Gaming Signal: August 2006 Archives

Tuesday August 22, 2006

Company of Heroes, the demo

I consider myself a fan of real time strategy (RTS) games. I also like a good World War 2 game. What happens when you combine the two? You get Relic's new RTS game Company of Heroes. I have been waiting for this title since I saw it a few months back in a magazine. I enjoyed Dawn of War, but felt that the game was lacking in its campaign settings. Now don't get me wrong, I still think that the new title will have a relatively short campaign mode, but I do understand that since it would mean playing as the Germans. I also do recognize that this game will most likely have an expansion that adds the British or Russian forces as an add on. But this is speculation at this point and the point here is the demo and my feelings about it.

Well, it was simply fantastic. Everything from the tutorials to the voicework really works for this game. The graphics had some tearing, but I believe the demo was created before the title had made gold status. The demo only covers the tutorials about the basics of the game including base management, infantry movement and armor tactics. It also includes two missions from the single player campaign, but the second one seems to be cut short. The demo plays like a World War 2 game, and when making the assault on Omaha beach it was very difficult.

This game really is working towards some elements that are bit more realistic as compared to other RTS games out there. Small arms fire is completely ineffective against armor. When combined with things like cover and firing arcs - you get a game that starts to play more like a wargame than a unit churnfest. This element really builds on what Relic started in Dawn of War and it appears to work well.

Overall, the game is what I would want in a WW2 RTS game. One that focuses on holding strategic points and maneuvering, and having less balance problems with infantry taking out tanks with small arms. I am very much looking forward to this title when it launches later this year.

Friday August 18, 2006

Tidbits for August 18, 2006

Yes its been a while since we had some new tidbits, and I found some interesting items that have been making thier way across the blogosphere. So without further ado, we commence:

What happens when you combine Ninjas, Pirates, Robots and Zombies (mind you if any of the entities were time travelling, I would have had to invoke our copyright)? You get Ninja Loves Pirate which was submitted as part of GameDev.net's Four Element's Contest. The contest involves the creation of a game using at least 2 of those elements listed above and create a game. Sounds like a winner for me, and I must thank the folks over at Joystiq for the link love.
Guitar Hero is a heck of a PS2 game and probably one of the best games released this last year, but you are a PS2 h8a (notice the correct spelling unlike Mr. Scalzi who spelled it "hayta") and you don't want that console in your house (JP). No worries, there is an open source version called Frets On Fire that allows you to play using a keyboard or joypad. The great news is that you could craft your own controller using a joypad and a toy guitar like this guy, and next month PC Format will show us all how.
Terra Nova have a great article up about heroism and video games. The author goes on about how do you create the experience where your avatar in the game really is "heroic" versus somebody who is effectively immortal since they can never be truly eliminated. I think that once a MMO figures out how to make players really feel heroic versus it simply be a question of repetion and then folks will be hooked for a good long time.
Neverwinter Nights may be off Atari's official support list, but there are still some mods being put together out there. Today, a major one was released. Danger over Daggerford was intended to be another premium module for Neverwinter Nights, but the developers decided to release it for free. So if you have the game and all of its expansions, this would have be another thing to pickup and play. Also, Infinite Dungeons is on sale for a limited time for only 6.95 at Bioware's online store - also not a bad deal..

CGW farewell

Last week, Ziff-Davis in a partnership with Microsoft announced that starting this fall, the magazine formerly known as Computer Gaming World will change its name to Games for Windows : The Official Magazine. Jeff Green, editor in chief, gave a great interview over at Firing Squad talking about the change and why they are doing it.

