaponry. GoW has some pretty cool and amazing new weapons. From the chainsaw killing move (gore at it's funniest), to the hammer of dawn weapon (say what you want, pretty cool to use). Really nice.
Game dynamics. The taking-cover approach to play is, I believe, really cool and innovative. Does bring a new experience to the game. Brought together with team strategy for flanking enemies this makes for a pretty intense experience.

Did not like:

Multiplayer maps. Several things here. Maps are, for starters, really small leading to a feeling of claustrophobia to the game. I believe this makes the game really lacking in terms of team strategy. Every multiplayer feels like a race for the known spots for the most powerful weapons. However gets them first has a huge advantage over competitors...and games become a bit repetitive...Run for the gun as fast as you can, use it on enemies.
Use of vehicles. One of the best features in the likes of Unreal Tournament and Halo (1 and 2). You can't beat the feeling of full freedom of picking up any vehicle in the field and just driving/piloting around and doing some damage. The use of vehicles in GoW is lame/non-existent. In single player you go into linearly scripted roads driving a vehicle. You can not go in or go out freely. You're stuck in for the duration of the "vehicle level". Lame. Have not seen yet any vehicle in multiplayer.
Environment freedom. In a time of interactive, free environments it was extremely surprising to see GoW's take on it. Look at Oblivion where you can pretty much go anywhere and do anything, no sequence of events required, just go on a side quest instead of being forced to run through the main one. Look at Call of Duty 3 and it's destructible environment. None of that in GoW. You are pinned to a scripted almost linear path (sometimes you get to a fork and are forced to decide on one side to go, no way back there!). You clearly see obstacles put on your way to make you go in the direction the designers intented the game to go....and just try going against the main bosses... It does feel like to locked to a single possible set of moves/paths (Corpser anyone?).
Story. The single player story is far from a classic. That feeling of "I have *got* to find out more about what's happening" does not exist there (at least not for me). Some games in the past have got me to the point where I felt like "I could not care more for playing the game! Tell me what happens next to my character" (Wing Commander 4 does come to mind!).

All in all, I believe GoW to be an interesting game but far from a perfect game. Give me my Halo(s) or Oblivion anytime over GoW. I really do not understand the hype and the perfect 10s given to it...but then again, it could be just me! ;-)

The Great Games Experiment

2007-02-06T22:14:00.000-05:00

It was bound to happen. Sooner or later someone would have had the idea of creating a social network site (aka Web 2.0) for games. It's called The Great Games Experiment and you can think of it as a MySpace for games (still in the now trendy beta stage). Since I'm feeling too lazy today :-) rather than write anything original about it I'm just going to link to this. Bonus points for those who can guess what's my account id :-)

Create your own games

2007-02-02T22:38:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has long realized the power of games. In fact, DirectX was developed so that games written for Windows had decent performance thereby allowing Microsoft to finally pull the plug on the aging MS-DOS (remember that? ok, I'm dating myself here :-)
Well, Linux and Mac OS X (not to mention the countless security holes ;-) are denting Windows market share. Plus the XBox 360 will soon face fierce competition from the Wii and PS3. In order to fight that, Microsoft has to win the hearts of game developers, pretty much like they did back in the pre-Windows and pre-DirectX days. Enter XNA and its Game Studio Express. This inexpensive product, based on the already free Visual C# Express 2005, allows independent developers to target both Windows PC and the XBox 360. Will Sony respond with a Linux-based, free development toolkit? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
At this point you might be thinking about other alternatives, maybe ones that require almost none, or very limited programming. Not to worry, I've got you covered (a little googling goes a long way :-) GarageGames offers a nice game builder that doesn't break the bank. And there are also some drag-and-drop game creation tools (Game Editor for instance). On the other end of the spectrum, ie if you're a seasoned C++ developer, you can use DevMaster.net as a starting point. Even id has release the source code to their old games (Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake).
So what are you waiting for?! It's time for your to join the revolution! Start creating your games NOW! Who knows? Your game might even be picked up as one of the best free games of 2008.

LIVE Anywhere

2007-01-30T08:07:00.000-05:00

Looks like there's hope that the PC gaming community finally gets to hook up with the 360 community (and vice-versa)...Microsoft is announcing, with the release of Vista, that they are going to support multi-platform gaming...now that's a pretty cool idea...who knows ? Maybe this year we get to have a GamerConnect match online between our PC and 360 gamers....sweet! :-)

To read about it, follow the link.

