Archive for the 'FPS' Category

Left 4 Cry 2

December 23, 2008, 1:00 am, FPS, Games and PC
A Downed Tank Infected

A Downed Tank Infected

Its been a while since the last post, being lost in Gaming season will do that. Left 4 Dead met all of my expectations and more. The AI is superb, the graphics are great and the gameplay is top notch.

For those who don’t know, Left 4 Dead is a survival Co-Op game where the object of the game basically is to get from point A to point B without dying. But the AI won’t make it easy for you. The “AI Director” is the driving force behind the zombies. It monitors your progress and will even push you along (with zombies) if you stall for too long. Lagging behind your friends is also not a good idea since the AI has a knack for sending a super infected after you. Super infected are these special zombies with certain abilities.

Each campaign plays like a movie and none of them are connected to each other story wise. The game also sports a Verses Mode where 4 player survivors fight through 4 infected players and their AI brethren.

A Beautiful Day In Africa

A Beautiful Day In Africa

The other game I’ve been playing recently is Far Cry 2. This game is a different beast. A single player shooter where you play as one of many predetermined aliases. The other aliases eventually become your buddies in the game. Certain buddies become your rescue and even give you help in completing missions.

This game did take a while to get into and has a couple of drawbacks. For one, the enemy vehicles will spawn relentlessly at times when you just want to move forward. They become a constant hindrance until you get more explosive weapons that can take them out in one shot.

The other seems to be an oversight, but no patch has corrected it yet. It takes several rounds to down an enemy. Unless you aim straight for the head for a quick kill, they just get up like the Terminator until they absorb enough lead that would kill a cow. Other than those issues and a few others, the game is a great experience especially if you have a machine that can run it.

Chill of an ominous wind

November 10, 2008, 4:48 pm, FPS, Games, MMO, PC and World Of Warcraft

And no its not President Obama, haters.

Two of my most anticipated games are going to be released nearly back to back.
The first of which are….Castlevania! (No, I kid.) The first is actually World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Its a mouthful for sure but its the second expansion in the MMO’s history and brings a lot of new and interesting things to the table. First of all, it revamps the entire game. No kidding. Each class got a retooling, some more aggressive than others. A lot of convenience additions that save bag space. Mounts galore(my favorite is The Hog), 10 more levels to grind, more dungeons, a new Death Knight class, and an entire new continent to explore. PvPers get new arenas and a world battleground. The client was retooled and offers performance enhancements, dynamic shadows, a larger drawing distance and supposedly better water(it looks the same to me). I can’t wait to play this on the 13th of this week!

The second most anticipated(and very much equal in my eyes) game is Left 4 Dead. This 4 player Co-Op mega game is about 4 survivors that have to shoot, explode, punch and burn their way to safety from a legion of zombies that infest the populated areas of the land. These aren’t your mom’s Resident Evil zombies. These are very fast, very lethal, very smart and overwhelming zombies. They pop out from any and every crack that’s bigger than a human person.

The demo was released this week and gave a very AWESOME insight into the gameplay mechanics and Co-Op dynamics. First of all, no Rambos or douchebags or you will be overwhelmed in no time from the lack of cooperation. Second of all, this plays like a Source game. That means it will feel very familiar if you played Half Life 2 or Team Fortress 2.  You are given a pistol and one other weapon, whether if its an Uzi or Shotgun, and a one time use First Aid Kit at the start. From there, you are sent to get from point A to point B without getting sodomized by undead. During the course of the game, they eventually grant you rest time in the form of a Check Point. The Check Point usually has ammo, first aid or weapon upgrades like an Assault Rifle, Hunting Rifle, Automatic Shotgun and extra Pistols. Pistols themselves have unlimited ammo and can be dual wielded (It comes in handy).

In addition to the 4 Survivors, there are 4 types of PLAYABLE Zombies. The regular dime a dozen zombie, The Hunter (Which is VERY Fast and Spider-Man like), The Smoker (which snares with a long tongue) and the Tanker (which should be obvious). These 4 spawn at anytime in addition to the Boomer and The Witch which hasn’t been confirmed as playable yet. The plan for the playable zombies is to give your fellow players on the Survivor team a run for their money (like the AI wasn’t smart enough?). Did I mention that the AI is pretty damn smart and cruel? It learns from your success, and if you succeed a little too much then it will attempt to raise the difficulty on you. The game also has a single player mode so if you rather not play with others, then the 3 AI controlled characters will then become your backup. I can’t wait for the release on the 18th!

