A game I recently purchased (again) is Plants Vs. Zombies. I originally had it on disk but lost it when I moved house. So a few days ago I bought it on Steam.
The premise of the game is there has been a zombie apocalypse and you must defend your house (and garden) from the undead threat using the power of... Plants... It is a typical Tower Defense game but made in a cartoony style that is meant to appeal to a younger audience. Despite it's childish appearance the game is actually fairly challenging and boasts a wide range of "towers" and zombies.
There are a huge number of mini-games as well as a puzzle and survival mode. The game also contains several achievements, and for the completionists among us it contains enough challenges to keep you playing for a long time.
There is another mode that might make you come back again and again, the Zen garden. There are random drops of the plants you use throughout the game which you can place in a garden. You have to water the plants, use bug spray on them and give them fertiliser to grow. It is a pretty "Zen" experience but not the most enthralling thing. It does however drop coins now and again so can help you afford some of the in-game items.
Showing posts with label Game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Game. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Monday Night is right for fighting...
Monday Night Combat is a bit of a play on Monday Night Football. It is a third person FPS/Tower Defense game with some aspects of a MOBA game.
MNC is set in a game show style. You are part of a team of contestants that are fighting for cash prizes. This can be either against another team of "pros" where you attempt to destroy the other teams "moneyball" or in a co-op mode where you fight waves of mobs culminating in a battle with a final"jackbot" boss wave. There are a couple of commentators who now and again have some fantastic funny lines too.
The concept of the game is very good, there has never really been a game like this before. The nice thing about it is depending on what type of game you prefer you can play differently. If you are an FPS fan you can just go around using your weapons and ignoring the other elements and the same applies to the Tower Defense aspect.
However there are some issues, as this is supposed to be played primarily as a multi-player game
the single-player aspect is severely lacking. There is no option to use "bots" so you can't play the team vs team maps or get support in the co-op mode. The same issues apply to multi-player, often times teams will be unbalanced until enough people join to fill all the slots. There is also no match making system so you can find that highly skilled players will be facing new players lessening the enjoyment of both. There are also a couple of maps where if you can reach a certain spot you are untouchable while still being able to kill the opposing team.
Despite these few issues I really enjoyed playing MNC and I liked the concept. The game can be picked up for a fairly cheap price and would be worth the cost. However the developers are currently working on a new title called Super Monday Night Combat which will be a more well developed game and should hopefully iron out any of the issues from the first. In my opinion at this stage it would probably be more worthwhile waiting for SMNC to come out.
MNC is set in a game show style. You are part of a team of contestants that are fighting for cash prizes. This can be either against another team of "pros" where you attempt to destroy the other teams "moneyball" or in a co-op mode where you fight waves of mobs culminating in a battle with a final"jackbot" boss wave. There are a couple of commentators who now and again have some fantastic funny lines too.
The concept of the game is very good, there has never really been a game like this before. The nice thing about it is depending on what type of game you prefer you can play differently. If you are an FPS fan you can just go around using your weapons and ignoring the other elements and the same applies to the Tower Defense aspect.
However there are some issues, as this is supposed to be played primarily as a multi-player game
the single-player aspect is severely lacking. There is no option to use "bots" so you can't play the team vs team maps or get support in the co-op mode. The same issues apply to multi-player, often times teams will be unbalanced until enough people join to fill all the slots. There is also no match making system so you can find that highly skilled players will be facing new players lessening the enjoyment of both. There are also a couple of maps where if you can reach a certain spot you are untouchable while still being able to kill the opposing team.
Despite these few issues I really enjoyed playing MNC and I liked the concept. The game can be picked up for a fairly cheap price and would be worth the cost. However the developers are currently working on a new title called Super Monday Night Combat which will be a more well developed game and should hopefully iron out any of the issues from the first. In my opinion at this stage it would probably be more worthwhile waiting for SMNC to come out.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
A Game of Fancy Chairs!
A Game Of Thrones: Genesis is (another) adaptation of the Ice and Fire series.
The game focuses a lot more on the underhanded diplomacy and political intrigue of kingdoms rather than the martial strength or entrenched castle sieges.
The concept creates a constantly shifting environment, you are never quite sure if that town or that unit are working for you or if they have been compromised. It means you constantly have to create new units to check on the old ones. It stops people from holing up and sitting back while building a military force like you can in other RTS as all of your units might have been bought off and when you attempt to attack another player you might find yourself on the wrong end of the sword.
The campaign follows the story of Warrior Queen Nymeria as she lands in Westeros and builds her empire. It introduces you to several characters that are a huge part of the history of Westeros. If you have read the books, this game will fill in some of the lore from beforehand.
This is a fantastic game for people who like to do things a little bit differently than conventional RTS games. You can't just batter down the doors of all your enemies, you have to think about your strategy, but not for too long or you might get caught out...
If you are a true fan of RTS you will appreciate this game and its complexities and it is well worth a look. If you are a fan of A Game Of Thrones then again, even just for lore, it is a good purchase.
The game focuses a lot more on the underhanded diplomacy and political intrigue of kingdoms rather than the martial strength or entrenched castle sieges.
The concept creates a constantly shifting environment, you are never quite sure if that town or that unit are working for you or if they have been compromised. It means you constantly have to create new units to check on the old ones. It stops people from holing up and sitting back while building a military force like you can in other RTS as all of your units might have been bought off and when you attempt to attack another player you might find yourself on the wrong end of the sword.
The campaign follows the story of Warrior Queen Nymeria as she lands in Westeros and builds her empire. It introduces you to several characters that are a huge part of the history of Westeros. If you have read the books, this game will fill in some of the lore from beforehand.
This is a fantastic game for people who like to do things a little bit differently than conventional RTS games. You can't just batter down the doors of all your enemies, you have to think about your strategy, but not for too long or you might get caught out...
If you are a true fan of RTS you will appreciate this game and its complexities and it is well worth a look. If you are a fan of A Game Of Thrones then again, even just for lore, it is a good purchase.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The Safety Word Is Bananner!
I recently bought all the DLC for a fantastic(-ally successful) indie game called Magicka.