P.S.
But...Will the new Vista requirements actually leave any resources for our gaming ?!?!? ;-)

Microsoft Train Simulator

2007-01-19T21:50:00.000-05:00

Good news for those of you who have never truly outgrown your fascination for train sets (should I mention, Thomas? ;-)
In the footsteps of the praised (though performance hog) Flight Simulator, Microsoft announced a new version of the Train Simulator which will use the same technology. Even cooler, there are links to the dev's blogs on the home page!

The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles

2007-01-18T13:02:00.000-05:00

Looks like one of my 2007 wishes will be granted...Bethesda Softworks has announced a spring release of an Oblivion expansion: "Shivering Isles"... You can read the announcement here. This expansion should be coming in for the XBox 360 and PC version of the game. Funny that there is no mention of the PS3 in that announcement... ;-)

While you wait, you can take a peek at the screenshots for the expansion...

Vista

2007-01-18T10:44:00.000-05:00

I know that some PC games will only run on Vista, but does anyone know if all games running today on XP are supposed to still run on Vista, and without a performance penalty?

And what about (gaming hardware) drivers? In theory, drivers from XP should work on Vista, but does anyone know how likely is it to actually happen?

Carmack gets an Emmy

2007-01-10T22:54:00.000-05:00

John Carmack was awarded an Emmy for Development of 3D Software Engines (more details). In related news, there seems to be a change of id developing games for Nintendo (DS and not the Wii, at least for now). Also, once again, he says he prefers the XBox 360 to the PS3 mostly due to better development tools and CPU architecture.

Gamer Connect's first review of a PS3 game: MotorStorm

2007-01-07T18:26:00.000-05:00

... and possibly the last, since, I think, none of us even considers purchasing a PS3 ever.

Seeing the PS3's launch title MotorStorm on the cover of the Edge magazine (thanks, Pedro!) reminded me of my quick hands-on at a Circuit City store.

The game is very similar in genre and gameplay to FlatOut 2, which I have been playing online quite a bit. Therefore, the question in the mind of this PC gamer while he was struggling with triangle and square buttons to get the game started was: "how is MotorStorm better than FlatOut 2?"

In spite of all the hype regarding the PS3 hardware, I didn't see a difference in terms of graphics, physics, or opponent-driver AI. Both games are excellent in that regard.

What made a strong impression on me was the terrain. I'm referring specifically to the geometry of the track and not to the textures, grass, mud, or dust, because FlatOut 2 does a beatiful job with all that too.

Later, as I tried to analyze what exactly was so innovative about the track in the demo, I realized that most racers may look 3D, but they are really 2.5D (in the sense of being generated from a 2D blueprint). Maybe one exception is TrackMania Nations.

I cannot say whether techically MotorStorm is really 3D, but it sure feels like it. The track is truly immersive! The magazine Edge doesn't go into much detail regarding this (because they lack an editor as good as I), but they do say the following: "Dwarfed by the precipices of Monument Valley, whether they are above or below the track, races here are sensory juggernauts always on the attack."

You can see for yourself by checking the trailer on the game's home page or this one on YouTube.

Another key aspect of MotorSport, which comes through in the trailers, is the multiple vehicle classes and how they can race together. However, that I had not time to see for myself on my quick hands-on at the Circuit City store.

RainbowSix Vegas

2007-01-06T20:18:00.000-05:00

I recently visited the famous Las Vegas strip, so I was kind of looking forward to seeing it in the new “Rainbow Six Vegas” game. I must admit I have also been a bit disappointed in the rainbow series since the original “Ghost Recon” series finished. I did try the newer titles like “Lockdown”, and “Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter”, but they left out something, or were just missing that something special. The new Rainbow Six Vegas has that something that was missing from the other games, or at least it does for me.
I really like the new features of “Vegas”, like being able to use surroundings for cover, as you lean over or around them to shoot either blindly, gun over your head, or hugging the cover spot as you lean and aim around the wall, box, or whatever you use for cover. There is also a nice change of scenery, and both outdoor as well as indoor battles. You get to ride down the strip in a helicopter, and also repel down ropes and smash into windows from that rope. The A.I. in the game is pretty good, there have been a few times in tight spots where we are in each others way, but for the most part the team works together well, and they take advantage of cover and do protect you. Giving the team orders is easy and works well. There are usually multiple entrances to a room or building and you can use your team on one entry point as you take advantage of the enemy from a different entry point and flank their position.
Although, I have not finished the game or taken a look at the multiplayer side of the game, I am very pleased with it. If you liked Max Payne, I think you will like this game as well. The bullet time in Max Payne was one of the features that made that game so enjoyable. With “Vegas” it is the new abilities like the cover stance, and repelling. I am really enjoying the game, and have trouble turning it off to do real life things…
I will update this review shortly, and let you know how the multiplayer side of the game is, as well as, post a video to peek some interest on my website.

