Monday 29 October 2007
Warhammer 40K Rocks!
I've been a huge fan of THQ's Warhammer 40K series of RTS games. They're among the best RTS games made in recent years, and have some of the coolest graphics and intro animations out there.
Here's a trailer for a new upcoming game for the Nintendo DS - which I don't have, but games like this make me want to get one just to play this.
Tuesday 23 October 2007
The Witcher
Here's a very interesting game that's been in the works for some time. It's called "The Witcher".I don't know all that much about it, but it seems to be an action-RPG, similar to games such as Diablo & Dungeon Siege.
The game is based on a book and movie by a Polish fantasy writer called Andrzej Sapkowski.
Check out the official game site which upon loading will show you the cool trailer; elsewhere on the site there are links for downloading high-quality versions of this trailer in .WMV and .MOV formats.
Thursday 18 October 2007
Algas - LCD game & toy
This one I got back in 1983 or 1984. This is Algas, a pretty cool looking transforming robot that is also a video game.
No backstory known for this one; was this based on some manga/anime? No idea!
The robot could split in 3 parts; the upper 2 parts becoming tanks and the robot's "spine", hip and legs functioning as a weird looking gun turret thing. Kind of disturbing in more than one way, but anyway...
The central torso part contains the actual game, which is what you start with.
In the game you play the robot, who is under constant attack from bomb-dropping UFO's. The game has three phases, and that is where the different toy parts play a role.
When the game starts, you're in phase 1, where all you can do is stay alive by dodging the bombs being dropped on you. After a while, when you reach a certain score, the game pause and you go to phase 2, which you activate by attaching the upper part of the robot to the torso.
In phase 2 you finally get to fire back at the UFO's. You can't shoot the bombs so you have to keep dodging while at the same time firing back at your enemies.
If you perform well, enough, you get to phase 3, where you attach the legs, and you gain a shield. To be honest I don't remember exactly how this affected game play; IIRC you still had to dodge bombs, but you could withstand more damage, I think. OR maybe you WERE protected from the bombs, I can't say for sure.
If you performed poorly in either phase 2 or 3, after a while you would have to "downgrade", going back a phase and removing one of the robot parts.
I still have Algas - in fact, it's standing on a shelf right on my left, watching my every move! But the batteries need replacing, so I can't play it at this time.
Check these links for more pictures:
http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Bandai/Algas.htm
http://www.handhelden.com/bandai/Algas.html
Wednesday 17 October 2007
Invaders of the Mummy's Tomb
This made me remember my first videogame! Although I'm not sure if I had a Merlin before or after this but this is my first videogame with a definite "story".
Invaders of the Mummy's Tomb
It was a small handheld game that was maybe as big as a dollar bill folded in half. The big selling point of it was that it was 100% battery free. It was solar powered! I even remember one fragment of the tv ad for it showed kids using it by the light of one candle which was ridiculous because parents would never let their kids have fire because fire leads to cooking and cooking leads to dirty dishes.
I LOVED this game. LOVED IT. I got so good at it that I could max out it's score and cause it to roll over. And since it was so small and never needed batteries I took it with me EVERYWHERE. In fact, I still have it in my garage someplace. I put an autobots sticker on it and over the years the logo on the outside has become worn and the inner top casing is loose, not because of old age but because I had to open it up once to repair a broken wire to the solar panel. I ended up putting some folded pieces of paper behind it for pressure to make sure the connection was good and taped it back into place.
I can still hear the beeps and bloops and buzzes from the game. The funny thing was that when you took it out of the light it didn't last long and the sound effects would become low pitched and drawn out as it ran out of power.
The way the game worked was that you were an explorer/archaeologist who was trying to get into a pyramid to get the mummy's treasure. It was a purely LCD affair but with a little bit of a child's imagination it was a grand adventure for me back then.
You started out outside on the left of the screen. The only controls were left and right. Snakes and scorpions would come down from the top of the screen and you had to time it so your guy would meet them at the right spot (there were three "rows" for snakes to crawl down) and would automatically kill them with a knife. After about 900 points which was about 90 snakes, the door to the pyramid would open and you could dash inside.
Once you were inside there were spiders and (this is where it gets fuzzy in my memory) a mummy running around. Maybe it was just one spider. I think it was. A mummy would attack you much like spiders did only you couldn't kill him, just avoid him. So timing your moves to avoid him you had to go across the inner chamber of the pyramid and stop next to treasure chest. You'd hit right I think over and over again there collecting treasure as a deadly spider dangled above your head. Sometimes it would stay up for a while then fall on you or sometimes it would hover just above your head. You had to be brave and grab as much loot as you could before you were bit.
