Category: Game Reviews

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Mass Effect 2: A Masterpiece With So Many Things To Fall In Love With

After spending more than 50 hours to explore every aspect of the game, I would say that Mass Effect 2 is indeed a masterpiece.  No spoilers here of course.  In my over two decades of computing gaming, there aren’t many games that keep me engrossed, playing over a sustained duration.  The Mass Effect franchise could well be one.

But change, can be hard to swallow.  That applies to the world of gaming too.  Mass Effect 2 (ME 2) has fundamentally revamped some of the gaming elements of Mass Effect 1 (ME 1) and you can tell from the fan base that some of these new elements may not go well with some.  And I initially too.  Having said that, now that I have played through the game once, overall speaking, the combat system is more engaging (more complex too!), some dialogs have more depth (you can interrupt them too), the story is a lot darker, and ME 2 is more visually pleasing.

Mass Effect can be classified as action role-playing game.  I am not a shooter type of gamer.  ME 2 is certainly more demanding than ME 1 when it comes to the lengthy combat scenes.  But I live.  I also enjoy the real time interruption to conversation that may change the outcome of the scene.  As far as decision making is concerned, there are plenty in ME 2.  From the very technical aspect of the game to the political influence that one can play, some decisions got me thinking hard on what I should do next.  Judging on how some of the little decisions I have made in ME 1 affect ME 2, I won’t be surprised to see how these decisions I have made in totality will affect the upcoming ME 3 – the end of the trilogy.

It is frequently asked if one should start with ME 1 now that ME 2 is out.  The answer is an absolute yes.  The gaming experience of the two is different.  And you get to experience the best of both world (there are still things I miss dearly in ME 1).  Ideally, you should complete ME 1 fully – that includes all the side missions and planet exploration.  Not only the decisions you have made get imported into ME 1, you will get a little boost in resources, character level, and paragon-renegade inclination (the equivalent of hero and badass).

The Mass Effect franchise as a whole has a great replay value.  After a game completion (“playthrough” as we called it), you may start a new career with a different class and or gender choice.  You may create a new career from one of your existing characters and continue advancing from where you left off.  There is a big boost to all your subsequent characters after you have completed the game in terms of experience gained as well as initial resources.  I enjoy playing the character in either gender, preferably in either alignment.  The voice over is different.  The outcome of the story can be different (romance sub-plot as well as the “good” and “aggressive” decisions you make).  Hence, the overall experience can be different.

Now that we have established that if you are an avid gamer, you have got to check out the Mass Effect franchise, the next question would be: Is the Collectors’ Edition worth it?  For an extra S$20?

It has a mini comic booklet that is nice to have, but I can live without.  A mini hardcover art book that is very nice to have, and I love to own.  A making-of DVD, that makes me appreciate the game better.  Access to Cerberus Network (a.k.a. a portal for the digital download of new contents) that at present has: 2 in-game collectors’ items that I use one but not another (I don’t like the look of the other), a mini-mission called Normandy’s Crash Site that fans would like, and a new squad member that comes with a new loyalty mission – very good to have.  Free to be downloaded if you have the access.  All in all, no regret in spending the extra cash for all of the above.

Below is the cinematic trailer, which I am sure some of you may enjoy watching.

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Pinnacle Station of Mass Effect Worths S$9.99?

“Pinnacle Station” is the 2nd downloadable content of the game Mass Effect.  Unlike “Bring Down The Sky” – the 1st free content – “Pinnacle Station” costs S$9.99 to play.  I have paid, played, and have completed the mission in the same day.  Is it worth it?  Read on and find out.

I reckon there is a renewed interest within the gaming community to complete the game Mass Effect now that the second installment Mass Effect 2 is due to be released later this month.  Why?  For one, you can continue the character progression in the upcoming installment of a trilogy.  For those of you who are new to Mass Effect, it is a game with a high replay value.  You can have multiple play through’s on the same character with higher difficulty level if hitting the level cap is your cup of tea.  You can revisit all the side missions that you have missed during your initial play through.  You can also try out the 6 different classes if you wish to experience a different play style.  The beauty of the game is the achievement system.  Each play through may enable you to unlock unique achievements that benefit the next time you start from the beginning again.  Making your life a lot easier so as to speak.