Edge

2007-01-06T11:32:00.001-05:00

No, I'm not referring to U2's guitar player :-) Edge is a British computer game magazine, which unfortunately isn't easy to find around here. It ain't cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for (that is, not yet another "magazine" that looks more like a Walmart circular full of ads, with just a few micro "reviews" targeted to male teens with short attention span and severe reading disabilities).
They have some stuff on their website in case you 'd like to check it out. Oh, and no, I'm not being paid for this (however donations are always welcomed ;-)

Of Water and Raindrops in Oblivion

2007-01-05T12:44:00.000-05:00

On a previous post (see The Elders Scrolls IV: Oblivion) I had mentioned how cool some of the graphical aspects of Oblivion were...and in particular I mentioned the cool water effects in the game...so here's why I spend a lot of time dying, stabbed in the back, while staring at water in Cyrodiil (that's the Oblivion Land for the heretics that have not tried oblivion yet! See wikipedia entry)...

The picture, while cool, does not make justice at all to the effects...just take a look at the following movies:

Foggy and rainy, staring at the water (less foggy is even cooler). Notice the transparency effects in the water. You can see the bottom of the river in some shots.
A clear sky, daytime and *still* staring at the water. Notice the reflection effects of the mountains and the bridge far back.

Now, you have to admit this is pretty impressive! Want to share some other cool pictures/movies of gameplay ?

Happy 2007!

2007-01-03T16:41:00.000-05:00

Happy 2007 for all...and since we are talking about it...what games are you most eager to get your hands on during 2007 ? Here's my list:

Halo 3 !
Halo Wars
Mass Effect
Assassin's Creed
Oblivion expansions.
FIFA Soccer 08 (and hoping it fixes all the issues in FIFA Soccer 07)...I need my soccer fix!
CrazyBall 3.0 for the XBox 360! ;-)

Happy gaming!

CrazyBall 2.0

2007-01-01T11:04:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! And what a better way to start 2007 than with a brand new, shiny game? Yes, I have to admit I lost my bet with 3D Realms and finished CrazyBall 2 (previously codenamed Karon) before Duke Nukem Forever :-)
What are you waiting for?! Go get it now!

CrazyBall lives!

2006-12-30T14:30:00.000-05:00

Ever dreamed of being the first person to review a game? Here's your chance! Be the first to review CrazyBall!
And stay tuned for more exciting news coming soon ;-)

Fear Extraction Point

2006-12-29T09:32:00.000-05:00

After the explosion, you are air-lifted out. Unfortunately, your ride doesn’t make it too far. You now find yourself fighting to stay alive once again…
The game has the same look and feel of the original, with the exception of a few things, such as the new weapons, and large open areas. The first game for me was really enjoyable, but, I do understand that there was a tight, corridor feel to the game. They did try to address this issue with some large scale battles, and open areas. Although I have not yet finished the expansion, I am enjoying it as much, if not more than, the original game. They have still kept the same objective based story line, which is kind of simple but does help keep things focused. There is NO multiplayer expansion for Extraction Point, so this does limit the game to a one time through game, or if you are like me maybe 2 or 3 times through over a couple years. I do feel it was a good investment for me, but I really enjoy single player games. I really enjoyed the new turrets, the new machine gun, and the new invisible creatures were also a lot of fun, especially in slow motion… I really enjoy both the original game and the expansion; I definitely think the expansion is worth the $20.

IGF

2006-12-27T22:17:00.000-05:00

Sick and tired of yet another FPS? The thought of Madden 2010 makes you want to throw up? Lost track of the number of expansions to The Sims? Enter the Independent Games Festival where the last of the bedroom programmers keep the gameplay and innovation flame alive.