The story of the game is narrated by Vlad (Who is definitely NOT a vampire...) and the player character is lead through the world by him. You travel through all kinds are environments and encounter a huge variety of enemies (even a vampire!) in order to stop an ancient wizard from destroying the world.
You use a selection of elements, rather than a mana bar or spellbook, and these can be combined to produce a huge range of effects. You can collect books in the game that provide you with "Magicks" which are specific element combinations that have certain catastrophic effects.
You can have up to four players working co-operatively (Or more accurately TRY to work together) and there are also a few PVP maps where you can work out your frustration on each other. Friendly fire is always active throughout the game so it is quite easy to injure/kill your friends, or even yourself! Sometimes this is the best part of the game...
The game itself has a lot of references to other games, movies and general memes and the humour is fairly funny throughout. If you haven't played this game yet there is a demo available and I would advise playing that if nothing else. I feel that this game is worth the purchase but you will get the most enjoyment out of it if you have a few friends to play with.
The story of the game is narrated by Vlad (Who is definitely NOT a vampire...) and the player character is lead through the world by him. You travel through all kinds are environments and encounter a huge variety of enemies (even a vampire!) in order to stop an ancient wizard from destroying the world.
You use a selection of elements, rather than a mana bar or spellbook, and these can be combined to produce a huge range of effects. You can collect books in the game that provide you with "Magicks" which are specific element combinations that have certain catastrophic effects.
You can have up to four players working co-operatively (Or more accurately TRY to work together) and there are also a few PVP maps where you can work out your frustration on each other. Friendly fire is always active throughout the game so it is quite easy to injure/kill your friends, or even yourself! Sometimes this is the best part of the game...
The game itself has a lot of references to other games, movies and general memes and the humour is fairly funny throughout. If you haven't played this game yet there is a demo available and I would advise playing that if nothing else. I feel that this game is worth the purchase but you will get the most enjoyment out of it if you have a few friends to play with.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The Living Island
A game I have played a lot of recently is Dead Island, it is a FPS/RPG hack and slash game.
You wake up after a rough night of partying to find that a zombie apocalypse has broken out on the island while you slept. You try to escape and run into a bunch of other survivors, they ask you to complete tasks (as you are the only person capable of... blah blah blah) in order to get off the island.
There are four main characters that you can play as, each with their own skills and weapon sets. A Throwing, Firearms, Blunt and Sharp expert.
The main draw of the game is the hack and slash elements. You can pick up most items and use them as melee weapons, now and again you enter firearm sections but the main focus is on the melee combat.
The game is quite enjoyable in short periods but the game is very very repetitive. I can only play it for about an hour at a time due to this. All the quests are very similar, the areas are only slightly different and the enemies, once encountered are constant from then on out.
You wake up after a rough night of partying to find that a zombie apocalypse has broken out on the island while you slept. You try to escape and run into a bunch of other survivors, they ask you to complete tasks (as you are the only person capable of... blah blah blah) in order to get off the island.
There are four main characters that you can play as, each with their own skills and weapon sets. A Throwing, Firearms, Blunt and Sharp expert.
The main draw of the game is the hack and slash elements. You can pick up most items and use them as melee weapons, now and again you enter firearm sections but the main focus is on the melee combat.
The game is quite enjoyable in short periods but the game is very very repetitive. I can only play it for about an hour at a time due to this. All the quests are very similar, the areas are only slightly different and the enemies, once encountered are constant from then on out.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Building Worlds Is Easy! Or not...
A long while ago (pretty much straight after it came out) I bought and played Terraria, At the time however other games piqued my interest more so it didn't get much playtime. After getting a chance to play the game (1.1 release) for a long period of time I have a better idea of how the game works.
Terraria is a 2D side scroller sandbox game, that features RPG elements and a lot of exploration. You start off with very basic tools and need to find materials to build a house and upgrade your items. All the while defending yourself from enemies that spawn. Simple, weak slimes during the day and harder skeletons and zombies at night. Once you have set up your own house the next challenge is to build houses so that NPCs can move in.
NPCs are used as shops that you can sell items to and some of them can sell some really useful items such as a mining helmet that provides a constant light.
Once you have constructed a base of sorts you must then adventure to find items enabling you to enter the Dungeon, the first challenge area of Terraria. You have to defeat a boss in order to enter the Dungeon which will grant you loot to upgrade your items. The next two areas in the game are The Corruption and Jungle (which can be found anywhere on the surface or underground), followed later on by The Hallow and The Underworld (the deepest layer of the game). The rule of thumb is "The deeper you go the harder it gets".
There was a boss added called "The wall of flesh" which unlocks "hard mode" for the game, all enemies are made harder while new enemies start appearing. This helps to add longevity and an extra layer of difficulty once you feel you've "beaten" the game.
I still haven't gotten so far into the game that I can beat the wall of flesh but as far as I am now I am really enjoying the game. Unlike Minecraft it is not purely creative, and has more of a purpose and unlike RPGs you can actually add to the world in your own way.
As an indie game it is fairly cheap and if it is the style of game you enjoy you would get quite a bit of time from it.
Terraria is a 2D side scroller sandbox game, that features RPG elements and a lot of exploration. You start off with very basic tools and need to find materials to build a house and upgrade your items. All the while defending yourself from enemies that spawn. Simple, weak slimes during the day and harder skeletons and zombies at night. Once you have set up your own house the next challenge is to build houses so that NPCs can move in.
NPCs are used as shops that you can sell items to and some of them can sell some really useful items such as a mining helmet that provides a constant light.
Once you have constructed a base of sorts you must then adventure to find items enabling you to enter the Dungeon, the first challenge area of Terraria. You have to defeat a boss in order to enter the Dungeon which will grant you loot to upgrade your items. The next two areas in the game are The Corruption and Jungle (which can be found anywhere on the surface or underground), followed later on by The Hallow and The Underworld (the deepest layer of the game). The rule of thumb is "The deeper you go the harder it gets".
There was a boss added called "The wall of flesh" which unlocks "hard mode" for the game, all enemies are made harder while new enemies start appearing. This helps to add longevity and an extra layer of difficulty once you feel you've "beaten" the game.
