Only a quick one today.
Ok, so whats going on? All the good games are short, and are worth the money, while we have the longer games a bit shit, and not worth the time or money.
WTF is up with that?
Assassins Creed is a decent game, I have been playing it recently, and I am defiantly getting AC2. However, AC is a short game.... I am getting near the end of it now, and it is defiantly one hell of a game.
Another game that comes to mind is Republic Commando. A Star Wars game where you don't play the jedi. It, again, is a short game, but worth EVERY cent.
On the other side of it, you have SPORE. It is a BIG game, with infinite game play time. However, while good, it dose get boring rather quickly.
So, maybe we should be asking for game quality over game time? Well, maybe....
If we do that, then we would get quality, but with short game times, we would be asking for more...... and it would go round and round like that.
What we really need is balance.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
The Dump Review #2
Hello.
Its been a long time since I have blogged, and a lot has changed.
So, things are going well, BLAR BLAR, and so on….
So, without further ado, here is review #2!
Item #2: Anno 1404 (aka Age of Discovery)
Class: Video Gamer for PC
Sub Class: City Builder/RTS
My Score: 9/10
Its been a long time since I have blogged, and a lot has changed.
So, things are going well, BLAR BLAR, and so on….
So, without further ado, here is review #2!
Item #2: Anno 1404 (aka Age of Discovery)
Class: Video Gamer for PC
Sub Class: City Builder/RTS
My Score: 9/10
So, I have been playing this for the past few days. It has sucked me in. BIG TIME. Before I go any further, this game is a BIG game. If you are a cursing gamer, this is not for you. And a possibly some management skills should also be applied here. It’s a BIG game. And I have only been playing the campaign!
First off, this is a game you need to set aside 2 hours to play in a go. Why? Because it will tell you when you have been playing one game two hours strait, and tell you to take a break. Good thinking on the devs part.
Game play is good. You start small with peasants, and slowly go up. Each ‘level’ of the ‘tech’ or people tree gives you more buildings to use, but also gives you more to worry about, in terms of what you people need. On top of that, there are tow types of cities you have to deal with. Oxidant and Oriental.
The main difference between the tow types are the things you need to keep the happy. On the one had, you have the Oxidant, who, at the Present level, will need fish as food, and siddur for drinking. On the other hand, the Nomads of the Oriental need dates for food, and milk to drink. Both sides also need to have religious needs filled as well, with the Oxidant churches keeping people happy, and the Oriental Mosques. Eventually, you will get to a point were you will need both to survive, and make your city’s thrive.
There is, however, one other factor in the game play witch is rather a big thing.
Islands
Islands have a BIG factor in this game, as you start on one, and move from there. In fact there is no ‘main land’. This makes trading a very important part of the game, and the AI are always looking to trade with you.
Each island has limits, and it depends on what type of island it is. You have the frosty islands, were you will find the Oxidant most rely on. Then you have the desert, almost resort like islands, and were you will need to get what is needed to keep the Orient side of your empire going.
All in all, the recourse side of it is a balancing act that, if done well, can make your empire prospered, and go to its fullest potential. However, if done wrong, could destroy your empire.
Combat
The combat it is interesting. It is not your stranded RTS combat of building troops, and charging at your enemy. Instead you ‘build’ war camps, witch you then ship off to the island you are planing to attack. There are three different camps that can be used. A small war camp, a big war camp, and a siege war camp. The first two are troops, with the only difference being the amount of troops they have, and there range off attack. The siege weapon camps are basically big trebushay. They need support form war camps to defend them, and to help with attacking.
There are also Oriental war equipment, however I have only used one camp from them. The miners. All I can say is that they like to dig.
All in all, this is a RELAY good game, but it is also a game that is not for every one.
If you want to take a look at it, then here is a link to the demo.
It give a good idea of what you can expect.
And just when you thourght there would be no pics.
Click to get a better look!
This shot was taken by Colonel Chode of the PCPowerPlay Forums.
First off, this is a game you need to set aside 2 hours to play in a go. Why? Because it will tell you when you have been playing one game two hours strait, and tell you to take a break. Good thinking on the devs part.
Game play is good. You start small with peasants, and slowly go up. Each ‘level’ of the ‘tech’ or people tree gives you more buildings to use, but also gives you more to worry about, in terms of what you people need. On top of that, there are tow types of cities you have to deal with. Oxidant and Oriental.
The main difference between the tow types are the things you need to keep the happy. On the one had, you have the Oxidant, who, at the Present level, will need fish as food, and siddur for drinking. On the other hand, the Nomads of the Oriental need dates for food, and milk to drink. Both sides also need to have religious needs filled as well, with the Oxidant churches keeping people happy, and the Oriental Mosques. Eventually, you will get to a point were you will need both to survive, and make your city’s thrive.
There is, however, one other factor in the game play witch is rather a big thing.
Islands
Islands have a BIG factor in this game, as you start on one, and move from there. In fact there is no ‘main land’. This makes trading a very important part of the game, and the AI are always looking to trade with you.