The game play of “Pinnacle Station” is different from the rest of the game in terms of mission objectives as well as pace.  Pinnacle Station is a training center equipped with combat simulators and it is opened only for the Spectres (i.e. you have to complete the first chapter of the game before heading to Pinnacle Station).  There isn’t much story development inside the station.  So, I suppose this downloadable content may appeal more to the shooters than the role players.  There are 4 types of simulations: capture, hunt, time, and survival.  And there are two different maps initially for each trials.  Only upon topping the rank for all 8 trials will the third set of map be unlocked.  My thoughts on the different types of trials are as follows.

  1. In capture trial, your team has to defend a set of strategic locations against the virtual enemies.  I enjoy this the most.  You have to move fast, from one strategic location to another in order to beat the time.
  2. In hunt trial, you have to hunt down enemies, with a twist.  The clock is constantly on a countdown.  Each enemy you take down, additional time is added to the clock for you to stay longer in the game.  When the clock strikes zero, your game is over.  Like capture trial, you have to run fast.  On top of that, you have to kill fast too.  I too enjoy this one.
  3. Time trial, is hard.  There is a sequence in the spawning of the groups of enemies.  Your job is to secure the entire location by taking down all the enemies.  That part is easy.  The hard part is to beat the time.  I often fail in time trial.  Not only do I need to move fast and kill fast, I have to memorize where the enemies spawn.  Not quite my cup of tea, to be honest.  Also, time trial seems buggy.  If an enemy is thrown into a wall, he may be stuck inside the wall and cannot be attacked any more.  Fortunately there is a reset button in the simulation ground should this unfortunate event happens.
  4. Survival trial is interesting.  Maybe because it is my second play through and my team is near to the level cap (57 of 60) with superb gears and abilities, survival seems easy.  In fact, in my first try, my team survived for more than 15 minutes and the game crashed thereafter (time to beat is under 2 minutes I think).  In the second map, I found a location that I could literally stay there for a very long time.  Worried that the game might crash again, I let the virtual enemies took us down.  In the third map, survival seems more challenging due to the open space.  Hectic, yes.  I wish the game gives us extra achievement points for surviving way beyond expectation.

After completing the 12 trials, the last test is a scenario setup similar to the First Contact War when you are vastly outnumbered, with an objective to complete and a countdown before evacuation.  Now, that is excitingly fun.  Perhaps because I am already familiar with the game mechanic and working with my team, I made it in my first try (normal mode though).  The gear reward of “Pinnacle Station” is not something worth mentioning.  Certainly a disappointment in a sense.  But to be able to earn myself a retirement apartment in a planet owns by me?  That is priceless.  That is as close to player’s housing as Mass Effect can get.  I hope that my apartment stays in the next installment and beyond.

Given the fact that the full version costs US$50 (now US$20 and once US$5 on Steam’s specials), I personally think that this downloadable content is a bit too expensive.  Fun though, no doubt.

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Almost 5 Years – A World Of Warcraft’s 5th Anniversary Inspired Post

A typical WoW screenshot in action

Yes, what you see here is a typical screenshot Cynthia and I see when we play an online game together, a massive one that players from different parts of the world gathered online.  Looks complicated but it is like driving.  After a while, it is second nature.

It’s been 5 years since World of Warcraft was launched.  Nov 23 was the date.  Wow!  Think about the subscription fees I have paid.  US$12.99 per month to be exact.  I have been their faithful subscriber since Feb 2005, when the game finally arrived in Singapore.

I am not disillusioned.  I know what is real, what is not.  There was a period of time when concerning family and friends tried their best to keep me in check, against game addiction.  I suppose if one spends too much time on something, not able to find time to do something else with someone else, collective wisdom would say: that’s no good.  And if one spends too much time on something that majority of people do not understand, collective wisdom would say: that’s even worse.  How about if one spends too much time on something that majority of people understand (or think they do), what would collective wisdom say?  Here are my thoughts.