I still haven't gotten so far into the game that I can beat the wall of flesh but as far as I am now I am really enjoying the game. Unlike Minecraft it is not purely creative, and has more of a purpose and unlike RPGs you can actually add to the world in your own way.
As an indie game it is fairly cheap and if it is the style of game you enjoy you would get quite a bit of time from it.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The floor will kill you!
A fantastic coop game that I started playing is Killing Floor. It is a stand-alone game that is based on a mod of Unreal Tournament 04.
The player is set against waves of increasingly difficult and more numerous enemies culminating in a type of Boss wave. The more players in the game the more difficult the waves. Enemies can start spawning from pretty much anywhere and provides for a very tense environment while playing as you constantly have to watch your back.
Each player earns cash for a kill and this cash can be spent between waves at a shop that appears randomly on the map. That is provided you can reach it before the next wave starts.
There is also a sort of class system, you choose a "perk" at the beginning of the game which gives you specific benefits. You can level up these "perks" while using any of the other ones but you can only receive the benefits of one at a time.
The atmosphere is very tense and can be somewhat claustrophobic with the narrow tunnels and entrances and it is definitely best played with a few friends. There is also an active modding/map-making scene and a very active community. I think this is one well worth the purchase and you will get plenty of hours of enjoyment (or terror) out of it.
The player is set against waves of increasingly difficult and more numerous enemies culminating in a type of Boss wave. The more players in the game the more difficult the waves. Enemies can start spawning from pretty much anywhere and provides for a very tense environment while playing as you constantly have to watch your back.
Each player earns cash for a kill and this cash can be spent between waves at a shop that appears randomly on the map. That is provided you can reach it before the next wave starts.
There is also a sort of class system, you choose a "perk" at the beginning of the game which gives you specific benefits. You can level up these "perks" while using any of the other ones but you can only receive the benefits of one at a time.
The atmosphere is very tense and can be somewhat claustrophobic with the narrow tunnels and entrances and it is definitely best played with a few friends. There is also an active modding/map-making scene and a very active community. I think this is one well worth the purchase and you will get plenty of hours of enjoyment (or terror) out of it.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
The tunnels are a dangerous place...
Metro 2033 does what Hellgate: London set out to do. It is a fantastic combination of FPS and Survival Horror.
The game is set in post-apocalyptic Russia, mostly within the metro tunnels. You, playing a character names Artyom, must make your way across Russia travelling through the metro tunnels and sometimes on the irradiated surface.
The game is very immersive by reducing the HUD elements and with some fantastic sound assets it really makes you feel like you are in the world. I found myself at times crouched down in real-life, while waiting for an enemy to pass in-game. The lack of a HUD is immersive without being a hindrance, in most cases, all the information you need is pretty much visual. You can see on your gun when ammo is running low and your flash light starts to get dimmer when the battery is running low.
There are some points in the game where you are involved in cut scenes. Usually these really pull you out of the game and are rather jarring but in Metro2033 they are done really well slipping easily from cut scene to gameplay and back again with no loading screens or sudden cuts from the action.
The only loading screens are between levels or missions and are all very short with a diary type entry, from Artyom, at each one.
One major aspect of the game is the fact that "military grade ammo" is currency, while also still being usable ammo. This means that if you find yourself running low on ammo you can "shoot money". This all helps to build the sense that scavenging is a necessity in this world and again helps with the immersion.
I thoroughly enjoyed the game with its dark atmosphere and terrifying sequences and while being scared to continue on at some points, really wanting to progress through the story. The world is fantastically immersive and well thought out and in my opinion well worth a play.
The game is set in post-apocalyptic Russia, mostly within the metro tunnels. You, playing a character names Artyom, must make your way across Russia travelling through the metro tunnels and sometimes on the irradiated surface.
The game is very immersive by reducing the HUD elements and with some fantastic sound assets it really makes you feel like you are in the world. I found myself at times crouched down in real-life, while waiting for an enemy to pass in-game. The lack of a HUD is immersive without being a hindrance, in most cases, all the information you need is pretty much visual. You can see on your gun when ammo is running low and your flash light starts to get dimmer when the battery is running low.
There are some points in the game where you are involved in cut scenes. Usually these really pull you out of the game and are rather jarring but in Metro2033 they are done really well slipping easily from cut scene to gameplay and back again with no loading screens or sudden cuts from the action.
The only loading screens are between levels or missions and are all very short with a diary type entry, from Artyom, at each one.
One major aspect of the game is the fact that "military grade ammo" is currency, while also still being usable ammo. This means that if you find yourself running low on ammo you can "shoot money". This all helps to build the sense that scavenging is a necessity in this world and again helps with the immersion.
I thoroughly enjoyed the game with its dark atmosphere and terrifying sequences and while being scared to continue on at some points, really wanting to progress through the story. The world is fantastically immersive and well thought out and in my opinion well worth a play.
Monday, November 28, 2011
28 Weeks Later...
A game that I absolutely love is Left4Dead and I completed an achievement that I am massively proud of.
It is a multiplayer co-op game set in the near future soon after a zombie apocalypse has occurred. You play one of four "survivors" that have been brought together due to circumstance and have to work together in order to stay safe and reach freedom. Each of the survivors has a distinct personality (and sometimes they clash) and a back story telling how they arrived in the situation they are in.
You use a range of guns, your standard weapon being a pistol, medkits and pills. The items spawn depending on how well or how badly you are doing and have a number of places in which they can spawn. Rarely in the same place twice.
There are five levels in each campaign, the last one usually being a "survive until rescue arrives" objective, while the first four involve fighting your way through the map. There are certain areas in the game where you have to do a specific task which will alert the "horde" and you will have to fight off or fight your way through several waves.
There are several difficulty levels from Easy to Expert, Easy you can play through solo with barely any effort, while expert is nearly impossible without having 3 (good) human players.
While I was originally a little bit annoyed at how quickly Left4Dead2 was released after the first game when I played it the first time I realised that it was a brand new game and completely worth my money.
Left4Dead2 is a continuation of the first game but following a different group of people. Each of the characters have brand new back stories and personalities.
You start off again with a pistol but you have a choice of melee weapons you can exchange it for. The item list was expanded in the second game as well as the amount of areas where the items could spawn.
