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I think I shall endevour to write what I can about gaming since my last gaming entry a while ago. What's happened since? The X-box 360 got released for one and have had a bit of opportunity to play around on it. So far more impressed by the hardware than the games so far, while good none are probably 'next-generation' yet. Condemned is very scary, Perfect Dark Zero appears to have nice multiplayer and Progect Gotham Racing is probably the best racing game I've played, which isn't saying much, but the graphics are great and also appears to have a future on Live.
But enough of that, what about PC gaming? Well since Christmas nothing of interest has been released, but there is some exciting suff in the future. Firstly Star Wars Empire at War seems to have good potential, and the demo proved limited, but I thought showed that it may be good if expandd. Also the demo proved extremely mod friendly, and that bodes well for the game. Prbably won't buy it however...
UT2007 seems imminent, end of March according to play.com, and apparently a ps3 launch title. More excitingly we have Company of heroes and faces of war seemingly competing in the first half of this year, both appearing rather similar, WW2, small scale combat with destructable terrain. My money's behind company of heroes if only because I like the developers relic. Another RTS Rise of Legends looks exciting, but I reckon will be delayed. A new preview on Gamespot seems to suggest it is aiming for a faster paced more combat orientated game, and we shall see how that works out.
Looking more into the future will be a few titles that in all probability will end up being released next year rather than this. First Mark of Chaos the new Warhamer RTS, which in my book's main attraction is Skaven as an army. This might be Warhammer: Total War, and that can only be good, however I have a nagging suspicion it will be a bit bland. More hype-worthy possibly is Medieval 2: Total War, apparently finding a new era wasn't good enough for them and the medieval period is being revisited. One highlight so far is the incorporation of the New world which may add a new dimension. Finally and the one I'm most looking forward to is Supreme Commander, but enough has been said on that matter already.
But Oliver! That's all RTS', I wanna know about other genres! Prey is possibly the most noteworth FPS coming up, that and of course Aftermath. Both look reasonable but I don't really intend to buy Prey, it doesn't look my thing... RPG wise there is Elder Scrolls Oblivion which will be worth a look. Also the little heard about Neverwinter nights 2 makes an appeance. However I can't help feeling 2006 may be the year of the RTS with all the afformentioned titles hitting, mostly with next generation graphics and physics. This may be a result of them being the only genre the next gen consoles still can't do and all the other developers wanting in on the 360 and ps3.
Ok I'm now going ot publish my top 10 gunplay/weapon sets in FPS' i've played.
10. Counter-Strike: Source - A lot of choice of weapons and nice graphics on them. Possiblky some of the most exacting design and the accurate feel reflects this. Also as a reflection of this very unforgiving. However some of the nuances of gameplay need some getting used to and some are in fact rather rubbish, just addictive. Neverless the AK needs mention as probably it's best incarnation in the genre I've played.
9. FarCry - The weapons lend themeslves to long range combat and in the few missions where this is reflected Farcry is glorious. Unfortunately the developers seemed to fail to realise this and went indoors, and it fell apart mostly. Also giant monsters perhaps needed some slightly more exotic weaponry to match. Still great for them vistas though as you pick them off one by one.
8. Day of Defeat Souce - This gains lots of points because of the sheer fear you get of a mounted machine gun, you simply can't let yourself get in sight of it.
7. Battlefield 2 - The weapons do often have meat to them, and there is choice. gunning in BF2 requires patience, not least because you often die from an enemy you cannot see but because often you have to lie in wait for enemies to come to you. However those moments of laying suppressing fire while your teammates advance, defending one flag for a whole round or maning a transport copters gun make up for all ills.
6. Half-Life 1 - The Mp5 and the shotgun made it, the crossbow and rocket launcher were just delicous icing on the cake. Use of secondary fire modes made this ace and the shotgun stands as possibly the best ever made. The gluon gun and the wasp gun were slightly pointless, too many guns syndrome methinks. Lack of much environmental damage and physics is beginning to show it's age.
