ReviewsAD

Game Reviews A to D

Anarchy Online - PC

Sci fi setting for an otherwise faily bog standard MMORPG.

Graphics Make no mistake, this is old. If graphics are what floats your boat, avoid this like the plague. In fact, unless you can happily play retro games, avoid this.

Good Points It's free. Well, the core game is. All the expansion packs (which I believe make the game somewhat better, but I've not tried them) are paid for, but the main game you can have for free.

Bad points You get what you pay for.

Joose

Armed Assault - PC

Introduction Despite being old, Operation Flashpoint is still good game. The open ended design, ability to play with all the toys, and the fully dev supported 3rd party mod community has kept this game alive for over 5 years, which is ancient history in game terms. Armed Assault is the what Bohemia Interactive Studios term an 'interim sequel'. Their vision is a fully dynamic battlefield environment in which the player takes a small part but as yet the technology to support this is still some way off. ArmA is an update to the award winning game incorporating some of the best bits developed from the XBox port and their commercial military training tool, VBS1.

Gameplay ArmA is a first person platoon level tactical simulation. The semi-dynamic campaign is based on a fictional scenario in which you play the part of the USMC liberating a small island (small = 40km across - it'd take you a day realtime to walk it). Each main story mission is accompanied by a couple of optional missions that can impact on the main mission itself. For example, ambushing the enemy base may reduce the number of reinforcement they can call on but reduce the element of surprise. There are also a number of single player missions and an extremely powerful but remarkably easy to use mission design tool (the one used by the devs). Sights and Sounds Although a vast improvement, the graphics are already looking a little dated compared to some of the cutting edge FPS's. That said, the island enviroment is a treat, complete with rolling hills, mountains, forests, wildlife, some very nicely done built up areas and dynamic weather patterns. Downside is if you ramp the settings up to full it chugs and actually looks worse than having things on medium - I think they've messed up the antialiasing a bit at highest levels (or my card ain't up to it). Sounds are disappointingly weak but there's already a 3rd party mod out that beef them up if it upsets you. It runs pretty well (30fps) with lots on screen and in built up areas.

Stuff that sucks There's a dissapointing lack of attention to detail that really detracts from what could be a superlative title. The physics engine is unconvincing, which is an annoying oversight after the effort being plied into this area in other titles. The environment is not fully destructable and things that are blow uppable go boom or collapse in the same way every time (this was a major criticism in OFP which they've not addressed). Some of the missions are bugged, albeit due to the open ended dynamic scripting which means the AI can do interesting things, sometimes it just does the wrong thing. Once or twice I've had to restart a mission because the AI went off on one and I've had to use the -endmission cheat once to force the end of a mission that was borked. Also, some of the voice acting is terrible and the animations, though improved, still suck.

Conclusion BIS are very loyal to their fan base (they even hired one of the best modders) and already they are talking about releasing the full suite of dev tools to the community. My copy of OFP is unrecognisable from the original and I can see ArmA going the same way, which will keep interest alive for years to come. They've added Join Game in Progress to MP now which will significantly boost COOP play, and the Team Switch function, although not exactly a respawn button, means that the game ain't over after the first shot when you forgot to lean round that corner, pop smoke and commando role up to that unoccupied T72, jump in the gunners seat and mow down the poor unsuspecting crew who were having a fag round a camp fire.

Final word: despite a few oversights, ArmA is everything that I hoped a sequel to OFP would be. Thank fuck for once a dev has taken what's good and improved it rather than breaking something to 'make it more appealing to the wider community'.

Linky to a good news/mod site: http://www.armedassault.info/

Score : 8.5/10

Friznit

Auto Assault - PC

Another brave attempt to break away from the MMO cliches, this is all set in a mad max style post apocalptic world, and pretty much all the action is from wheeled beasties of the road. Much more action orientated than your average MMO.

Graphics Not bad on my poor system, and apparently quite shiny on higher end stuff.

Good points Its quite fun belting it about in the desert in a suped up van firing rockets at people. Nearly all of the world is destructable, which is nice.