There are five new campaigns in the second game and the major difference to the first is that some of the maps are set during the day, creating a brand new atmosphere as you normally wouldn't expect such a horror setting in the daytime.
Again there are difficulty levels from Easy to Expert, But this time a new difficulty is included called Realism. Realism is expert mode but it has no UI help tips or character outlines. This makes it harder to see when an ally is in trouble or spot where an item is in a room.
My proudest moment (to date) was when I completed all of the campaigns on expert by myself.
I have gotten over 200 hours of fun out of these two games, a lot of this by myself, but with a few friends you could get a lot more enjoyment out of them. You can usually find one or other of these games on sale on Steam, it is more worthwhile (at the moment) to just get the second game as it is getting backdated with the maps from the first game.
It is a multiplayer co-op game set in the near future soon after a zombie apocalypse has occurred. You play one of four "survivors" that have been brought together due to circumstance and have to work together in order to stay safe and reach freedom. Each of the survivors has a distinct personality (and sometimes they clash) and a back story telling how they arrived in the situation they are in.
You use a range of guns, your standard weapon being a pistol, medkits and pills. The items spawn depending on how well or how badly you are doing and have a number of places in which they can spawn. Rarely in the same place twice.
There are five levels in each campaign, the last one usually being a "survive until rescue arrives" objective, while the first four involve fighting your way through the map. There are certain areas in the game where you have to do a specific task which will alert the "horde" and you will have to fight off or fight your way through several waves.
There are several difficulty levels from Easy to Expert, Easy you can play through solo with barely any effort, while expert is nearly impossible without having 3 (good) human players.
While I was originally a little bit annoyed at how quickly Left4Dead2 was released after the first game when I played it the first time I realised that it was a brand new game and completely worth my money.
Left4Dead2 is a continuation of the first game but following a different group of people. Each of the characters have brand new back stories and personalities.
You start off again with a pistol but you have a choice of melee weapons you can exchange it for. The item list was expanded in the second game as well as the amount of areas where the items could spawn.
There are five new campaigns in the second game and the major difference to the first is that some of the maps are set during the day, creating a brand new atmosphere as you normally wouldn't expect such a horror setting in the daytime.
Again there are difficulty levels from Easy to Expert, But this time a new difficulty is included called Realism. Realism is expert mode but it has no UI help tips or character outlines. This makes it harder to see when an ally is in trouble or spot where an item is in a room.
My proudest moment (to date) was when I completed all of the campaigns on expert by myself.
I have gotten over 200 hours of fun out of these two games, a lot of this by myself, but with a few friends you could get a lot more enjoyment out of them. You can usually find one or other of these games on sale on Steam, it is more worthwhile (at the moment) to just get the second game as it is getting backdated with the maps from the first game.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
All Hail Trigon!!
A game I have been looking forward to playing DC Universe for a very long time (since first seeing it in action!) and when it went free to play I got my chance.
The first thing I should start off by saying is that in the first week of free-play, DCUO had a lot of lag and disconnect issues but they very quickly implemented fixes and upgraded the servers. I don't think anyone was expecting the influx they received.
Secondly I was not impressed with their character creator, Not in comparison with many other MMOs I've played. You can't change the facial structure or specific details of the characters, as well as the selection of costume pieces being very limited. However when you get in-game you can collect items that will unlock more costume styles as you play, So you might end up getting the exact look you want after you create the character.
The fact that the game is set in the DC Universe means there are a lot of iconic characters running around the place. This helps immerse you in the game a lot more than if you had a bunch of made-up-on-the-spot characters telling you what to do. Everyone knows Batman, Superman and Joker and knows at least some of their story giving you some angle to enter the story at.
Another story aspect that completely blew me away was the introduction cinematic. It is the single greatest explanation of a character's appearance in an MMO that I've seen and a fantastic trailer regardless. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AnQ-p4cU8w this is the best version I could find. Watch in 1080p and full screen for best results.)
The actual game play is very good. It is a huge change to something like WOW where it is completely gear and skill tree based. In DCUO you can have a very strange combination of skills and still do just as well as someone with "optimal" skills, in PVE. The quests are all story based and very entertaining but you can sometimes find that they drag on a little bit too much. You could be collecting 25 of something when 10 would have suited just as well.
The PVP in DCUO is rather imbalanced, stuns are king and nothing is going to change that. If you have a hotbar of six stuns you can pretty much beat anyone. This is sometimes good as a low level player can actually beat a max level player is they are skilled and fast enough, but if you get caught out in any way you are going to die and there really is not much you can do about it.
There is an arena called legends where you pick an Iconic Hero/Villain and you play as them an in the beginning arenas you are all on the same baseline and it is fairly balanced, but as soon as you meet people who have been able to unlock other characters it becomes unbalanced again.
DC Universe Online is a fantastic game and with a few PVP and PVE tweaks will be one of the greatest MMOs out there but as it is at the moment it has a few too many issues to hold that title. This however didn't stop me paying for the Premium account as I know I will play it for a long time to come.
If you like DC Comics/Universe then definitely give the free version of the game a try as it certainly tickles that spot for a comic book nerd like me.
The first thing I should start off by saying is that in the first week of free-play, DCUO had a lot of lag and disconnect issues but they very quickly implemented fixes and upgraded the servers. I don't think anyone was expecting the influx they received.
Secondly I was not impressed with their character creator, Not in comparison with many other MMOs I've played. You can't change the facial structure or specific details of the characters, as well as the selection of costume pieces being very limited. However when you get in-game you can collect items that will unlock more costume styles as you play, So you might end up getting the exact look you want after you create the character.
The fact that the game is set in the DC Universe means there are a lot of iconic characters running around the place. This helps immerse you in the game a lot more than if you had a bunch of made-up-on-the-spot characters telling you what to do. Everyone knows Batman, Superman and Joker and knows at least some of their story giving you some angle to enter the story at.
Another story aspect that completely blew me away was the introduction cinematic. It is the single greatest explanation of a character's appearance in an MMO that I've seen and a fantastic trailer regardless. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AnQ-p4cU8w this is the best version I could find. Watch in 1080p and full screen for best results.)