The bottom line is - the owners of the magazine wanted to see it grow its newsstand presence and felt that the best way to do that was to partnership with Microsoft. Microsoft agreed, and wanted the name to tie into the new branding effort they are embarking on later this year. It turns out we're going to see Microsoft try to brand games for PCs like the console industry brands its games - with official logos and specific dimensions of boxes, etc. All told I think this new branding is a great thing for the maturing PC game industry. I'm disappointed with the change to CGW - I'd never think of picking up the 'Official Playstation Magazine' or the 'Official XBox Magazine' because I assumed immediately that they have no editorial integrity at all (however I've since learned that OPM is as independent as the new G4W will be - so maybe I will take a look at it.) I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt though - we'll just have to see how it changes as their readership changes. I've been a subscriber to CGW so long I've forgotten when I first started (1986 maybe?) and like the magazine of today a lot - so we'll see how it goes.

Monday August 14, 2006

Gencon is in the bag...

In case you live under a rock, Gencon was this last weekend, and the lovely folks at GamingReport have all the details and pictures. So if you were unable to attend (which is still a few folks), this is an excellent way to catch up on the happenings at the convention.

One highlight was the release of the Order of the Stick game from Giants in the Playground and APE games which caused huge lines at the convention hall.

Microsoft and Home Brews

Well according to the folks over at Gamasutra, Microsoft wiil be releasing the XNA development platform as a development package to individuals with Window XP PCs. Furthermore, they will begin offering a $99 subscription based service called "Creator's Club" which will allow these indy developers to to share thier gaming creations with other XP PC users and folks with XBox 360s. The details are still trickling out, and while you won't be able to deliver your games to every XBox360 - it is a start!!! The action begins on August 30 when the beta of the new XNA platform becomes available (for free).

From Slashdot.

Thursday August 10, 2006

Yes, I know...

Updates here are few and far between, but does that mean we have fallen off the cliff? Heck no - it means that we are just busy with other things. I am sure others are equally busy and I have may apologies about late poll updates and other things, but alas I find this entity to be one of the last things I can get to. I would say that it will be better, but I would like to find out what other folks would like to see here? I mean we have "Gamertags", but honestly only Trent and JP have the darned Xbox360s to go with the tags.

So I throw it out to our readers (whom we love very much), what do you want more of? Let us know, and we will work to make this the best darned game related blog out there...

First Impressions: Titan's Quest by Iron Lore

First, I want to preface this by saying that this is really not a full review in that I have not finished the game. I would venture that I am only just one third of the way through this game, but I would like at least get my early feelings about the game here for those who may be on the fence about it. Want to know more? Read on...

Basically, the game is a Diablo clone. I mean it is incredibly derivative in the fact that it is yet another entry in the already packed action RPG field which includes games like Dungeon Siege, Beyond Divinity and others. Now this may seem like yet another clickfest- this game does add some fantastic visuals and a pretty good story. I am a sucker for mythology, and this game is full of it. The part that I have finished involves the Greek gods and from a story perspective the game is pretty good. I anxiously look forward to see how things pan out.

Another well done element of the game is the visuals. They have updated it to be much more a 3-d game versus some other games out there. It is not the first game to add 3-D elements, but the scenery and models look pretty good at almost all the zoom resolutions. Furthermore, the game supports widescreen monitors without any funky command switches which is a good thing.

Now with these good things, there are some negative things. That 3D engine is a pig from a memory and hardware utilization standpoint, and lags at times on my PC. My hardware is only a year or so old, but this game has some issues with respect to running on older gear. Now, I am sure that if I had the latest Core-duo stuff from Intel that my problems would still exist since they have some memory utilization issues that are being patched (and from what I have read 1.11 is far better than the version at release.)

The other negative thing is that sometimes the targeting gets a bit wonky, and I have no other word for it. I mean I know I have the given creature targeted, but I seem to be moving versus hitting it. This could be attributed to the lag issue from above, but I think this might not necessarily be true.

In summary here, this derivative game has its problems, but its fun. I like the kill stuff, get new gear, and kill stuff some more. I have not tried multiplayer, but for the most part I look at MMOs or games like Battlefield 2 for my multiplayer needs. If you are looking for a well done action RPG clone with a decent story, I think you would be well served by this game.

GamingSignal... she's dead Jim.

GamingSignal... she's dead Jim.

WTF guys?!?!