You could of course back off, keep avoiding the mummy and then go back for more loot but if the spider bit you or the mummy nabbed you you'd be tossed outside to fight the snakes again. I think you had three lives total.
The thing I remember most was that the game was relentless...it never let up or paused or gave you a moment to rest. It was non-stop so often I'd be close to reaching a new record and I'd have to hit the bathroom or something and had to give up trying only to start over again.
I think the total points you could get before rolling over was 999,999,999 or maybe it was 999,999. I can't quite remember.
There are some better pix and screenshots here.
Home Sweet Home
I mentioned a company called Commodoor in my previous post. Well, here's another one I used to have.
It's called Home Sweet Home. In this game you are played a mother rat (or so I assume) who has to guid her offspring from one place to another. To do this, they have to travel through a sewer system. The problem is, the sewer tubes are in bad shape, putting it mildly, and are missing pieces in no less than 4 places. You have to manually make sure the rats can traverse the tubes by manually allowing the kids to cross the missing parts.
My very first EVER video game
You want to know what my first experience with the wonderful world of computer and videogames was?
It's this one: an LCD handheld game called "Trojans".
So what's the situation? There's what looks like a castle under siege. Going by the title though, I assume it's actually the ancient city of Troy. The game goes like this. You're under siege, and the invading forces are trying to get in. To this end, 4 siege ladders have been put up, and the bastards are climbing up!
But there you are: the lonely defender of Troy, it is your job to stand there on the wall and stop them. To stop them, you have to move between the 4 ladders and be there by the time the baddie gets to the top. The invaders are girly-men, so they die instantly, but they have numbers on their side. More are on the way all the time, and as the game progresses, the speed with which they are storming the city increases. Every time one does get past you, you lose a life. If this happens X times (X being 3, presumably, though after all these years I honestly don't remember)... When X=0, it's game over, man!
So that's the game. Simple, but fun!
A while ago, I was very happy to find information about it at the Handheld Games Museum. Namely, here and here. From what I gather, a Japanese company called Matsudaya brought out a series of LCD handheld games under the Play & Time label. Apparently, another company called Commodoor (not related to Commodore) licensed the title from them and sold Trojans themselves. I don't remember which one I had, but I'm guessing I had the Matsudaya version.
I'm just not sure, because it seems I misplaced my old LCD handhelds...
Sunday 14 October 2007
Bioshock - Battle Under The Sea
The great Andrew Ryan. Imagine Charles Foster Kane (as in Citizen Kane) but instead of Orson Wells played by Vincent Price. An eccentric genius, a successful, very ambitious business magnate with some pretty radical ideas & philosophies. At some point in the 1940s, he built his dream society, a self-sustaining city state called Rapture, at the bottom of the sea, in the middle of the Atlantic. That’s right, an underwater city. Think 40s New York or Chicago, only underwater! Meant to be a utopia for the elite: artists, philosophers, visionaries of all kinds, you name it. Free from what Ryan saw as the restrictions and interferences of politics and religion.
But somewhere along the way, something went terribly wrong.
But somewhere along the way, something went terribly wrong.
It is the year 1960, and you, the player, are sitting in a small plane flying over the sea. You are watching some photos of, presumably, your family, when suddenly all hell breaks loose. The plane crashes into the sea, but you manage to swim to the surface. Luckily for you there is a small island with a large lighthouse right nearby. As it turns out, the lighthouse is the entrance to Rapture. You step into this mini-sub of sorts (I keep forgetting what it’s actually called) and you soon the Rapture in all its surreal beauty, while the recorded voice of Andrew Ryan makes an introductory speech.
As soon as you enter the actual city, it becomes clear that utopia this is not. Some guy gets killed right in front of you by an obviously insane zombie-like creature, equipped with a pair of nasty looking scythes attached to its arms, using them as claws and as climbing tools. But you’re still inside the sub, and the creature has gone off when the sub opens.
Someone is trying to contact you through a portable radio. Says his name is Atlas, a seemingly helpful chap, so off you go, exploring Rapture, while the disturbing story unfolds.
This game is basically a FPS, albeit one which is very story-driven. It’s not supposed to be rushed through like the Doom/Quake style of playing; Counterstrike this is not. In fact there is no multiplayer mode whatsoever, driving that point home. One could argue that Bioshock is actually an adventure game with strong FPS and - to a lesser extent - basic RPG elements.
In true FPS fashion you can pick up a number of standard weapons, from the classic wrench to pistols, machine gun, shotgun, rocket launcher, and flame thrower. All of these weapons have various types of ammo; for example, the rocket launcher can fire proximity mines as well as homing missiles and the more standard grenades, while the flame thrower can be equipped with napalm, “electric gel” (useful against mechanical targets) and even liquid nitrogen to freeze enemies. Along the way you will encounter various types of terminal where you can buy ammo or even craft some of your own.