The actual game play is very good. It is a huge change to something like WOW where it is completely gear and skill tree based. In DCUO you can have a very strange combination of skills and still do just as well as someone with "optimal" skills, in PVE. The quests are all story based and very entertaining but you can sometimes find that they drag on a little bit too much. You could be collecting 25 of something when 10 would have suited just as well.
The PVP in DCUO is rather imbalanced, stuns are king and nothing is going to change that. If you have a hotbar of six stuns you can pretty much beat anyone. This is sometimes good as a low level player can actually beat a max level player is they are skilled and fast enough, but if you get caught out in any way you are going to die and there really is not much you can do about it.
There is an arena called legends where you pick an Iconic Hero/Villain and you play as them an in the beginning arenas you are all on the same baseline and it is fairly balanced, but as soon as you meet people who have been able to unlock other characters it becomes unbalanced again.
DC Universe Online is a fantastic game and with a few PVP and PVE tweaks will be one of the greatest MMOs out there but as it is at the moment it has a few too many issues to hold that title. This however didn't stop me paying for the Premium account as I know I will play it for a long time to come.
If you like DC Comics/Universe then definitely give the free version of the game a try as it certainly tickles that spot for a comic book nerd like me.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Viva La Human!
This is the day I have waited a very long time for (Well honestly the day I played the game was the day I waited for but still!)...
Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
It is only fair that I compare it to the original Deus Ex and point out the good and bad points.
First off the tutorial/prologue shows you the basic mechanics of the game while also introducing you to the story. It is quite nice as you don't feel like you are doing a tutorial. This is different from the original in that there is no ACTUAL tutorial assault course.
A big change from the original game is the removal of the skills/experience system. You still gain experience for completing quests and exploring etc. But now instead of putting your experience into certain skills you use that experience to level up your augmentations. This, while not keeping exactly with the original, was a slight enough difference that it didn't take away from the "levelling" feel of the game.
Human Revolution gave you several ways to approach scenarios in keeping with the series. However it has limited those choices to quite a large extent. This was rather disappointing but to be fair it is rather difficult to script the freedom you had in Deus Ex as the freedom was only there pretty much as a glitch or a non-scripted sequence. It still felt lacking in a lot of areas however when you could only go certain ways and not be as creative as in the original.
As in the gameplay, the conversations were slightly more restricted too. There was a nice new feature added however that I quite enjoyed that allowed you to influence people. I was very glad that this was added as it did free up conversations somewhat.
One thing that really disappointed me about the game however was the intro music. It wasn't the classic Deus Ex theme, a crucial part of any Deus Ex game (even Invisible War had it!)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is in my opinion a very worthy sequel to the classic Deus Ex. It is not exactly the same in all aspects but the bits that have changed have, for the most part, changed for the better.
And let's face it... Your character is a bad-ass!
Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
It is only fair that I compare it to the original Deus Ex and point out the good and bad points.
First off the tutorial/prologue shows you the basic mechanics of the game while also introducing you to the story. It is quite nice as you don't feel like you are doing a tutorial. This is different from the original in that there is no ACTUAL tutorial assault course.
A big change from the original game is the removal of the skills/experience system. You still gain experience for completing quests and exploring etc. But now instead of putting your experience into certain skills you use that experience to level up your augmentations. This, while not keeping exactly with the original, was a slight enough difference that it didn't take away from the "levelling" feel of the game.
Human Revolution gave you several ways to approach scenarios in keeping with the series. However it has limited those choices to quite a large extent. This was rather disappointing but to be fair it is rather difficult to script the freedom you had in Deus Ex as the freedom was only there pretty much as a glitch or a non-scripted sequence. It still felt lacking in a lot of areas however when you could only go certain ways and not be as creative as in the original.
As in the gameplay, the conversations were slightly more restricted too. There was a nice new feature added however that I quite enjoyed that allowed you to influence people. I was very glad that this was added as it did free up conversations somewhat.
One thing that really disappointed me about the game however was the intro music. It wasn't the classic Deus Ex theme, a crucial part of any Deus Ex game (even Invisible War had it!)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is in my opinion a very worthy sequel to the classic Deus Ex. It is not exactly the same in all aspects but the bits that have changed have, for the most part, changed for the better.
And let's face it... Your character is a bad-ass!
No Machinima In Sight...
A game that I have played several (hundred) times is Deus Ex. It is one of my favourite games and in my opinion an absolute pinnacle of good game creation. (Developers take note!)
First of all there is an option to do a tutorial, but it is not forced upon you. The "starter area" is easy enough that you can pick up how to play as you go along as well as get to grips with the different weapon types without it being "spoon-fed" to you.
Deus Ex is called an RPG-FPS as it has a level-up system with skills and your performance can sometimes depend on how trained you are in certain skills, but it also does not hamper your performance, just enhances it.
There are several ways to approach each challenge in the game. You can fight everything that moves, you can talk down all your enemies, you can sneak through air vents or you can use a mix of all of the above. It is completely down to you how you handle each situation. There are even some areas where you can do something that would normally be completely game breaking and the game just continues on!
The overall story of the game is that the world has developed to the stage of "Nano-Augmentation" and they are in wide use. Your character is in the top tier of augmentation and is an anti-terrorist agent in UNATCO. He later uncovers a disturbing plot and the game progresses from there.
The most impressive thing about the game is that it allows you so many options in all aspects of the game even down to conversation. There are so many hidden items and secrets in the game as well, even I have not found them all, in my many playthroughs.
Overall I believe this game to be a foundation block in gaming history and I really hope that new developers will look back and start to take a leaf out of Ion Storm's book...
First of all there is an option to do a tutorial, but it is not forced upon you. The "starter area" is easy enough that you can pick up how to play as you go along as well as get to grips with the different weapon types without it being "spoon-fed" to you.
Deus Ex is called an RPG-FPS as it has a level-up system with skills and your performance can sometimes depend on how trained you are in certain skills, but it also does not hamper your performance, just enhances it.
There are several ways to approach each challenge in the game. You can fight everything that moves, you can talk down all your enemies, you can sneak through air vents or you can use a mix of all of the above. It is completely down to you how you handle each situation. There are even some areas where you can do something that would normally be completely game breaking and the game just continues on!