And the reason for the Castlevania riff? Its supposed to be IN THE MAIL DAMMIT! USPS is sloooow. Anyway, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, the latest in the Metroidvania DS series was released sometime last month(I think). It took me this long to buy it since well, its Gameageddon. Too many games got released this month.

That one other game found too

July 31, 2008, 1:43 am, FPS, Games, Miscellaneous and PC

It seems that I am getting my wish. Another update to a game that I was looking forward to gets announced and…its a delay. Battlefield Heroes was pushed back to later this year into the heap of chaos that is Fall/Winter releases. I can easily see this get pushed into 2009.

The Fall Of E3 & A New Discovery

July 22, 2008, 2:45 pm, FPS, Games, News, Nintendo DS, PC and Wii

So, that was some E3 huh? I’m pretty sure that USA Today and Fox News will be buzzing about the latest Nintendo shovelware that was announced. The traditional market however is not that amused by what happened. Microsoft announced a casual focus including Mii ripoffs called “Avatars”. They have also mentioned a mega dashboard update which looks heavily derivative of Windows Media Center and Apple’s Front Row. Among the dark cloud’s sliver lining, Netflix compatibility, Gears Of War 2, a new game called Lost Remnant and a full fledged Final Fantasy game which was once exlusive to the PS3.

Speaking of the PS3, its announcements was as easliy boring save for a Little Big Planet, Powerpoint like display of Sony accomplishments. Resitance & improvements to the PS3’s online offerings has also has seemed to save the day.

Third Party Developers are the winners here in this aspect. Many popular 3rd party games were displayed and announced. PC gaming is also getting a lot of attention, where once developers on console would have never thought of porting a game to the PC is now porting them en masse. I guess you can thank Microsoft for that or the fact that the PC has always been a big platform with many potential customers. If you haven’t yet noticed this trend, then you need to look no further than world renowned Capcom Entertainment. Many of its top sellng titles are being ported to PC including Devil May Cry and Street Fighter IV which fully take advantage of the power available.

The most disappointing of the 3rd Party fun was Konami. The Rockband competitor called Rock Revolution looked lack luster and disappointing to those who have experienced both Guitar Hero and Rockband. Also, the showing of a Wii Castlevania fighting game that looks worse than Soul Calibur II on the Gamecube. A saving grace maybe was a showing of the DS title Order of Ecclesia.

Overall, E3 atleast to me is circling the drain before it falls through it.

On another note, I came across a free game called TrackMania Nations Forever. TrackMania is a very good looking racing game that throws Mario Kart like tracks in the mix. The physics of the cars allows you to run through loops, half pipes, super jumps and multiple air tricks. The game also has editors for custom cars and tracks. ITs counterpart TrackMania United Forever is a retail game that unlocks several features. This game could easily be free across the board if the advertising placements were more robust. For now there seems to be only two types of banners in the game, one for Toyota and another for one other company. The TrackMania Forever games also has an online mode which lets you race against people via lan or the Nadeo servers. (Nadeo is the name of the developer.) I like the game for the most part but most of the one lap tracks leaves you wanting more.

Multiple Games…the flying of time

June 9, 2008, 6:37 pm, FPS, Games, PC and Wii

Well, its been a while since my last post. But I’ve been somewhat preoccupied. Though, now I should be able to post more often. Especially about the recent games I’ve been playing. Let’s Start off with the most recent:

Crysis (PC)

Crysis is this marvel and mystery of a game. Non PC gamers see it as a complete failure. EA’s PR department trumpets the same tune. But despite the extra resources needed to play this game, and the doom speak of piracy, the game did sell well and has a sequel called “Warhead” coming in Fall 2008.

Crysis is this sandbox like FPS shooter that gives you missions and sends you into the fight. The thing is,Your constant voice through the first game, they won’t tell you how to defeat the mission or hold your hand despite them having a marker on the map that shows you where to go. Its up to you to use the tools at your disposal to get to the next point. I shouldn’t have to tell you that this game is amazingly beautiful. Your character, or “Nomad” which he is called is eventually forced to take out everything from common Korean troops to aliens.

There are some issues with this game like relentless AI for example, the Helicopters will become the bane of your existence. Vehicle combat is a little weird and weak as well and often times leaves you high and dry with frequent game restarts after you’ve died a ton of times. Then you decide to ditch the vehicle and win that way. (Unless its a dog fight in the air. Oh yes, dog fight. ) Above all, this game deserves all the praise that it has earned at various review outlets. And even if your old PC can’t run it, a current PC most definitely can. (I paid $700 for mine and runs this on all max settings pretty fine.)