  1. Most of us have a letter of employment that says we are paid from 9 to 5.  But yet some of us pour in more hours for no tangible outcome.
  2. Most of us are convinced that we build useful skills as our career progresses.  But how useful are these skills as time goes by?
  3. Most of us have our eyes on promotion, having a new title.  But what does the title really mean outside your office?
  4. Some of us claim that never mind the long hours because we have fun at work.  How much of those juicy war stories really mean anything to someone who is not of your work domain?

What I am trying to say is that, you too are in your own world.  Everybody does.  We all have our passion and obsession, in different forms.

*     *     *     *     *

That dragon, earned it with blood and tears.

In celebrating the 5th anniversary of this one great game, fans are recounting and sharing their World of Warcraft moments online.  Hence, this post.

All Levels Begin With Number 1 (Before Death Knights Ruined It All)

The very first moment logging into the game was magical.  I was an elf.  My buddy Mark was too an elf.  Every moment in the game was new, and breathtaking.  How many of us in reality can look through the routines and find something fresh, and exciting?  Like every moment is a moment of discovery?  That mysterious forest; those spiders that killed me again and again.  Ah, good old level-lowbie.

Our Town Is Attacked Again (And Then Honor System Came And Vanquished It All)

In the good old days, opposing fractions often raged war against each other’s towns.  The first time I participated one was exhilarating.  Opposing fractions would form a long line facing each other, stayed out of each other’s attack range (much like the movies of the ancient wars), waiting for the number to gather.  Reinforcement flew in as news traveled fast.  Lots of taunting and luring to start the battle.  At a critical moment, someone would rally a group and march into the enemy line.  And then, the battle began involving easily more than 50 players.

As the attack progressed, it often broke into smaller battles amongst small groups (has anyone played the ‘egg and flour’ war in say birthday parties?).  I once thought that I was safe hiding behind a tree resting.  In the next moment, I saw 5 or 10 of them in front of me out of nowhere.  Uh oh.

The side effect of these unintended episodes was that not only did players take down other players, but they also took down the guards, the pheasants inside the town, basically halted all kinds of questing for those who wished to stay out of conflict.  So, the creator of the game has decided to take the battle out and into designated areas.  I miss those large scale town raiding.  Or as a matter of fact, being raided was just as fun.

General Drakkisath (In The Good Old UBRS)

The first time tackling the dungeon in a group of 15 online players was, as I remember, nerve-wrecking.  Raid leader’s commands were streaming through the chat window in the form of text.  Everyone followed order, for every maneuver inside the dungeon.  Flawless execution like an orchestra that all musicians play a different instrument, but the same song.  The quality of leadership and the bravery of the group was inspiring.  Although in much later, I too led groups to tackle different dungeons, although as time goes by there are newer and more complicated dungeons, I still hold dear to my first memory of the dungeon UBRS.

No, we didn’t kite General Drakkisath during my first encounter.  That strategy was derived much later, I think.

It Is Level 1 To 60, Or 70 Once Again (For The Horde!)

By the time Cynthia joined me, it was 2007.  First expansion of the game was out and she was attracted to the beauty of the new race blood elf, curious about what got me so into the game (I remember we had a bet or something).  To someone who has 8 level 60 characters back then, it is all the way from the beginning again.

Interestingly, Cynthia is my antidote to game addiction.  Because of character progression, there is little point in getting ahead of each other.  We complete quests together, visit dungeons together, and play the game together till today.  If she doesn’t play, I don’t play.  Simple as that.

Self-Actualization (For Now Before Expansion #3 Arrives)

2009 is an interesting year.  The game has evolved in a way that it is now much easier to attain “self-actualization”, even for the casual players.  Cynthia and I are now able to work towards improving our characters beyond the level cap tackling dungeons in heroic mode side-by-side with the serious players (or raiders).  We are exalted in major factions riding dragons (see picture above) and collecting exotic pets, collecting in-game titles.  We have a good pile of gold coins stashed up somewhere.  In short, all that we have ever wanted – given the real life constraints we have – we have.  These days, we rarely play, maybe a couple of times a week.

And when expansion #3 arrives, it will be all the way from level 1 once again …

Oh yes, happy birthday WoW.

External Link: World of Warcraft Anniversary Site

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

EA Sports FIFA Online 2 Closed Beta Test Hosted by IAHGames – First Look

Note: If you still have problem with Hotmail, click here to install a client-based Mail beta – Windows Live.

