• 25Aug 08

  Quake III on Nightmare

  Hey guys, it's certainly been a long time since writing one of these, but I'm dropping one down because I'm actually quite proud of my efforts.

  I haven't been playing too many new games, partly because of my uninterest in the current standard, partly because I don't have much time, and partly because my computer is dying by the minute. So when I do have the time, I usually jump onto Quake III for a quick round.

  I've actually owned Quake III since 2000, when I was a wee tyke pwning noobs at a third grade level. Satisfied with completing the game on "I Can Win", I put it away for a time, but over the last three years or so, I've been playing Quake III reguarly (offline I might add, I have beautifully failed to ever play the game online), slowly building my skill over time. All times I've tried Nightmare has usally been for a laugh just to see how ridiculously hard it is to win. I remember getting extremely frustrated with the game when I couldn't even beat Crash on Nightmare. Intensley angering.

  And with that, I convinced myself Nightmare was impossible, and only the most amazing gamers could tackle the AI. So over the last year or so, I've been convincingly winning Hardcore difficulty over and over - to the point of boredom, but never trying my hand at Nightmare, for fear of losing again. I usually stick to DM17 (The Longest Yard) and know the map like the back of my hand.

  So, last weekend, I looked and the big Nightmare button, and thought - "Whatever, if I lose, I'll be expecting it. Let's try it out." So I started up for Nightmare once again - but this time, it was slightly different. This time, I was right up there on the scoreboard. I eventually lost, but I knew that, with a small amount of practice, I could do it. Three tries later, I had. I had won Nightmare for the first time. I had done the impossible task. And so I moved onto one map to another, and slowly won nightmare again and again. I was actually surprised that what I once thought was downright impossible, seemed so basic now.

  So I know it may not seem like a very incredible task compared to others, especially coming off the Olympics, hehe - but I decided that an eight year struggle with my favourite DM game that I finally conquered deserved a mention. If anyone actually bothered reading all of that, thanks.

  • Posted Aug 25, 2008 5:00 am PT
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• 18Dec 07

  Duke Nukem has arrived!

  1996. Duke Nukem 3d was released and changed the face of the FPS genre forever. Duke was worshipped as the top dog in the PC industry; expansion packs, mods, new stories and grand new ideas flocked the game, and became a massive success.

  But back then there was stiff competition to the FPS market, and soon enough, with the release of Quake and Half Life, Duke Nukem 3d dropped away, having now reached legendary status and cemented itself as one of the greatest games of all time.

  How then, could a sequel to this monumental game go wrong at all? Well, the evidence is clear. Duke Nukem forever was announced on April 28th 1997, to the cheers of thousands of rabid fans. Little did these rabid fans know that this newly announced game would not be released for at least another eleven years.

  The game produced a teaser trailer in 1998 under the Quake II engine, then upgraded to the Unreal Engine in 1999 to the release of seven or so new screenshots. By 2001, many believed the game would never be released - it had been four years since the game was announced. However, a new trailer was released, looking absolutely stunning once again.

  And since that day, the game fell into huge developement hell, and until 2007, nothing has been announced or released. It seemed that Duke Nukem had reached its final breath.

  However, 2007 saw the release of three incredibly small screenshots of Duke Nukem Forever to prove to the world the original badass wasn't dead yet. Although small, the screenshots conveyed the amazing new Unreal 3 Engine graphics well, and suddenly Duke fans were whispers of Duke returning once again.

  But today, finally, George Broussard, the head of 3d Realms officially announced the release of a new Duke Nukem Forever teaser trailer coming later today. Coupled with a brand new, high resolution screenshot, we could soon be reaching the end of this huge campaign spread over eleven years.

  Most rejected the idea that Duke Nukem Forever will ever be released, and even if it was, it would be a crumbly mess. And although the game still hasn't been released, and no one knows for sure how good it will actually be, the future does look promising for Duke.

  "Hail to the King baby." The king is back.

  • Posted Dec 18, 2007 7:29 pm PT
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• 19May 07

  StarCraft II Announced

  After weeks of speculation with friends, family, and anyone who knows anything about gaming, the dream finally came true for thousands of fans. For me, it's not just another installment in the StarCraft universe, or either another game in the Blizzard franchise - it's far more important. This is Blizzard's chance to hit back. As we all know, World of Warcraft has sold millions, and it appears Blizzard have found the way to earn a lot of money, without doing much at all. However, many believe, as I did, that Blizzard has sold out. They weren't looking to make the best game they could make anymore. They were simply looking at the profit.

  And that brings us to around two weeks ago, when Blizzard told the world that there would be an announcement concerning a new game on May 19th. Frantic guesses. Was it StarCraft II? Was it a StarCraft MMO? A Diablo sequel, or just a new game all together? And suddenly, with Saturday just over the hills, the sequel to the near 10 year old, million dollar selling game, was announced. StarCraft II.

  And with another of Blizzard's highly praised cinematics, we see a man walk into a huge mechanical room, suddenly being dressed with large chunks of metal armour, and cloth padding. His gun is fitted in place, gloves slid on, and we suddenly see a body shot, but not yet have we seen his face. Flashes of mutilisks flying, marines firing, and possibly a quick shot of Kerrigan tease us with more great action, and suddenly it flies up to the marine's face. And with the uttered line "Hell,it's about time," his helmet suddenly shuts tight, and the logo "StarCraft II" is revealed. It's about time indeed.

  As blood rushed to my head, I could only hope this would be the standard for the rest of the game, and with the release of new screenshots, a gameplay trailer, and the Flash Website, one can only imagine how great this game could end up being. It shares a likeness to both the Warcraft games and the first StarCraft game, and although it doesn't break the mold in terms of technical graphics, it still looks great.

  Although the release date is still fairly far away, with a 2008 speculation, we can still sleep tight at night knowing StarCraft II is in the works and in safe developer's hands. It currently looks just as high quality as any other Blizzard release, and if all goes to plan, we could be looking at another award winning title. And so as this post comes to a close, I've simply got three words for you. World of What?

  • Posted May 19, 2007 7:16 pm PT
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