The overall story of the game is that the world has developed to the stage of "Nano-Augmentation" and they are in wide use. Your character is in the top tier of augmentation and is an anti-terrorist agent in UNATCO. He later uncovers a disturbing plot and the game progresses from there.
The most impressive thing about the game is that it allows you so many options in all aspects of the game even down to conversation. There are so many hidden items and secrets in the game as well, even I have not found them all, in my many playthroughs.
Overall I believe this game to be a foundation block in gaming history and I really hope that new developers will look back and start to take a leaf out of Ion Storm's book...
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
In the Emperor's Name!
A game that I have had my eye on for a long time now is Space Marine. While I loved the Dawn of War series (I mean the first ones because the second one sucked...) I found they lacked that visceral edge that Space Marine appears to have.
I haven't had the chance to play the full game yet so I can only base this off of playing the demo.
You start the game with a basic set of weapons, Bolt Pistol and Chainsword (which are awesome by the way) and you are pretty much thrown into the story, and more importantly into the hordes of enemies.
The first time you fire your Bolt Pistol, you feel like You are ACTUALLY FIRING your Bolt Pistol. The sound is absolute perfection, there are plenty of war games that have the sound of a gun and that's great they sound like guns. This sounds like a Bolt Pistol, a fictional futuristic weapon that fires a uranium slug.
Yea... That's how good they made it sound...
The combat in general is really good as it throws you, a somewhat indestructible Space Marine, against Hordes of weaker Orks. This lets you throw yourself into the fights and really get into the action, rather than the duck and cover combat that seems to have become the standard for most shooters...
The game is pretty much linear as far as I can tell, with a few side paths that may contain ammo or collectables.
The voice acting is very good. The graphics while not amazing are quite detailed and the blood and gore while fighting makes up for any lacking graphics...
Overall it is a quite enjoyable hack and slash/third person shooter game and it is even more enjoyable for someone really interested in 40k. However I don't know if it is worth the asking price right now I would say to definately play the demo if you have any interest in it and then decide for yourself if it is worth the investment.
I haven't had the chance to play the full game yet so I can only base this off of playing the demo.
You start the game with a basic set of weapons, Bolt Pistol and Chainsword (which are awesome by the way) and you are pretty much thrown into the story, and more importantly into the hordes of enemies.
The first time you fire your Bolt Pistol, you feel like You are ACTUALLY FIRING your Bolt Pistol. The sound is absolute perfection, there are plenty of war games that have the sound of a gun and that's great they sound like guns. This sounds like a Bolt Pistol, a fictional futuristic weapon that fires a uranium slug.
Yea... That's how good they made it sound...
The combat in general is really good as it throws you, a somewhat indestructible Space Marine, against Hordes of weaker Orks. This lets you throw yourself into the fights and really get into the action, rather than the duck and cover combat that seems to have become the standard for most shooters...
The game is pretty much linear as far as I can tell, with a few side paths that may contain ammo or collectables.
The voice acting is very good. The graphics while not amazing are quite detailed and the blood and gore while fighting makes up for any lacking graphics...
Overall it is a quite enjoyable hack and slash/third person shooter game and it is even more enjoyable for someone really interested in 40k. However I don't know if it is worth the asking price right now I would say to definately play the demo if you have any interest in it and then decide for yourself if it is worth the investment.
Monday, August 29, 2011
More like From Dirt
My first thoughts of From Dust were "Hmmm this is a nice world builder game, Kind of like Populous" The next few minutes decided to change my opinions completely...
From Dust is more of a puzzle type game than anything else. You have to figure out what combination of powers and item locations along with a whole host of other things will allow you to proceed to the next level.
The game is amazingly difficult and that makes it even more fun. I spent a very long time trying to reach a very specific location and then realised that if I went a different way I would most likely complete the level.
Unfortunately I ended up getting washed out and had to start all over again... Of course I got frustrated and closed the game down, only to open it again several minutes later. It is a game that keeps dragging you back in.
Unfortunately there are some annoying bits, such as your people not being able to do anything for themselves and the inability to control them individually. As well as the controls being rather clunky and hard to control. One major downside to it is Ubisoft's stupid decision to put terrible "always online" DRM in the game. If you disconnect even for a second the game shuts down, meaning you lose all your progress...
Despite this though it is a very enjoyable (If challenging game).
It currently costs €15 so I would advise definitely picking it up if it goes on sale.
From Dust is more of a puzzle type game than anything else. You have to figure out what combination of powers and item locations along with a whole host of other things will allow you to proceed to the next level.
The game is amazingly difficult and that makes it even more fun. I spent a very long time trying to reach a very specific location and then realised that if I went a different way I would most likely complete the level.
Unfortunately I ended up getting washed out and had to start all over again... Of course I got frustrated and closed the game down, only to open it again several minutes later. It is a game that keeps dragging you back in.
Unfortunately there are some annoying bits, such as your people not being able to do anything for themselves and the inability to control them individually. As well as the controls being rather clunky and hard to control. One major downside to it is Ubisoft's stupid decision to put terrible "always online" DRM in the game. If you disconnect even for a second the game shuts down, meaning you lose all your progress...
Despite this though it is a very enjoyable (If challenging game).
It currently costs €15 so I would advise definitely picking it up if it goes on sale.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Championship of Well Knowns!
A game I have been playing a lot of recently is a brilliant Free to play DOTA-esque game called League of Legends.
I have invested a lot of time and some money into it and have finally found the play style that suits me best.
Bearing in mind that I am still only in the beginner bracket and haven't yet gone for any more competitive games (mainly because the community is very competitive and hard to play with) I have gained a large number of different champions to play with. Each with their own unique play style and item selections.
However I have always been a bit of an oddball when it comes to item selections and have been trying out different sets than what would be the most common, most of which work quite well but still need a little bit of balancing.
One major necessity of LOL is communication, you need to know what enemies are where, letting everyone know you are leaving a lane, call for help, etc.
It is a nice skill based, strategy game that is a nice mix of fast and slow gameplay.
You need to be able to react quickly to different circumstances and be able to keep an eye out for everything that is going on.
You can also take your time for the majority of the game as you don't feel any major pressure to get anywhere or finish off any objectives.