I have a love hate relationship with IAHGames.  As an avid online gamer, I love the idea of having a game server hosted in Asia.  And that the server maintenance observes the Asia’s off peak hours, unlike the World of Warcraft (WoW) server that goes down almost all the Tuesday evenings here in Asia.  It may be foreign to some of you but believe me when I say this, millions of WoW fans in Asia are lost every Tuesday.  If I had a business, I would have targeted these lost souls and created some ease-your-WoW-withdrawal-syndrome themes to my business.  And I would have earned big bucks, since 2004.

I sort of hated (strong word, sorry, but thanks for the closed beta test invite!) IAHGames because of the way they handled the hosting of Hellgate London (HG:L).  OK, the parent company Infocomm Asia Holdings did the right marketing and financing (how can you miss the signage and the decorated jeep outside Funan IT Mall?) but fell short on technology and management.  Our Asian server went live before IAHGames could apply the crucial patch and from then on, our patch updates were horribly late compared to the American counterparts leading to Asian online gamers having to suffer from the bugs for weeks and months.  In the end, IAHGames found a solution to apply the subsequent patches without wiping the game progress; in the end, I quited HG:L because playing a buggy game is really no fun.

Enough of history.  Is FIFA Online 2 fun to play?  It has some elements of Championship Manager as you play the manager role in managing your team.  Each of your player has a set of stats and as your players level up, you get to customize your players by enhancing their stats the way you want them to be.  And you gain level as you play the matches too – be it as win or lose (wining has more points than losing).  There are football players and items you can trade with other online gamers (I have yet to find out how) so all these elements play like a typical MMORPG.  And unlike Championship Manager, you get to play the match too!

I have to admit that using the keyboard to play the match is less than ideal.  I failed to use my XBox 360 Controller that works with other PC games.  Anyway, playing with the keyboard does make in-game text chatting a lot easier with other gamers.  I always like the social aspect of the online games.  Because the game pace is usually fast, you can’t really chat that much.  But still, the game is much alive.  And I have to say, the online gamers are a lot tougher to beat than playing against the computer team.  I guess that is where the fun is.

Each online game lasts for a couple of minutes and joining a “World Tour” 1×1 match with another online gamer picked by the server seems fast (“League” is you against the computer), thanks to the Asia timezone.  There is 2×2 match too that you can form a team with your buddy.  But the waiting time was too long so we gave up.

Graphically, it does support wide screen format with the football players look 3D enough from a distance.  The replay is fun to watch too.  The close-up on the players tend to look cartoon-ish but that doesn’t bother me.  The voice commentary does seem to follow the game well, sarcastic at times (maybe I suck badly).  But of course, if you are to play for hours, some of the lines may appear repetitive to you.  The game does feel random in nature, which is good.  One time, one of my players was fouled due to hand ball.  I was like … what?!  Then there was a close-up replay to see how the ball did bounce off my player’s hand as he tackled the ball.  Amazing.  And some of the goals look so random that got me marvelled at my own virtual ingenuity.

FIFA Online 2 seems like a stripped- down version of the established football related games out there.  But if fast pace online game with character progression is your cup of tea, you may wish to give it a try.  I reckon they may give out free trial period like most of the online games out there.  Who knows, FIFA Online 2 may be one of those subscription free games.

PS. Some of the soundtracks are pretty cute.

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Spore – My 1st 8 Hours

8 years in the making, 3 years of anticipation for the fans, I grabbed a copy of “Spore” in a heartbeat.  Check out these colorful pictures taken from within the game.  All these creatures and objects are created by me – from head to toe, skin color to the extra pair of eyes on the butt.

I am a meat lover so I create a carnivore [1].  In phase 1 of the game (Cell), my goal is to keep eating other creatures while avoid to be eaten by the much bigger ones.  The more it eats, the bigger it gets, and the more DNA it acquires, the more complex it evolves [2] & [3].  At this phase, it is cute, it is fun, it is 2D, and it plays like a good old arcade game.  I absolutely love it.

At the beginning of phase 2 (Creature), my creature leaves the ocean [4].  Given the option of socializing with other groups of creatures through songs and dances (no kidding) versus hunting down each species to extinction, guess which path I take [6]?

