• 12Feb 08

  So I've downloaded a few mods recently......

  Part of the reason that I'm primarily a PC gamer is because of mods, the sense of reward you get from playing mods like Minerva whilst telling yourself "wait, hang on, this is free?" is great. It's part of the appeal of PC gaming to me.

  I've recently downloaded two mods, one of them is the newest version of Pirates, Vikings and Knights. It's a HL2 mod, that runs on the source engine. The game is insane, the premise is great too, get 3 things that never co-existed in the same time period and put them in a game. It's primiarily a melee combat game, which is deeper in the latest release. You can swing your weapon in four different directions, your opponent can anticipate what direction you swing in from your animation and block in the same position (it's a lot harder than it sounds, co-ordinating an attack whilst defending and moving is difficult). There's also some ranged combat, from bows to parrots and some special abilities (The heavy knight can drag his claymore around in a 360 turn, the archer can fire 3 fire arrows for a one hit kill) special abilities can only be performed with a full red bar, which goes up when you inflict damage on your opponents). There are three factions (no second guesses on who they are) and two classes within the factions, all have thier own weapons and special abilities. The game modes seem to encourage all three to duke it out in locations throughout the map, for instance, one is about who controls the most "booties". There are three bases and all have to defend thier treasure chests whilst obtaining the others from the eneimes, the most consistent team who usually has the most chests at thier base win. It leads to funny moments where a pirate will use a flaming barrel and take out around 3-4 guys in one explosion.

  The visuals are amazing for a mod on the source engine too, it's easily the best looking source mod out there. The sound is great aswell, all factions have their own war cries, which leads to funny instances where you exchange calls with a teamate whilst slashing them with a cutlass. The spirit of the game encourages this sort of behaviour and it leads to a very fun mod, it's worth a download.

  The other one is Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat (another source mod). I played this from 11:30 pm to 2:00 am straight away, it's intense, immersive and deep. It's very realistic, the original lead designer was in the Canadian army (it shows). It's set in Iraq, you can play as the Iraqi Insurgents or the US troops. Both have different ****s lead by a commander, within the team there are two squads with squad leaders. The realistic nature of the game enhances the experience, it draws you in keeps you alert. You're always aware of the fact that one or two well aimed shots will drop you, so you find yourself peering around the corner with your scope, scanning the landscape before you move, you can't go Rambo here, you have Call of Duty 4 for that.

  It's not as good looking as PVK, but it still looks brilliant relative to other mods, because it's currently in the beta phase, there is no AA, but there is HDR and many other affects that still make the game easy on the eye. The gun sounds are amongst the most realistic I've ever heard, they're bloody loud, it's honestly like the gunfire from a news report in Iraq. Don't be tentative about this one, get it now.

  I've also downloaded Warsow, but that's for another blog (it's a cross between Quakeworld and Jet Set Radio Future), for those who like twitch based shooters, get it before I make a long winded blog about it.

  • Posted Feb 12, 2008 1:46 pm PT
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• 26Dec 07

  The Aftermath of Christmas

  That time has come again, seeing familiar faces, watching the Eastenders Christmas special, Pictionary sees the light of day again only to be locked away for next year. Getting stuffed on the dry turkey your guests brought round, watching the annual Jingle all the Way repeat(s). Although Christmas is the time period where most suicides take place and it can be overwhelming, it's Christmas.

  However, despite the familiarity and excitement, I haven't had a such gaming Christmas, last year I got a Wii, but this year I haven't got a load of games that I've been itching to play. I got two, Super Mario Galaxy and Unreal Tournament 3. UT3 is disappointing, I need Vista just for mere AA, I can't help but feel MS has gone overboard with the whole Vista and DX10 thing. I tried to find control panel on Vista once, I gave up after what felt like the duration of the last Lord of the Rings movie.

  But, despite this, the content is just lacking, they try to emulate the original, but it's like UT2003's and UT99's PS2 port's bastard child. No assault? I mean c'mon, that's what made UT stand out in the first place.

  At least Galaxy didn't disappoint, I don't recall having so much fun with video games this year, but I barely got to the third galaxy and then the hoard of guests came along, I was soon discarded as they turned on Wii Sports, instead of loosing all my lives on that (damn) ray surfing galaxy I had to endure Wii tennis, where I viewed countless of missed shots with constant and insincere "wow"'s from the in game spectators.

  I got dumbbells, whether I was inspired by the DNF teaser or not, new clothes, Frasier DVD set (), press up bars, skipping rope (no, not a girly one), some Jeremy Clarkson book (my attempt to start reading anything other than Bill Bryson), two crates of bottled Grolsch beers and socks and the other things that have become compulsory every Christmas like chocolate coins, I would of had a chocolate Santa, but a giant rat had gnawed on it, since when have rats like chocolate?

  • Posted Dec 26, 2007 12:58 am PT
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• 27Oct 07

  Is Team Fortress 2 the new king?

  I grew up on games like Kings Quest and Maniac Mansion, I followed the genre faithfully until the last Kings Quest (Mask of Eternity), which was a total bastardisation to the series, even then it outsold Grim Fandango, Lucas Arts stopped making point and click adventure games and shifted their focus onto beating a dead horse with the star wars license. Although now, the genre seems to be making a comeback, although that's a different issue entirely.

  So, I set my focus on a new genre. Admittedly I already played DOOM, Quake, Duke Nukem and Blood. But, I never played online, I soon remedied that situation. My first online game was in Quake 1. (yes, I got my ass handed to me) Fast, frantic, intense and visually amazing (at the time) I was hooked, I enjoyed getting my ass handed to me because it's REAL people, I loved the fact i was playing people all over the globe, maybe I was playing a German or a somebody from France, of course it was a special occasion when I got one kill (almost all from the launchers splash damage) I played it 'till it's demise. Unreal Tournament, Tribes and Quake II killed the community. Although Quake 1 left it's mark on our industry and I was glad to have been part of it.

  After Quake 3, Counter Strike was THE game. Countless clans and league matches, 6 years I played it. Nothing surpassed it. Battlefield couldn't do it, Wolf ET couldn't do it, UT 2004 couldn't do it, Joint Operations couldn't do it, Operation Flashpoint couldn't do it, SOF2 couldn't do it, Call of Duty: UO couldn't do it, Serious Sam couldn't do it and I couldn't even go back to Quake 3.

  Now, we have Team Fortress 2. For the first time in 6 years I have considered quitting Counter-Strike (if that dosen't speak volumes for TF2, I don't know what does), crazy, fast and damn hilarious it's my most played game currently. Subtle things like quicker respawn times for the winners to prevent stalemate, to taking out nades for balance. It's a great experience all round, it's a masterpiece of epic proportions and It'll stay popular for a VERY long time.

  Oh, and to follow up on my previous blog, here's a great adventure game (Kings Quest 2 VGA remake). Yeah, it's free too

  http://www.gamershell.com/download_1795.shtml

  • Posted Oct 27, 2007 4:51 am PT
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