5. UT2004 - A purely deathmatch weapon set at its best probably. Lacking the reload and real world setting of most in the list these have satisfying effects and each requires thought to use. Each weapon is a skill set on its own, whether its mastering boucing flack, or the hard to obtain but essential shock-cmbo.
4. Call of Duty 2 - Perhaps zenith of the WW2 game, silghtly unneccessary perhaps but probably the most refined. What makes CoD 2's guns distinct is the lack of power they put at the player. The enemy comes at you in tanks and fires at you with artillery, and all you've got is a lee-enfield with a long reload time. In between cocking each round into place 3 more enemies come into view, all you can do it time the shots best, go for headshots and hide hoping your teammates save you.
3. Halo 2 - This was a tough one, I nearly put it at number 2. Halo's combat is probably best described as Halo-ish, but it is probably most akin to a zen-trance. Dual weapons as a trade off for grenades and that all important pistol-whipping makes for intesely tactical combat. The Human weapons are familiar and pack a punch, but the Alien weapons are potent and more efficient ammo wise. The Energy sword however is a work of art.
2. Half-life 2 - The guns are shiny and certainly well thought through, little redundancy here. Each one has its own feel. In some ways it is conservative in not going with the flow, grenades remaining a weapon rather than an independant function, and you maintaining the unrealistically large inventory. Weapons almsot work on a scissor paper stone level, some much more suited than others in different situations the story throws you at. However what gives this the edge over Halo 2 is the Gravity gun which is a joy to use.
1. FEAR - To be honest I didn't need to think hard over this one. More than in any other games I know you know these guns are 'working'. The dual-pistols, the sub machine gun and probably most of all the shotgun are the meatiest and best fun to use weapons I have ever used in a game. The whole world smashes around you and dust flies everwhere. Muzzleflares erupt across rooms and you see bullets pass below you as you jump. The combat is balletic, majestic and dirty. Unfortunately the rest of the game couldn't neccessarily deliver, with bland locations and repetitious enemies. Gunplay wise however Nothing else delivers anything close to this experiance.
Oh Tim, this weekend can I possibly take back my B5, and also borrow the LotR films for a bit. Fancy some watchthroughs.
I think I shall endevour to write what I can about gaming since my last gaming entry a while ago. What's happened since? The X-box 360 got released for one and have had a bit of opportunity to play around on it. So far more impressed by the hardware than the games so far, while good none are probably 'next-generation' yet. Condemned is very scary, Perfect Dark Zero appears to have nice multiplayer and Progect Gotham Racing is probably the best racing game I've played, which isn't saying much, but the graphics are great and also appears to have a future on Live.
But enough of that, what about PC gaming? Well since Christmas nothing of interest has been released, but there is some exciting suff in the future. Firstly Star Wars Empire at War seems to have good potential, and the demo proved limited, but I thought showed that it may be good if expandd. Also the demo proved extremely mod friendly, and that bodes well for the game. Prbably won't buy it however...
UT2007 seems imminent, end of March according to play.com, and apparently a ps3 launch title. More excitingly we have Company of heroes and faces of war seemingly competing in the first half of this year, both appearing rather similar, WW2, small scale combat with destructable terrain. My money's behind company of heroes if only because I like the developers relic. Another RTS Rise of Legends looks exciting, but I reckon will be delayed. A new preview on Gamespot seems to suggest it is aiming for a faster paced more combat orientated game, and we shall see how that works out.
Looking more into the future will be a few titles that in all probability will end up being released next year rather than this. First Mark of Chaos the new Warhamer RTS, which in my book's main attraction is Skaven as an army. This might be Warhammer: Total War, and that can only be good, however I have a nagging suspicion it will be a bit bland. More hype-worthy possibly is Medieval 2: Total War, apparently finding a new era wasn't good enough for them and the medieval period is being revisited. One highlight so far is the incorporation of the New world which may add a new dimension. Finally and the one I'm most looking forward to is Supreme Commander, but enough has been said on that matter already.