OK.  You don’t have to take the path of destruction but I want my creatures to be the blood thirst warriors.  Enter phase 3 (Tribal), my desire to dominate continues [5].  This phase plays like a real time strategy game while the previous one is more like a role playing game.

In phase 4 (Civilization), my creatures build houses, entertainment centers, factories (that I designed) and … weapons of mass destruction [7]!  We tear down rival civilizations one by one converting their economic cities into military ones, their religious ones too into military cities.  Need not to say, the game play is very much like a simplified, accelerated version of Civ.

What comes at the end of world domination?  It is time for my creatures with eyes on their butts to rule the galaxy!  First, I need a spaceship [8].

Then, I need to practice high speed flying in a 3D world [9]!

And, it is time to do some serious space travel [10].  At this phase (Space), the game is initially mission driven and there are enough things to do for the ‘end game’ such as advancing through the ranks, collecting rare items, and learning new abilities.  What is the end of this game like?  It is for you to find out!

For those who are curious, “Spore” is the first multi-genre massively single-player online game.  Before I log off, check out this quote from Will Wright, the game designer for Spore and the Sim franchise.  Some of you may be able to relate and have a good laugh on this (like I did).

We were very focused, if anything, on making a game for more casual players. “Spore” has more depth than, let’s say, “The Sims” did. But we looked at the Metacritic scores for “Sims 2″, which was around 90, and something like “Half-Life”, which was 97, and we decided – quite a while back – that we would rather have the Metacritic and sales of “Sims 2″ than the Metacritic and sales of “Half-Life.”

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Hellgate London

“London is in ruins and now Asia must respond”, so it says on the pamphlet. I do not hesitate (especially when Cynthia is out-of-town) and am ready for the challenges ahead. I arrive at Russel Square and the garden square is no longer what it used to be – now a piece of wasteland. From afar, I can vaguely see the British Museum in ruin. Or is it my imagination? The year is 2038 and it has been 18 years since The Invasion. Once again, the survivors of mankind are united and determined to stop the demons from altering and assimilating our world into theirs. We have to close the Hellgate fast.

How I love role playing games. It comes with such a compelling storyline that makes people feel as though they are doing something virtually significant. Before you dismiss computing gaming as a total waste of time, you may wish to know that gaming moderately can enhance one’s analytic skill, problem solving skill, reflects, and etc. It is scientifically proven. Military develops games to train the soldiers. I even read that in one hospital, a group of surgeons are asked to play at least a certain number of hours of a I-forgot-which-one-but-certainly-not-a-medically-related-game a week in order to improve their performance.

Though I have the bad reputation of not being able to finish any game (except Sam & Max!), I think I may actually like “Hellgate London” and have a high chance in completing the game (think moderation!). It has the element of a traditional role playing game whereby you can personalise the ability of your characters. You are rewarded by the demons you vanquish in terms of experience points, currency, and items. But it doesn’t have the tedious battle controls like many role playing games do, which is good. And it also has the element of first person shooter but with a slower pace, lesser surprises, and you can actually dodge a fireball coming your way because it is kind of … slow. That is good as well because you can access the situation and take position accordingly to minimise damage upon you. You can virtually blow up anything lying around you – be it as boxes or gas cylinders. The explosion scenes are modeled well. Oh, did I mention that you will never run out of bullets? The graphic is fascinating even with my rather dated machine (AMD X2 4200+ and 6800GTS in SLi). The game play hardly lags in enclosed areas though in open areas (awesome graphics by the way as I can see buildings in smoke, the red phone booth, and abandoned police cars everywhere), my machine struggles to provide me with a smooth game play. Time to consider a new graphic cards I am sure.

And “Hellgate London” plays like some of the Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Games as well. Kind of reminds me of the World of Warcraft with regards to the quest system. There are also fraction points to gain (each tube station is like a mini-community and you have to gain their trust). The pace of “Hellgate London” is in between tradition role playing games and first person shooter. Most monsters I have seen so far can be easily killed with one shot or two. Except bosses of course. The boss fight can be entertaining especially when you see it charging after you and you have to keep firing at it while retreating (i.e. clear the area before the boss fight). The game is played in real time. Hence no saving and reloading it like many others. I love that because it feels so much more real.