Each island has limits, and it depends on what type of island it is. You have the frosty islands, were you will find the Oxidant most rely on. Then you have the desert, almost resort like islands, and were you will need to get what is needed to keep the Orient side of your empire going.
All in all, the recourse side of it is a balancing act that, if done well, can make your empire prospered, and go to its fullest potential. However, if done wrong, could destroy your empire.
Combat
The combat it is interesting. It is not your stranded RTS combat of building troops, and charging at your enemy. Instead you ‘build’ war camps, witch you then ship off to the island you are planing to attack. There are three different camps that can be used. A small war camp, a big war camp, and a siege war camp. The first two are troops, with the only difference being the amount of troops they have, and there range off attack. The siege weapon camps are basically big trebushay. They need support form war camps to defend them, and to help with attacking.
There are also Oriental war equipment, however I have only used one camp from them. The miners. All I can say is that they like to dig.
All in all, this is a RELAY good game, but it is also a game that is not for every one.
If you want to take a look at it, then here is a link to the demo.
It give a good idea of what you can expect.
And just when you thourght there would be no pics.
Click to get a better look!This shot was taken by Colonel Chode of the PCPowerPlay Forums.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Games you may like, but don't know it!
As a gamer that try's everything, I come across games that most people, who consider them self games, would probably not like. One of these games is The Sims 2.
The Sims was a big hit, and most people bout it, I how ever, missed the boat on it, and, due to my curiosity for the game, I went out and got The Sims 2 last year.
Before I go any further, I would like to just say that I play a lot of different games. FarCry 2, GTA, Wic, and DoW just to name a few. So, I have a lot of...... experience in the art of what a good game is about. The Sims 2 is a good game. Why? Because it is good at what it dose. What dose it do? Well, in truth, it is a virtual doll house. But, it is also a very cheep house or public venue designing program. It also teaches budgeting, in a way. It dose many things. You can make your Sim what you want. There are a lot of looks for them, and you can customise most of the stuff.
Another game you may have heard about, but thought 'Not for me' is X3. If you have not herd of the X sires, I would not be all surprised. The X games are space games. The beast way to described them is Space Trading simulator, however, it is not just that. You can become a pirate, and take down trade ships, or become a bounty hunter. There is a lot of possibility. Moving on, X3 is the third game in X series. There are, how ever, 2 X3 games. There is X3: Reunion and X3: Tern Conflict. X3:R was the first of the tow, with X3:TC coming out just last year.
At this point it is a very hard game to get in to. It is not because it gets boring, but because if you play it, it will suck time like a Black hole sucks light. However, it has a very big learning curve. X3: Tern Conflict is the, at this point, by far, the easier of the tow X3 games to get in to, but it is still rather hard to get in to. The beast way to described it is that you are basically thrown strait in, with out any sort of tutorial to speak of. However, with a lot of help from player made guides over at the Egosoft forum, and some patience, it can be a very rewarding game.
These tow games get overlooked regularly, both for different reasons. The Sims for being a 'girls' game, and X3 for being to hard. The fact is any game can be for you. You just need to look at it in a positive way.
Until Next Time, Josh.
Friday, January 2, 2009
The Dumps Review! #1
Hello, and Happy New Year. For my first blog of 2009, I am going to do a review. So, lets get in to it.
Item #1: City of Heroes
Class: Video Gamer for PC
Sub Class: MMO
My Score: 8/10
Ok, I have been playing this on a 14 day trial, and am still playing it. So, I will start at the beginning. Before you do anything ales, you need to pick weather your a Villain or a Hero. I decided I would be a Hero. The next thing is the look of your character. I chose female as the sex of my character, and, as guys do, gave her the biggest boobs possible. :D The next step is making customising the costume of you hero or Villain. After about 10 minuets, I had something that I liked. The last tow things you do is picking your powers and name your Avatar for in the game. I went for a Wolverine style power, with blades coming out of my hands. I then named her Ginger Fire. Now I was done with that, it was on to the actual game! YA!
The tutorial is pretty good, and gives you a good imprison of how the game works. The tutorial it self will last about 20 min, so it is a relatively shot one, if you consider other games on the market. It dose get a little repetitive going from one person to the next, and back in some cases, but it is not as repetitive as other games, so it is still all good.
So, once you are finished with tutorial, you are sent to Atlas Park. Well, to be honest, you can pick between tow This is were things get good. Unlike other MMO's, yer grinding consists of going in to 'dungeons', you can just walk around Atlas Park, and protecting the civilian population from the thugs that are around the city.
For example, you could be running down the street, and you see a women being robed by some thugs. You can go over, and defeat them, she shows her appreciation by telling you something like 'Your my new favourite hero!' or 'Nice Costume!' Yer, you don't get anything from them, but every time I defeat them, and I feel like I have done something worth while.
There are sewers, but I am yet to have a good go at them, due to the fact every time I go in to them, I die. YA for being a low level. That, and I think the idea is that you go down them as a team. I am yet to have a go at teams and clans out, but from what I here, they are very well set up.
Anyway, moving on, the mission system is good. You start with a contact, witch you then go to to get the missions. When you have done everything for him, he then points you to another contact. You can also find NPC's that will give you more missions, but for some of them, you need a certain level.