But Oliver! That's all RTS', I wanna know about other genres! Prey is possibly the most noteworth FPS coming up, that and of course Aftermath. Both look reasonable but I don't really intend to buy Prey, it doesn't look my thing... RPG wise there is Elder Scrolls Oblivion which will be worth a look. Also the little heard about Neverwinter nights 2 makes an appeance. However I can't help feeling 2006 may be the year of the RTS with all the afformentioned titles hitting, mostly with next generation graphics and physics. This may be a result of them being the only genre the next gen consoles still can't do and all the other developers wanting in on the 360 and ps3.
Ok I'm now going ot publish my top 10 gunplay/weapon sets in FPS' i've played.
10. Counter-Strike: Source - A lot of choice of weapons and nice graphics on them. Possiblky some of the most exacting design and the accurate feel reflects this. Also as a reflection of this very unforgiving. However some of the nuances of gameplay need some getting used to and some are in fact rather rubbish, just addictive. Neverless the AK needs mention as probably it's best incarnation in the genre I've played.
9. FarCry - The weapons lend themeslves to long range combat and in the few missions where this is reflected Farcry is glorious. Unfortunately the developers seemed to fail to realise this and went indoors, and it fell apart mostly. Also giant monsters perhaps needed some slightly more exotic weaponry to match. Still great for them vistas though as you pick them off one by one.
8. Day of Defeat Souce - This gains lots of points because of the sheer fear you get of a mounted machine gun, you simply can't let yourself get in sight of it.
7. Battlefield 2 - The weapons do often have meat to them, and there is choice. gunning in BF2 requires patience, not least because you often die from an enemy you cannot see but because often you have to lie in wait for enemies to come to you. However those moments of laying suppressing fire while your teammates advance, defending one flag for a whole round or maning a transport copters gun make up for all ills.
6. Half-Life 1 - The Mp5 and the shotgun made it, the crossbow and rocket launcher were just delicous icing on the cake. Use of secondary fire modes made this ace and the shotgun stands as possibly the best ever made. The gluon gun and the wasp gun were slightly pointless, too many guns syndrome methinks. Lack of much environmental damage and physics is beginning to show it's age.
5. UT2004 - A purely deathmatch weapon set at its best probably. Lacking the reload and real world setting of most in the list these have satisfying effects and each requires thought to use. Each weapon is a skill set on its own, whether its mastering boucing flack, or the hard to obtain but essential shock-cmbo.
4. Call of Duty 2 - Perhaps zenith of the WW2 game, silghtly unneccessary perhaps but probably the most refined. What makes CoD 2's guns distinct is the lack of power they put at the player. The enemy comes at you in tanks and fires at you with artillery, and all you've got is a lee-enfield with a long reload time. In between cocking each round into place 3 more enemies come into view, all you can do it time the shots best, go for headshots and hide hoping your teammates save you.
3. Halo 2 - This was a tough one, I nearly put it at number 2. Halo's combat is probably best described as Halo-ish, but it is probably most akin to a zen-trance. Dual weapons as a trade off for grenades and that all important pistol-whipping makes for intesely tactical combat. The Human weapons are familiar and pack a punch, but the Alien weapons are potent and more efficient ammo wise. The Energy sword however is a work of art.
2. Half-life 2 - The guns are shiny and certainly well thought through, little redundancy here. Each one has its own feel. In some ways it is conservative in not going with the flow, grenades remaining a weapon rather than an independant function, and you maintaining the unrealistically large inventory. Weapons almsot work on a scissor paper stone level, some much more suited than others in different situations the story throws you at. However what gives this the edge over Halo 2 is the Gravity gun which is a joy to use.
1. FEAR - To be honest I didn't need to think hard over this one. More than in any other games I know you know these guns are 'working'. The dual-pistols, the sub machine gun and probably most of all the shotgun are the meatiest and best fun to use weapons I have ever used in a game. The whole world smashes around you and dust flies everwhere. Muzzleflares erupt across rooms and you see bullets pass below you as you jump. The combat is balletic, majestic and dirty. Unfortunately the rest of the game couldn't neccessarily deliver, with bland locations and repetitious enemies. Gunplay wise however Nothing else delivers anything close to this experiance.
Oh Tim, this weekend can I possibly take back my B5, and also borrow the LotR films for a bit. Fancy some watchthroughs.