Okay. I shall stop writing such a long blog and go back and save London … sleep. Think moderation!

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Sam & Max Episode 6 – Bright Side Of The Moon (End Of Season 1)

How time flies. Back in December last year I chanced upon a new hilarious game called Sam & Max and till today, set aside the fact that I have fun with all the 6 episodes, I still find the business model pretty intriguing.

Traditionally, gaming companies spend months if not years to develop a title and yet even if the title has become a hit, there are still people out there playing the pirated version not willing pay the full price. Online gaming subscription model works well for a particular gaming genre but not for all. What Telltale Games does is to break down this adventure game Sam & Max into monthly installments and to apply a subscription model in order to bring in revenue as the game is developed. Hence, for the end users, instead of getting the entire season 1 that is worth 20 to 30 gaming hours in one go, monthly episodes are downloaded into the users’ computers. Because there is a need to authenticate the electronic copy with the Telltale Games’s server, piracy is minimized. This model makes the cash flow statement looks good too. And meanwhile, game developers can gather the incremental feedback from the public to fine tune the game. That’s why I feel that this business model is intriguing.

As for this episode, I think it is a good round up of the entire season. The 5th episode scores high on originality; the 4th episode scores high on humor; while the 3rd episode scores high on dialogues, the 2nd episode scores high on fun factor. This last episode reminds me of the very 1st episode when I was first exposed to the game (come to think of it, Max did have his body “separated” in both the first and last episode). At one point while playing this last episode I was dead stuck. But I guess perseverance did pay off.

For those who have bought the entire season upfront, we will be receiving the DVD version of the game plus the extras for free (excluding shipping charge). I know at least 3 of my friends have bought the 1st episode after reading my blog. Good news is you will be able to download the entire season for USD 26.

To round up this blog, I would like to quote one of the random conversations between Sam and Max. The humor does seems to come directly from the development team.

Sam: What do you feel like doing once we wrap up this case?
Max: Take a vocation! Seems like we’ve been working for the past seven months straight!

Related Links and Blogs: Official Site of Telltale Games, Sam & Max Episode 6 – Bright Side Of The Moon (End Of Season 1), Sam & Max Episode 5 – Reality 2.0, Sam & Max Episode 4 – Abe Lincoln Must Die!, My 3rd Contribution to YouTube for Sam & Max Episode 3 – The Mole, The Mob, And The Meatball, Sam & Max: Episode 2 – Situation Comedy, Sam & Max: Episode 1 – Culture Shock, Sam & Max at Wikipedia

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Sam & Max Episode 5 – Reality 2.0

Okay, let’s recall what we have so far. We have Sam and Max solved the case of hypnosis in episode 1. We have Sam and Max on reality TV (episode 2) and then acted as undercover mobs in episode 3. We have Max running as the president of the United State of America in episode 4 and in the fifth installment of season 1, Sam and Max have to battle the Internet.

This episode, I have to admit, is pretty hard. At times I really wanted to give up and search the Internet for clues to proceed. Proud to say, I have survived the 1st season so far without relying on the Internet and have solved all the puzzles on my own. This episode resembled so much like some of the massively multiplayer online role playing games that it put a smile on my face. A +2 sword? Potions for +1 meat tastiness? Loots? Lightning bolts? What has the world of Sam and Max become?

I certainly find Reality 2.0 entertaining. The entire familiar street that Sam and Max have walked for the previous four episode has given a totally new face lift with a click of a button. Wear that virtual reality goggles and you suddenly find Sam and Max in a totally new dimension. To solve the puzzles you will need to traverse across the different realities. There is a big surprise when Reality 1.5 booted up and I am not going to spoil your fun. In Reality 2.0, they have advertisements for two websites – Nauseatinglycute.com and bancolavadero.com. Go click on the links and I bet you would love that nauseatingly cute little creature.

I can’t wait for the last episode – The Bright Side of the Moon – to arrive.