All in all, City of Heroes is a great MMO. Infact, it is one of the beast MMO's I have played in a long time.
Until next time, Josh
Item #1: City of Heroes
Class: Video Gamer for PC
Sub Class: MMO
My Score: 8/10
Ok, I have been playing this on a 14 day trial, and am still playing it. So, I will start at the beginning. Before you do anything ales, you need to pick weather your a Villain or a Hero. I decided I would be a Hero. The next thing is the look of your character. I chose female as the sex of my character, and, as guys do, gave her the biggest boobs possible. :D The next step is making customising the costume of you hero or Villain. After about 10 minuets, I had something that I liked. The last tow things you do is picking your powers and name your Avatar for in the game. I went for a Wolverine style power, with blades coming out of my hands. I then named her Ginger Fire. Now I was done with that, it was on to the actual game! YA!
The Avatar selection Screen
The tutorial is pretty good, and gives you a good imprison of how the game works. The tutorial it self will last about 20 min, so it is a relatively shot one, if you consider other games on the market. It dose get a little repetitive going from one person to the next, and back in some cases, but it is not as repetitive as other games, so it is still all good.
So, once you are finished with tutorial, you are sent to Atlas Park. Well, to be honest, you can pick between tow This is were things get good. Unlike other MMO's, yer grinding consists of going in to 'dungeons', you can just walk around Atlas Park, and protecting the civilian population from the thugs that are around the city.
Atlas Park
For example, you could be running down the street, and you see a women being robed by some thugs. You can go over, and defeat them, she shows her appreciation by telling you something like 'Your my new favourite hero!' or 'Nice Costume!' Yer, you don't get anything from them, but every time I defeat them, and I feel like I have done something worth while.
There are sewers, but I am yet to have a good go at them, due to the fact every time I go in to them, I die. YA for being a low level. That, and I think the idea is that you go down them as a team. I am yet to have a go at teams and clans out, but from what I here, they are very well set up.
Anyway, moving on, the mission system is good. You start with a contact, witch you then go to to get the missions. When you have done everything for him, he then points you to another contact. You can also find NPC's that will give you more missions, but for some of them, you need a certain level.
All in all, City of Heroes is a great MMO. Infact, it is one of the beast MMO's I have played in a long time.
Until next time, Josh
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Gaming Now
Gaming has come a long way sins the early days. With the likes of The Duke and Keen long gone. There have been many games in the very short history of video gaming, and, like everything ales, it is becoming a big market. It is growing every year, and there are more games coming out every year. There is, how ever, a big difference between the Video gaming industry and other industries that deal in entertainment.
Games can be made by just about anyone. Along as you have a net connection, and a bit of know-how, you can make a game, using one of MANY free or cheep programmes that are available to download like Game Maker and Blender. Then there is moving. Sometime, if a mod is any good, there is a chance it will be bout buy a company, and be made even better, thanks to the money that is getting put in it. One good example of this is Gary's Mod or, as it is now know as, Gmod, a mod for Half-Life 2 by Valve. After it got to version 9, Valve bout it, and version 10 was realised as a buy able product on Valve's digital distribution serves, STEAM.
Then there are the Indy (independent) games. They make up a small section of the market, but they are the driving force in most cases on new ways to play games. Most big wigs wont touch a new way of doing things, incase it flops, and they losses all there money. Indy games, on the other hand, have a bit more flexibility, as they don't have big budgets, and in most cases, there are only a few people working on an Indy game, compared to the teams of 20 or more that the big wigs have. This means that they do not have to speed as much, which, in turn, means they don't have to pay as many people, or in some cases, no one at all.
A good example of an Indy game is Mount & Blade. It is a 3rd person RPG set fictional world that is in medieval times. The game sees you as a citizen of the land, with no real story to follow. You can become a bandit, or a slave trader, and even hire people to be in your own privet army, witch you can then use to attack other people roaming the land, whether they be guard patrols from the towns, to bandits. Pretty much anything that roams the world, you can attack to take as slaves or kill. The beast comparison for the game would be Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but with mounted combat. Now, you probably asking why I told you that. Well, it is to point out the this is a big game, made by a small team. This team, infarct, only consists of only 2 people.
My point is that a good game is not the sum of people developing the game, but the sum of there skill. How is this different? Well, you could get 40 people in a room, and tell them to make a game. These people have little skill, if not none at all, and after the game is finished, it flops. You then On the other hand, if you get a team of 10 people, who know what they are doing, you could have one hell of a game at the end of it all.
I guess what I am trying to say is that the beast games out there are there don't necessarily have big amounts of cash to speed. This means that you need to look for the good games.
To finish of, I will point you in the direction of a few sites that are rather good.
First up, there is Mod DB. If there's a mod for a game, this place will have it, and there is also a growing number Independent games as well, witch means that ModDB could become a very big place for games.
I mentioned a program could Game Maker. Well, there website also has games that has been made with the program to download. Some a free, while others you will have to pay for.
Until next time, Josh
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