Bad points It doesnt really work, somehow. Fun as it is initially, you soon get past the fact that "OMFG im in a CAR!" and realise that its basically just another generic MMO, doing the same old stuff. Also, the bits in the cities where you get out of your car are truly horrendous.

Score : 4/10

Joose

Battlefield 2142

Introduction EA's latest game in the Battlefield series, it's set in the future, the world is freezing over, good guys fight bad guys.

Gameplay Ok, now a lot of you guys that play BF2 are sceptical about this, suggesting that it's the same game as BF2 or that it's not as fun as BF2. These are all ill-informed lies, I'm afraid.

Firstly, although the game is on the BF engine, EA has made it so displaced from BF2 that everything feels fresh and new. This isn't the difference between WW2 and Vietnam (which was quite similar), this is the difference between modern combat and far far in the future, which opens up a whole range of gameplay dynamics that help make the game different.

The upgrades are one fun part of the game, it kind of feels like the feeling you get in an RPG when you're working towards a new level so you can get the skill you've been craving. And it doesn't even take that long to get promoted so you're first 4 promotions within 2 hours of play if you try.

the gameplay itself is similar to BF2, but there's plenty that you won't recognise and I can say conclusively from play BF2 last night that BF2142 is so much more pleasing.

Sights and Sounds Visually, the colours in BF2142 (a mix of blues, greys and whites) are psychologically more pleasing than BF2 (oranges, black, greys) and the graphics seem to be marginally better in 2142, I haven't actually noticed any anti-aliasing yet.

Sounds are great, exactly what you'd expect future warfare to sound like, just like warfare today, except more high pitched.

Stuff that sucks There are some bugs but most of them are the same bugs as you'd find in BF2, and with only 1 patch so far, it's pretty fucking impressive. Conclusion Great game, it will take over BF2 for sure, just as long as when you play it you don't actively seek the bad parts, you have to take an optimistic approach.

Score : 8.5/10

Sandwich

Battlestations Midway - PC

Introduction Arcadey console-port WW2 game based in the Pacific theatre. One short storyline campaign and a bunch of single missions. The story is fairly engaging. You start out in command of a little torpedo boat as Pearl Harbour comes under attack, get more toys as the game unfolds and end up in command of a big carrier fleet at the Battle of Midway. They throw in a little bit of 'don't be too hard on the Nips, they've got families too' footage which is a nice touch.

Gameplay Did I mention console port? Very simple game play, fairly slick interface and clearly designed for people with only 3 fingers. Everything works well with mouse and keyboard although flying is probably best done with a game-controller-pad thing. Downside is that as it gets more hectic you spend most of your time on the map screen directing the battle rather than actually playing with the toys and you end up missing some of the basic RTS controls (selection boxes etc). That said, you can jump into any of the toys whenever you want to have a play around.

Sights and Sounds Graphics aren't so much dated as functional, clearly designed for max framerate and to sit well on an XBox. Reflections and clouds are particularly nice, but I got pretty bored of the flat calms. The Pacific is never at a flat calm. Water splash on the 'camera' is a nice touch.

Stuff that sucks Too arcadey, campaign is way too short, weather modelling is non-existant.

Conclusion Mildly amusing for quick blast. It has a coop multiplayer mode which looks fun, but I've not been able to test yet.

Score : 5/10

Friznit

City of Heroes/Villains

Is is two games, or one game, or what? Good question, and im not entirely sure. The mechanics of the two are basically the same, they interact with each other, they are launched from the same shortcut, and if you have both you still only pay one monthly fee. However, they can be got seperately, so you can have either/or. Also, the *feel* of the two games is very different, despite the fact they are basically the same. So I dunno.

However, in a basic summary of both: Its an MMO based around comic books, such as the X-Men and Batman and the like. CoH deals with the good guys, and tends to be a little more camp, wheras CoV you play as a bad guy, and its a little more gothic. Both never really take themselves too seriously, though. The options for making your character (even though most of them are purely cosmetic) are stupidly many, enabling you to make pretty much any theme of character you can think of (although copying Marvel characters is a big no-no, due to a bad case of Lawyers).