One of the main problems with the game is that it is very time-consuming as each game can (depending on how good the team is) last up to an hour.
There is a huge debate between two communities, League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth. Both believing their own game is the best. The truth is they are exactly the same (with a few small differences) In my opinion I would rather play LOL as you have to earn the champions as you play, it gives me a reason to keep playing the game, whereas if I bought HON (getting access to all the heroes etc straight away) I would probably play for a few weeks and never touch it again...
I really enjoy this game and as it is constantly updating I feel that there is always something to play towards, being a collector I want to own all the Champions as some stage...
It is a fantastic game and as it is free is worth at least a trial. However if you would rather pay then you can buy Heroes of Newerth which is pretty much the same game.
I have invested a lot of time and some money into it and have finally found the play style that suits me best.
Bearing in mind that I am still only in the beginner bracket and haven't yet gone for any more competitive games (mainly because the community is very competitive and hard to play with) I have gained a large number of different champions to play with. Each with their own unique play style and item selections.
However I have always been a bit of an oddball when it comes to item selections and have been trying out different sets than what would be the most common, most of which work quite well but still need a little bit of balancing.
One major necessity of LOL is communication, you need to know what enemies are where, letting everyone know you are leaving a lane, call for help, etc.
It is a nice skill based, strategy game that is a nice mix of fast and slow gameplay.
You need to be able to react quickly to different circumstances and be able to keep an eye out for everything that is going on.
You can also take your time for the majority of the game as you don't feel any major pressure to get anywhere or finish off any objectives.
One of the main problems with the game is that it is very time-consuming as each game can (depending on how good the team is) last up to an hour.
There is a huge debate between two communities, League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth. Both believing their own game is the best. The truth is they are exactly the same (with a few small differences) In my opinion I would rather play LOL as you have to earn the champions as you play, it gives me a reason to keep playing the game, whereas if I bought HON (getting access to all the heroes etc straight away) I would probably play for a few weeks and never touch it again...
I really enjoy this game and as it is constantly updating I feel that there is always something to play towards, being a collector I want to own all the Champions as some stage...
It is a fantastic game and as it is free is worth at least a trial. However if you would rather pay then you can buy Heroes of Newerth which is pretty much the same game.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
How much should I...?
A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine bought a game by the name of Recettear. It is a shop sim/hack and slash game. I was interested by it but didn't get around to playing it. I now hate that friend...
I've been playing the game pretty much since I bought it. It is a very nice break from the stressful highly intensive games that have been coming out lately. It is a nice laid back game that involves more thinking than action a lot of the time.
The aim is to buy low (typically at 50%) and sell high (typically at 130%) and reach a target at the end of each week. This sounds easy enough but each character has a specific buy/sell limit and if you go above or below them they will leave without buying/selling anything.
The other aspect of the game is when you team up with an adventurer and venture into dungeons in order to get items/ingredients to sell. This is a nice break if you get bored of the shop scene. You must fight your way through a variety of randomly generated levels and a variety of enemies each with their own type of attacks. After you defeat the boss on each fifth level you are able to leave the dungeon and return to town.
Overall this is a lovely game to play when you just want to relax for a few hours. I will definitely be playing it for a good long while to come, in between any other titles that come up.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
It could be Magic!
A few years ago I used to play a game called Magic The Gathering. It is a collectable trading card game.
There have been several iterations of a Magic The Gathering computer game and each one has been completely unable to live up to the original card game.
I recently played the latest offering, Magic The Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 (a year ahead but we'll allow it). This time I do have to say it was not the worst game I've played in the series. There were a few extra campaign matches that added some nice functionality to the game instead of the standard 'one v one' setup.
In the standard campaign there were Challenges with a predefined condition, hand and deck and you had to figure out how to succeed in the situation, which as the name suggests was challenging.
Archenemy is a 'three v one' layout where the solo player has a special deck of "schemes" that affects the gameplay in a certain way and makes the entire battle rather difficult.
Revenge is pretty much exactly the same as the campaign except it is a lot harder. The opponents' decks contain all the cards you can unlock throughout the campaign and the AI is a lot smarter.
All in all this is the best MTG computer game yet in my opinion but that is not to say it lives up to the card game in any way. You still cannot create a deck from scratch or alter the layouts in any major way. It is very difficult to search your deck for cards as they move really quickly onscreen and there is not really a huge amount of variety in the opponents you face.
If you are looking for a good computer based MTG game this would be your best bet but if you want an amazing next gen game then I'm afraid this is not it.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Not so twirly after all...
Steam recently released a bunch of Free To Play games as well as making Team Fortress 2 Free To Play.
One of the games I tried out was Spiral Knights a very simple and fun hack and slash game.
The premise of the game is that you are a group of Knights called Spiral Knights and your spaceship has crash landed on an alien planet. It is up to you to venture into the depths of the planet and find minerals and materials in order to power your ship and be able to build supplies.
The game is very very simplistic, not to say that is not actually challenging. There are (as far as I have seen) no skills or talents to learn. Instead you have a large range of "levelled" equipment that you can buy or craft, all of which perform the same function but with slightly different special abilities (such as resistance to fire or higher damage). The equipment has a star rating between zero and five, zero being your starter gear and five being the recipes you gain at the lowest levels.
You have the choice of three weapons; a Sword, a Gun and a Bomb. There are also three pieces of armour you can use; Chest, Helmet and Shield. Using any combination of these three weapons you can have a variety of styles with which to fight your way through the levels.
The deeper you travel in the world the tougher the levels and enemies get. You will receive less beneficial drops and it will cost you more energy to travel downwards but the rewards, both monetary and recipe-wise, get better.
The simplicity of the game as well as it being completely Free To Play, immediately makes it worthwhile. I can see myself playing this game for a long time to come.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Devil Lives in London?
A game that is overlooked and often spoken ill of is Hellgate: London. It unfortunately fell flat mainly due to the lack of coverage and bad reviews, and the company folded along with the entire multiplayer section of the game.
It is a unique take on a Hack and Slash game as it is an FPS set in the post-apocalyptic future london. You can choose between six different classes, two melee (dual wield and tank) two casters (dps and summoner) and two ranged (gunner and gunner summoner). In my opinion the classes are not particularly varied or unique enough to have warranted so many but despite that they do play fairly differently.