Another big aspect of the game are genetic modifications you can subject yourself to. These are known as plasmids and gene tonics.
Plasmids are active implants that give you special powers which can be used to attack enemies, while some will come in very handy to grab stuff from a distance (telekinesis is fun) or just to progress and/or find hidden stuff. This is where the “Adam” substance comes into play, literally. Just like the twisted citizens of Rapture you will need Adam to get new and better implants to survive as the game progresses.
The other kind of implants are gene tonics. These are passive implants which basically allow you to modify your character, allowing your character to develop in various ways, e.g. to make yourself more skilled in something, or more resilient against certain types of attacks, etc.
This system of implants is a lot like the implants you had in the System Shock games, so fans of these games should feel right at home. In fact, a lot of the game mechanics are very reminiscent of SS. The people of 2K Games weren’t kidding when they said that Bioshock was going to be a spiritual successor to SS!There are more similarities; like in SS 1&2 you can hack the various terminals in Rapture to give you discounts on the stuff you purchase, or to give you additional stuff you couldn’t get otherwise.
Other ways to get stuff, by the way, are by looting the corpses lying around and the bodies of killed enemies that inhabit this sick world. It’s also the only way to get money, which can be used to buy stuff at the various terminals in Rapture. Interestingly, perhaps frustratingly, the game limits you to a maximum of 500 dollars you can have with you - and no banks in sight! Apparently they weren’t part of Ryan’s vision of utopia.
All that said, how is the game? Is it fun? Is it any good at all?
Well, I had a GREAT time playing it over and over! Finished my third game last week, and I’m itching to give it another go!
Everything about this game is top notch: every aspect of it screams QUALITY. The graphics are drop-dead gorgeous, making it a joy to explore the vast levels that make up the various parts of the city. All the rooms and hallways are totally unique – there is not one level or even one room in the game that looks like any other, so each one should be explored for goodies, ammo, money etc.
The music is film-quality and wouldn’t seem out of place in an old-fashioned film noir. Also, a nice touch is the use of 1940s & 50s pop music, such as “Beyond The Sea” and the Ink spots’ “If I Didn’t Care”, and even some classical music for good measure. There’s something wonderfully unique in a game where you explore a room filled with seemingly frozen/mummified people while hearing Doris Day cheerfully singing “How much is that doggy in the window?” or frantically fighting off splicers to the tune of “Waltz Of The Flowers” from the Nutcracker Suite.
Also of note is the great voice acting employed here. Throughout the game you will be in radio contact with various people, or by picking up audio logs left by others – another game mechanic brought over from the SS games, and used here to great effect. These help flesh out the backstory of Rapture, or just tell you more about what people went through in the events leading up to this.
Now, all this doesn’t mean much if the game play is no good. But thankfully it is! Basically the game is an FPS with added abilities, so most of the time you will be running around shooting the zombie-like splicers, enemy robots and the inevitable iconic characters of the game, the Big Daddies. Hacking terminals and robots will launch a mini hacking game in itself, which makes a nice diversion from the main routine of shooting genetically messed-up people in the face.
The various weapons with their different types of ammo and the plasmids which are tons of fun to use should keep the game last for quite a while; just trying out different ways to take out enemies keeps things interesting, and the ability to swap around gene tonics and try out the different enhancements mean you can try out different “character builds”, making it have some level of replayability.
As soon as you enter the actual city, it becomes clear that utopia this is not. Some guy gets killed right in front of you by an obviously insane zombie-like creature, equipped with a pair of nasty looking scythes attached to its arms, using them as claws and as climbing tools. But you’re still inside the sub, and the creature has gone off when the sub opens.
Someone is trying to contact you through a portable radio. Says his name is Atlas, a seemingly helpful chap, so off you go, exploring Rapture, while the disturbing story unfolds.
This game is basically a FPS, albeit one which is very story-driven. It’s not supposed to be rushed through like the Doom/Quake style of playing; Counterstrike this is not. In fact there is no multiplayer mode whatsoever, driving that point home. One could argue that Bioshock is actually an adventure game with strong FPS and - to a lesser extent - basic RPG elements.
In true FPS fashion you can pick up a number of standard weapons, from the classic wrench to pistols, machine gun, shotgun, rocket launcher, and flame thrower. All of these weapons have various types of ammo; for example, the rocket launcher can fire proximity mines as well as homing missiles and the more standard grenades, while the flame thrower can be equipped with napalm, “electric gel” (useful against mechanical targets) and even liquid nitrogen to freeze enemies. Along the way you will encounter various types of terminal where you can buy ammo or even craft some of your own.