Graphics Looks ok, if a little dated, on my rig. Faster machines can make it look very shiney indeed, with depth of field and all sorts. Stylistically, the CoH levels are mostly rather bright and cheery, whereas pretty much all of CoV is grungy and run down. All looks smashing though, design wise.

Good stuff Character creation. Its almost a game unto its self, and as a result, ive got more characters in the CoX games than in all the other MMO's i have ever played put together. Its a lot of silly fun. Theres no need for planning, or schemes that last longer than an hour or so. Jumping/flying about/running at 200mph are rediculously good fun (I have yet to see anyone get Flying for the first time and *not* spend the next 30mins just swooping about the place). Theres a lot of space for pissing about in the game, so its more social (when you have a group of friends) than most other MMO's.

Bad Stuff The temptation to just make a squillion alt's does make it hard to reach high level stuff. The other effect of this is you tend to do the same missions over and over, which can be irritating. Finally, one of the aformentioned strong points is also its weak point: it's not very deep. Yes, you can dip in for some casual gaming, or you can spend hours on end flying about the place lycra clad, but it doesnt have involved, complicated tasks to complete like EVE does. I know, I'm comparing everything to EVE.

Score : 8/10

Joose

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey - PC (reviewed), XBox

Introduction Dreamfall is the sequel to the 1999 game The Longest Journey, considered to be one of the best adventure games ever made. TLJ introduced the story of April Ryan and the Twin Worlds of Stark (basically a near furture Earth) and Arcadia a world of magic. In TLJ the "Balance" that kept the two worlds separated was coming apart, and through her (for lack of a better word) adventure, April succeeded in keeping the Balance from unraveling. Fast forward 10 years. The world has changed a lot since the end of The Longest Journey. The Wire connects all electronic devices and the world is watched over by the megacorporation The Syndicate and its paramilitary EYE. Zoë Castillo is a 20 year old living with her father in Casablanca. Her life has become aimless. She's dropped out of university, and she's become bored and complacent. Then one day she starts receiving bizarre messages on video screens around her...

Gameplay Dreamfall is a graphical adventure, unlike the point and clicks most people associate with adventure games. You control your character much like you do in Grim Fandango or the Knights of the Old Republic series. You move your character around their environment and interact with people and objects. Of course, since it isn't an action-oriented RPG, the whole game feels more relaxed. Most of the game is spent exploring your surroundings and following the fairly linear path to the next event. The puzzles in the game are generally easy, and will be extremely easy for most adventure game aficionados (such as people who somehow managed for beat Myst). However, in my opinion, this makes the game easier for everyone to get into. The biggest problem with adventure games is that the puzzles are way too difficult and frustrating. Most of the time, there's no real way to figure out what the hell you're really supposed to be doing or how to overcome an obstacle. Dreamfall is different because of its linear paths and the comparatively simple puzzles. The end effect for most people will be a game that won't frustrate the hell of you. I played maybe 30 minutes of Myst before quitting in order to avoid smashing my computer and cursing its makers in frustration. Even Grim Fandango required me to rely pretty heavily on walkthroughs to figure out how to finish. However, Dreamfall was made so that most people can play beginning to end without needing any kind of guide. I find this to be a much more satisfying approach. On the flip side, hardcore adventure gamers will be left feeling bored and insipid. There is also a combat system added in, which is probably one of the biggest weaknesses of the game.

If you're playing Dreamfall on the PC, one thing you will want to get is a dual analog gamepad to really enjoy this game. The keyboard and mouse setup just feels clunky. Once you plug in your gamepad though, the controls feel much better. It's evident that the game was probably designed for gamepads.

Dreamfall is a game all about the story. Everything serves to further the plot. You'll spend a lot of time listening to conversations, even up to a few minutes at a time without interaction. If you hate listening to people talk and don't care about the story, do not play this game. You'll only be wasting your money. If you do enjoy a good story, and have the patience to sit through hours of (very well voiced) dialog, then you should definitely play Dreamfall.