Dual Monitors

2006-12-24T12:03:00.000-05:00

As I can attest, it is well known that having more than one monitor boosts ones productivity. But enough of that, we're here to talk about games! ;-) However, very few games seem to take advantage of this admitedly rare setup. AFAIK, MS Flight Simulator is one of them. You can have the instruments displayed on one monitor and the "outside" view on the second (not sure if it can handle more than 2 monitors). Do you know of any more examples? If so, do those games really use multiple monitors to their advantage or just as a larger gameplay area?

Microsoft Flight Simulator X

2006-12-20T09:47:00.000-05:00

I tried the demo of Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Pedro burnt a CD with it for me.

First comment: 700MB for a demo?!

Keeping with the tradition of being a game demanding on system resources, I couldn't run it at the highest settings. Even with medium settings, the frame rate is not that good. Also: each mission's terrain takes forever to load.

There are four aircraft in the demo and only a few airports, all in the Caribbean. I had the most fun with the ultralight trike and with the seaplane. I wish there was a helicopter in the demo, because I remember having the most fun with that aircraft in an older version of Flight Simulator.

These are just some random impressions. I look forward to a review from a serious flight simulator gamer, which I am not.

FIFA 07 for the XBox 360

2006-11-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

I have been a strong fan of the FIFA Soccer EA series for quite sometime...Been through the 2003, 2005,2006 versions and impressed with the evolution between versions. For me, FIFA Soccer from EA has been always the choice to go for when looking at any soccer game, the main reason being that it did bring for a long time a fantastic selection of leagues with authenticity ranging from team rosters to detailed replicas of the real stadiums to event chanting specific to each team....How I enjoyed watching my favorite Portuguese team (Benfica if you want to know) and hear the crowd shout *in Portuguese* "passa!" ("pass it!"). Only complaint there is that the game fans were too polite for authenticity :-) :-) :-). and then I got my 360....and little time afterwards got FIFA 07 for the XBox 360...and I could not believe what I was seeing...This has been, I believe, a half-baked effort from EA...enough to make me run away from the series for the time to come. Some nasty "features" of the XBox 360 version:

Remember the ~27 leagues with all the detail ? For the 360 version this has been pruned down to 6 leagues...I'm pretty much missing the leagues I was looking forward to...other game versions (e.g. PC, PlayStation) do have them (!)....Is EA planning to sell the extra leagues through Marketplace maybe ? Shame on them if that is the case...This should be an add-on since the existence of all these leagues has been a major selling point of the series (otherwise you might as well go for Winning Eleven with the much better game flow).
The new manager mode is a disappointment to me. While previously you got a flavor of RPG with your new manager starting from the bottom and working his way up by getting contracts according to past/present performances, you now get started up at whatever team you like loosing a bit of that interaction. Admittedly the fact that I did not get to with my favorite leagues ruined it a bit for me...but still it felt to my like a poor version of the cool 2006 version.

I gave it up right there and handed back my game for something better...Complaints on the net are abundant...for the reasons above and more...It does feel like a clumsily rushed to the market game and one that I would recommend anyone to avoid without trying first...

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

2006-11-15T23:47:00.000-05:00

I'm perfectly aware this is an oldie...actually, it's been around since the launch of the XBox 360...but since this is my current addiction source I feel I have to mention it...Oblivion is one of the most amazing games I have ever played. Honest! What is it that really captures my attention so much on this game ? For starters, you can do pretty much anything you feel like...This is *the* perfect example of an open world...With a map of about 16 square miles, you are not restricted to a specific storyline. You do have a main quest storyline, which by the way is really cool, but you are free to just go off and do whatever you feel like. You can join guilds, join underground criminal organizations, become a vampire with all the nice traits that come with it. You can follow guild quests or just wander around...On foot or on horse, which you can buy whenever you can afford it. You can buy and furnish your own house in one of several settlements across the map...meaning you can stash your stuff safely and get a safe place to sleep. All the RPG elements are there...from equipment to skill advancement based on selection of skill progresses throughout the game.

The game visual is simply amazing....just look at the water surface (especially cool when its raining), diving into or just gazing at the sky during a clear-skied night (just take a look at the movie of the rain hitting the water, or just water under a clear sky)...I can not have enough of it right now...

And Bethesda has been launching some additions to the base game via XBox Marketplace...some pretty sweet additions that I might consider getting once I complete the main questline.

It's late and I need my fix ;-) so I'll end it here...got some Arena challenges to complete...after I train a bit more my block skill.... ;-)