The levels are randomly generated in five or six different environments well populated but all rather similar. The progression is balanced but fairly monotonous. You fight wave after wave of really similar enemies in these environments that after twenty or thirty iterations get rather boring. Unfortunately the game is very grindy, as is the case of most Hack and Slash games.
The saving grace of the game however is the special missions and the boss fights. Each boss is again randomly generated from a selection of powers and enemy types and are a lot tougher than their standard brethren. As you can encounter the bosses in any area it adds some great variety to the areas and an added amount of difficulty that is often needed.
Unfortunately the best part of this game was in fact the multiplayer, it had added special enemies and equipment, the ability to share equipment between characters and several other nice little options that improved the game massively.
One thing that always really bothers me about these type of games is the sense that your character "appears". All the NPCs speak to you as if you don't know what has been going on, you start off the game in some dead-end that leads only forwards and you have no gear to speak of. Is it too much to ask that a non-rpg puts a little back story on your character. Now it isn't just this game I am talking about but all Hack and Slash games.
Now while this might seem like a rather negative review of the game, every single hack and slash carries the same issues, even a great like Diablo suffers from these. I really enjoy playing Hellgate: London and keep coming back to it time and again. It is just as much fun as any other Hack and Slash and also covers an FPS element that makes it enjoyable. The game however is not in wide circulation due to the closure of the company but if you do see it in shops it will be very cheap. My vote; if you like Diablo this one is worth a play through.
It is a unique take on a Hack and Slash game as it is an FPS set in the post-apocalyptic future london. You can choose between six different classes, two melee (dual wield and tank) two casters (dps and summoner) and two ranged (gunner and gunner summoner). In my opinion the classes are not particularly varied or unique enough to have warranted so many but despite that they do play fairly differently.
The levels are randomly generated in five or six different environments well populated but all rather similar. The progression is balanced but fairly monotonous. You fight wave after wave of really similar enemies in these environments that after twenty or thirty iterations get rather boring. Unfortunately the game is very grindy, as is the case of most Hack and Slash games.
The saving grace of the game however is the special missions and the boss fights. Each boss is again randomly generated from a selection of powers and enemy types and are a lot tougher than their standard brethren. As you can encounter the bosses in any area it adds some great variety to the areas and an added amount of difficulty that is often needed.
Unfortunately the best part of this game was in fact the multiplayer, it had added special enemies and equipment, the ability to share equipment between characters and several other nice little options that improved the game massively.
One thing that always really bothers me about these type of games is the sense that your character "appears". All the NPCs speak to you as if you don't know what has been going on, you start off the game in some dead-end that leads only forwards and you have no gear to speak of. Is it too much to ask that a non-rpg puts a little back story on your character. Now it isn't just this game I am talking about but all Hack and Slash games.
Now while this might seem like a rather negative review of the game, every single hack and slash carries the same issues, even a great like Diablo suffers from these. I really enjoy playing Hellgate: London and keep coming back to it time and again. It is just as much fun as any other Hack and Slash and also covers an FPS element that makes it enjoyable. The game however is not in wide circulation due to the closure of the company but if you do see it in shops it will be very cheap. My vote; if you like Diablo this one is worth a play through.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Third of the Fables
The original Fable game was a masterful creation. The stylised cartoony look suited the game and environment perfectly. The storyline was somewhat unique for games of that time as it involved quite a lot of tragedy and difficult decisions that could turn out badly. The combat also flowed really well. You could swing your sword knocking back an enemy and immediately throw a fireball to follow it up. There was a huge amount of customisability as well in clothing choice, hairstyles and tattoos. The main hook to Fable 1 was the choices you had to make between good and evil and this was done really well. You had three alignment choices throughout the game; good, evil and neutral. These depended upon what actions you performed (and also on some foods you ate). There were also some very interesting quest chains you could complete, for instance the arena section.
Now in anticipation of another fantastic game I pre-ordered Fable 3. With the pre-order you got some unique weapons and clothing items. My immediate reaction was that the unique cartoony style was gone, it was still fairly stylised but looked more realistic now. This didn't necessarily take away from the game but it was not a welcome change for me at least. The storyline was fairly similar to the original game with the same sort of beginning and end goal, the interim was slightly different however. A lot of the quests were fairly limp and uninteresting and made you travel through many pointless areas as if to draw out the quest as much as it could. Another thing that bothered me was the lack of choice you had, most choices were black and white/good and evil with no sort of middle ground or any way to backtrack on your decision. You were fairly limited in all of your choices and even in your customising there were less options of clothes and tattoos that you could wear. The combat in Fable 3 was a lot less streamlined than the original and I found it very clunky trying to switch between different weapon styles, sticking mostly to the gun, and found I got hit a lot as the dodging system did not work as well as in the original.
Overall I enjoyed the game and feel I got my monies worth out of it but I do not see myself going back and playing it over again as I tend to with Fable 1. It is just too restricted and linear to make me want to redo the entire story.
Now in anticipation of another fantastic game I pre-ordered Fable 3. With the pre-order you got some unique weapons and clothing items. My immediate reaction was that the unique cartoony style was gone, it was still fairly stylised but looked more realistic now. This didn't necessarily take away from the game but it was not a welcome change for me at least. The storyline was fairly similar to the original game with the same sort of beginning and end goal, the interim was slightly different however. A lot of the quests were fairly limp and uninteresting and made you travel through many pointless areas as if to draw out the quest as much as it could. Another thing that bothered me was the lack of choice you had, most choices were black and white/good and evil with no sort of middle ground or any way to backtrack on your decision. You were fairly limited in all of your choices and even in your customising there were less options of clothes and tattoos that you could wear. The combat in Fable 3 was a lot less streamlined than the original and I found it very clunky trying to switch between different weapon styles, sticking mostly to the gun, and found I got hit a lot as the dodging system did not work as well as in the original.
Overall I enjoyed the game and feel I got my monies worth out of it but I do not see myself going back and playing it over again as I tend to with Fable 1. It is just too restricted and linear to make me want to redo the entire story.
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