Sights and Sounds Graphically Dreamfall is a mixed bag, mostly great. Technically, the game is pretty competent. It takes advantage of a lot of effects that are consistent with its development, such as bloom (not full HDR) and excellent particle effects. The main drag is the many low-resolution textures that are all over the game. Particularly, some people's faces can be downright ugly as shit because of the texturing. Artistically, Dreamfall is a feast. The design of the game is simply beautiful. The different environments you travel through include some of the most strikingly beautiful expanses you've ever seen in a game. Both Stark and Arcadia feel like real places.

The audio is probably one of the best parts of the game. First, the voice acting is easily one of the best in a game I've ever heard. It's every bit as good as a large-budget animated film from Pixar, and easily on-par with or better than the superb voice acting in Half-Life 2. Everyone sounds very convincing, and if it weren't for the nasty textures on a lot of people's faces you could get sucked into the world very easily. Even the bystanders who are just standing around sound convincing. Even though there are subtitles in the game, turning them on takes away from the excellent voice acting, and should be left off. The sounds of the cities in Dreamfall are also excellent. Merchants hawk their wares and the background noise fits perfectly. The soundtrack is beautifully composed and suits the game extremely well.

Stuff that sucks To be blunt, the combat system is one of the worst I have had to use. it's simple enough, with just light and heavy attacks, as well as a block, but the problem is that it is too cumbersome and unresponsive. You'll curse your character as they do not block when you tell them to, resulting in a lot of damage that you wouldn't take if the combat was more responsive and twitch based. Still, even the combat isn't too hard. In fact, for me the hardest combat was the initial training you get at the start of the game at the gym. The rest of the time your enemies will be giant pushovers, negating a lot of the frustration from the clunky fighting controls. Also, you only have a health meter for each combat encounter. Once you defeat a(n) opponent/group of opponents, your health bar disappears until the next time, were it's full again.

The other drawbacks I've already mentioned: the ugly textures, and for some the long dialogs.

Conclusion Dreamfall is one of the best stories in gaming. If you're like me, drawn into an amazing story, You'll be compelled to keep on playing the game to unveil the next part of the story. If you don't mind the long bits of uninterrupted conversation and can bear through the horrid combat, you'll be awed by this masterful story. The characters are easy to connect with, the environments are beautiful, and you won't gouge your eyes out trying to figure out WTF the makers were thinking with a particular puzzle. If you hate dialog or you're a hardcore adventure games (i.e.: Myst fan), you should probably stay away. Everyone else should at least play the demo to see if the story is worth playing. As for me, I feel that Dreamfall is a flawed game, but its flaws insignificant compared to all that is good about it.

Score : 8/10

Side notes: The game is available on Steam ($29.95), and the Xbox version is compatible with the Xbox360. Also, this is one of the few 100% bug free games I've ever played. There are no patches for the game, and everything works the way it should. No item bugs, no missed conversations, everything just works. I haven't played a game in years that didn't require a patch, and I was pleasantly shocked when I couldn't find any for Dreamfall. I wish more games were like this.

Deject

Dungeons & Dragons Online - PC

A reasonable attempt to turn the old pen and paper game into an RPG. Set in the new campain setting of Eberron, this adherance to the p&p game means things work in a very different way. Most of the classes just cant do solo adventuring, because D&D doesnt work like that. Thieves are for picking locks and disarming traps, fighters are for hitting things. If you are a solo thief, you cant kill things, and if you are a solo fighter, you cant get past locked doors. Also, XP is worked out for quest objectives that you achieve, rather than just who you kill.

Graphics I'm getting kinda bored of saying this, but It's destinctly so so. Better than crap, but not so amazing you will cry.

Good stuff If you are a D&D geek (like me) and have a group of similarly minded friends, I can imagine this being a lot of fun. It basically *is* the p&p game with a 3D interface. Also, a lot of the things it does to break away from the standard MMO model work really well...

Bad stuff ...but a few dont. Like the need to be in a group. Its great if you have friends who play the game, but if you dont it's a nightmare. You can't solo and by and large, the "grouping with randoms" gives baaad experiences. Plus, the community on the whole are elitist bastards, so if you are not already a D&D fan, they will shun you, hard.

Joose