Sins Of A Solar Empire (PC)

This is another completely out-of-left-field game. The game is a 4X game created by a small developer called IronClad and published by Stardock. (Yes, that company that makes Windowsblinds.) Anyway, the game is pretty a pretty Epic RTS/4X game and allows you to take over entire galaxies (with an “s”). Each galaxy can span from 14 to 20 planets and objects. Not multiply that times 3 on a bigger map and the game easily eats away your free time like acid.

The graphics are very decent and balanced and the interface to manage all of that conquest is also epic, allowing multiple zooms all the way up to god level in order to let you see it all. The combat itself is pretty straightforward and long. Which is not always a bad thing because it allows you to manage all of those planets and impending pirate raids that can seriously hurt if you don’t out bid your competition. The engine itself is surprisingly efficient and runs very smooth. You will have plenty of fun taking over the known universe in this game.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Did I ever mention that I managed to find a Wii? These things are hard to find. Anyway I bought a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl to go with it and I love the game. SSBB is a non traditional fighter that pits 2 to 4 opponents on an often times floating stage. Every smack raises the percentage on the opponents damage meter. Once it’s high enough, it allows you to smack that person off of the stage earning a point towards an overall score.

Many hate this game series for obvious reasons, but the game is surprisingly deep and has plenty of advanced tricks and moves. On top of all that is a new Adventure Mode that takes at least 2-4 hours to finish. There is also multiple types of battles. So if the traditional smash play bores you, then you can switch over to stock battle or coin battle where the most coins wins. This game falls a bit short with the online modes. The online service itself falls short with frequent disconnects and a lack of other online players to battle against. Nintendo’s own friend code system makes this even more frustrating. ITs too bad that a great game like this is tied down to such a draconian online model. Despite the online affliction the game itself is both beautiful and fun to play, Especially with friends.

Company Of Heroes (PC)

Another game I’ve been playing off and on is COH. (Company Of Heroes) Its an RTS with some really good concepts on troop management and DirectX 10 compatible so it is equally as interesting to look at. Personally, I just cannot manage to grip this game like I can with others. It has to be something I’m doing wrong because so many others love this game.  Maybe its because of the Single Player campaign that is weighing me down. Or maybe its the WWII style that they went with. Hopefully I will manage to learn more of this game or Red Alert 3 or Starcraft 2 will definitely sweep me away in no time.

The Orange Box

November 3, 2007, 3:48 pm, FPS, Games and PC

So I finally got to play and finish all of the orange box and its a must buy for any type of gamer. All games included are very polished and well done.  Portal is my favorite. ITs about some lady who got stuck in a place called Aperture Labs on “Bring Your Daughter to Work” day.

The game actually ties into the main Half Life 2 story. Portal is a puzzle game that uses the portal gun to create wormholes to various places within the various rooms that is designed to test its functions. Things turn for the worst when you find clues about the main computer being off of its rocker. Its a very compelling 3 hours that will keep your interest piqued from start to finish.

Next up is Team Fortress 2 which takes design ques from The Incredibles.  Its a very balanced class based multiplayer shooter and the spiritual successor to the original Team Fortress, however some die hard fans hate it because of its new tightly focused gameplay. The game has enough classes to interest all types of players, even those who are not good shooters at all.

Finally its the very anticipated Half Life 2: Episode 2 which honestly keeps in line with its previous original release and Episode 1. Just like any Valve game, it will keep you interested and on your toes. Especially when you learn about the new Hunter type robot that becomes very annoying towards the end of the game.  The creepy guy in the suit makes his usual cameo spouting the obvious Shakespearean  messages with the usual twist (creepy but entertaining).

If you were fortunate to preorder on the Steam platform, you were given the nice bonus of Peggle Extreme, which is a 10 stage HL2 styled version of the original Peggle.  The reviews about this package is very much true and well worth the money. I would recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a great gaming experience.

Motion Sickness

September 19, 2007, 4:54 pm, FPS, Games and PC

There is honestly one thing that I despise about gaming.  If anyone didn’t know, the very anticipated Team Fortress 2 beta hit and I can’t enjoy it. Why? Motion Sickness of course. I just don’t know why, I’ve been gaming for years and this is the only genre that manages to bring me to my knees in less than 30 minutes.

I have gotten suggestions about ginger(and peppermint surprisingly) and how it can reduce or remove motion sickness for hours.(almost like those heart burn caplets.) Hopefully I can get a hold of some ginger caplets(or peppermint) so that I can get into this game for longer than 30 minutes.