Another big aspect of the game are genetic modifications you can subject yourself to. These are known as plasmids and gene tonics.
Plasmids are active implants that give you special powers which can be used to attack enemies, while some will come in very handy to grab stuff from a distance (telekinesis is fun) or just to progress and/or find hidden stuff. This is where the “Adam” substance comes into play, literally. Just like the twisted citizens of Rapture you will need Adam to get new and better implants to survive as the game progresses.
The other kind of implants are gene tonics. These are passive implants which basically allow you to modify your character, allowing your character to develop in various ways, e.g. to make yourself more skilled in something, or more resilient against certain types of attacks, etc.
This system of implants is a lot like the implants you had in the System Shock games, so fans of these games should feel right at home. In fact, a lot of the game mechanics are very reminiscent of SS. The people of 2K Games weren’t kidding when they said that Bioshock was going to be a spiritual successor to SS!There are more similarities; like in SS 1&2 you can hack the various terminals in Rapture to give you discounts on the stuff you purchase, or to give you additional stuff you couldn’t get otherwise.
Other ways to get stuff, by the way, are by looting the corpses lying around and the bodies of killed enemies that inhabit this sick world. It’s also the only way to get money, which can be used to buy stuff at the various terminals in Rapture. Interestingly, perhaps frustratingly, the game limits you to a maximum of 500 dollars you can have with you - and no banks in sight! Apparently they weren’t part of Ryan’s vision of utopia.
All that said, how is the game? Is it fun? Is it any good at all?
Well, I had a GREAT time playing it over and over! Finished my third game last week, and I’m itching to give it another go!
Everything about this game is top notch: every aspect of it screams QUALITY. The graphics are drop-dead gorgeous, making it a joy to explore the vast levels that make up the various parts of the city. All the rooms and hallways are totally unique – there is not one level or even one room in the game that looks like any other, so each one should be explored for goodies, ammo, money etc.
The music is film-quality and wouldn’t seem out of place in an old-fashioned film noir. Also, a nice touch is the use of 1940s & 50s pop music, such as “Beyond The Sea” and the Ink spots’ “If I Didn’t Care”, and even some classical music for good measure. There’s something wonderfully unique in a game where you explore a room filled with seemingly frozen/mummified people while hearing Doris Day cheerfully singing “How much is that doggy in the window?” or frantically fighting off splicers to the tune of “Waltz Of The Flowers” from the Nutcracker Suite.
Also of note is the great voice acting employed here. Throughout the game you will be in radio contact with various people, or by picking up audio logs left by others – another game mechanic brought over from the SS games, and used here to great effect. These help flesh out the backstory of Rapture, or just tell you more about what people went through in the events leading up to this.
Now, all this doesn’t mean much if the game play is no good. But thankfully it is! Basically the game is an FPS with added abilities, so most of the time you will be running around shooting the zombie-like splicers, enemy robots and the inevitable iconic characters of the game, the Big Daddies. Hacking terminals and robots will launch a mini hacking game in itself, which makes a nice diversion from the main routine of shooting genetically messed-up people in the face.
The various weapons with their different types of ammo and the plasmids which are tons of fun to use should keep the game last for quite a while; just trying out different ways to take out enemies keeps things interesting, and the ability to swap around gene tonics and try out the different enhancements mean you can try out different “character builds”, making it have some level of replayability.
Thursday 11 October 2007
"Game This" is alive!
Hello carbon units!
This is the first post on my new blog which I plan to dedicate to games. What kind of games, well, computer and video games, and anything remotely related!
I've been a computer & console user since 1988 - and much earlier if you count those old handheld LCD games - and I hope never to get over it.
Why did I call it Game This? Well, this is a reference to my other blog which is called Blame This!
Makes sense, no? OK, maybe it doesn't, so just deal with it!
Anyway, What I plan to do is post my own personal reviews of games I've played, rant away of any game-related subject, or dig up blasts from the past.
So please check back here every now and then!
This is the first post on my new blog which I plan to dedicate to games. What kind of games, well, computer and video games, and anything remotely related!
I've been a computer & console user since 1988 - and much earlier if you count those old handheld LCD games - and I hope never to get over it.
Why did I call it Game This? Well, this is a reference to my other blog which is called Blame This!
Makes sense, no? OK, maybe it doesn't, so just deal with it!
Anyway, What I plan to do is post my own personal reviews of games I've played, rant away of any game-related subject, or dig up blasts from the past.
So please check back here every now and then!
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