Related Links and Blogs: Official Site of Telltale Games, Sam & Max Episode 6 – Bright Side Of The Moon (End Of Season 1), Sam & Max Episode 5 – Reality 2.0, Sam & Max Episode 4 – Abe Lincoln Must Die!, My 3rd Contribution to YouTube for Sam & Max Episode 3 – The Mole, The Mob, And The Meatball, Sam & Max: Episode 2 – Situation Comedy, Sam & Max: Episode 1 – Culture Shock, Sam & Max at Wikipedia

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Supreme Commander – Boys’ Childhood Dreams Come True

There was a time when girls wanted to be Barbie and boys fantasied to take control of one of those robots as inspired by the Japanese anime series, fly high and kick some enemy butts (somehow I have this bizarre image of tomatoes and eggs flying towards my ways from the girls). “Supreme Commander” gives us exactly that.

The concept of “Supreme Commander” is unique, pretty like a game of chess. You are one of the Commanders (don’t you love a title like that?!) who take control of this monstrously huge robot of what looks like a 24 storeys high monument, walk into a warping gate, swish your way through space, and with a big bang, the ground cracks, you are landed right into the planet at war. Now, here is what I like about “Supreme Commander” – its sci-fi realism. How can one machine rage war towards another? Wouldn’t it be lame and boring?

Upon landed onto the war zone, you can start utilising the limited mass (something like materials) and energy you carry to build … ta-dah … mass extractors and power generators. How intuitive it is right? As you start gathering mass and energy and building your base, more and more schemata are downloaded onto your computer and before you know it, you have your team of engineers churning out one of the most formidable armed forces in the planet, top it up with a combined force of army, navy, and air force. This is not only boys’ childhood dreams come true but also grown up men like me and you!

Missions are varied (only cleared the first one) and when you manage to bring down the opposing Commander, he does just die but explode in the most spectacular nuclear-mushroom-look-alike’s fashion very much like the picture I have included in this blog. Like chess, once you checkmate your opponent, that is the end of the game.

I have a feeling that I won’t be able to get far into this game, like many from this genre that I have played. The games these days tend to get too hard too soon. Although it is likely to be another white elephant in my storeroom, it always excites me much experiencing yet another captivating game like “Supreme Commander”. For the geeks, this game is first of its kind to be able to utilise Windows Vista’s DirectX 10.0, multicore processing capability, and can be played with 2 wide-screen LCD monitors – one to see your war plan and another one is the actual execution of your commands. Your pocket must be pretty deep to play “Supreme Commander” in its full glory (as of 2 months ago, the machine without the LCD monitors would cost USD 7,000). For the rest of us, dream on!

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Sam & Max Episode 4 – Abe Lincoln Must Die!

Stay frosty, America!

“People of Earth! Your day of reckoning is at hand!” – believe it or not, this is one of the many speeches our beloved rabbit Max made when he was running for American presidency side-by-side with his freelance police partner – Sam, the dog. This 4th monthly installment of a favourably rated point-and-click Adventure game has many surprises. First, it was pre-released to loyal customers like myself one week before the actual launch. I think that is very nice of Telltale Games. Second, this episode is longer and more challenging than the previous episodes. There is even a mini-musical within the plot of the game. To anticipate that gamers indeed get smarter as they learn the game mechanism through the episodes, the puzzles are relatively more subtle and there are a few parallel plots to the game that the linkages are not at all obvious. Third, Telltale Games has made several subtle changes to how they used to layout the plots. It disorients and confuses seasoned players like me and I found myself exploring the plot rather than following the plot. That, I love.

In “Abe Lincoln Must Die!”, Sam and Max is entering into politics. It is hilarious, they are adorable. I can hardly find anything to complain about except perhaps … it will be a month long wait till the final episode is out.

Telltales Games has even made a dummy website www.MaxForPresident.org for episode 4. I spotted it at the end credits (yes, I love their episodes so much that I read all the credits).

Related Links and Blogs: Official Site of Telltale Games, Sam & Max Episode 6 – Bright Side Of The Moon (End Of Season 1), Sam & Max Episode 5 – Reality 2.0, Sam & Max Episode 4 – Abe Lincoln Must Die!, My 3rd Contribution to YouTube for Sam & Max Episode 3 – The Mole, The Mob, And The Meatball, Sam & Max: Episode 2 – Situation Comedy, Sam & Max: Episode 1 – Culture Shock, Sam & Max at Wikipedia