Originally published on 3DGaming.net on 2 December 1999. I did not enjoy this demo one bit. You’ll see why soon enough.
I dreamt I was a Jedi–Oops! Wrong film! Stupid Jedi Mind Tricks!
Infernal \In*fer”nal\, a. Of or pertaining to, resembling, or inhabiting, hell; suitable for hell, or to the character of the inhabitants of hell; hellish; diabolical; as, infernal spirits, or conduct.
Ten Things I’d Do Rather Than Play Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine:
1. Play Tomb Raider 2. Sit through an episode of Barney… or two 3. Play Tomb Raider Gold 4. Believe Bill Clinton. 5. Play Tomb Raider II 6. Sit through college lectures on economics and home financing 7. Play Tomb Raider II Gold 8. Hump sheep 9. Play Tomb Raider III 10. And yes, even play Tomb Raider IV.
‘Infernal’ is the perfect description of this melting pot of all things awful about games. It seems as if since releasing ‘Mysteries of the Sith’ LucasArts has fallen into a dirty mucus filled pit where only games like ‘Sin’ and ‘Xtreme Paintball’ are developed. You’d think it couldn’t get any worse than the abyss of mediocrity that the Tomb Raider series has fallen into, right?
Wrong. Thrice within twenty-four hours I attempted to play this infernal thing LucasArts dares to call a demo, and both times I felt like bashing my head into my monitor until I bled. Because of my contempt for this infernal piece of crap, I’m going to attempt to write this demo review in record time so I can get back to my own life and spare myself the misery of playing this incredibly unfun demo.
The only enjoyable factor of the entire demo is the graphical quality, which deserves mention as being the most heavily tweaked engine I’ve ever seen. Originally this was the Jedi Knight engine, before the coding chimps got their paws on it. Of course, it’s nowhere near as pretty as Unreal, but it still has colored lighting and faces that move when people talk, which is always a nice plus to the stale unmoving faces of games such as Tomb Raider and Heretic II.
Outside of the graphics, the rest of the demo makes me want to puke. It’s very easy to understand. A lack of working mouse control, mixed with bad voice acting, piss poor keyboard mapping and an interface from hell make for a bad game. It’s that simple. Half-Life set a bar folks, let’s follow its example and try to go above that bar. Hmm? Can we do that?
I hate to have to say this folks, but there are no redeeming values about this demo. I wish I could be the publisher who has to attach all those wonderful quotes on the back of boxes when this game comes out. I wonder what it’ll say under 3dgaming.net, “It still has colored lighting!” Add a big shiny yellow star and you’ve got a winner folks. Right. If only life were that simple.
I hate to tell you, but this isn’t a Coca-Cola commercial, I’m a bitter 18 year old who has to finish high school, go to college and in the meantime rate a demo that really sucks! It’s like having boobies but not being able to play with them, y’know? How do you screw up Indiana Jones? Jeez, all you had to do was cut and paste Lara with Indy and spruce up the graphics a bit! Heck, I don’t even know. LucasArts, if you’re out there listening, please try and create a game that is actually fun for people to play. You remember how to do it right, like you used to?
Where to begin with the problems in this POS, where to begin… How about with the millions of collision bugs? The laws of physics have stated that arms and legs cannot pass through walls at their whim. So just what the hell does Indy think he’s doing? Next on the list: Control Configuration. I cannot assign space to anything! I need my space! I cannot jump without space! Wait a sec, that’s illogical nonsense. Then again, this is 3DGN.
The control problem doesn’t end here. Oh no, it just goes downhill from here. Turning left and right and backwards is obnoxiously slow. Oh yes, the mouse look is broken. When I move the mouse left and right I do not expect to move. When I move it up and down I expect my vision to change, but not left and right. Are we clear on this matter? The first person camera also decided that it likes to look out from Indy’s chest. If I was a babe, I wouldn’t have a problem with this, but unfortunately, I’m a guy. If this was Lara Crotch, err Croft, I’d have no problem whatsoever.
It’s pathetic that Tomb Raider has smarter controls that Indiana Jones. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away LucasArts released fun games. A not so long time ago in a galaxy not quite so far away, LucasArts started making games that sucked.
It shouldn’t have been titled ‘Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine,’ but rather, ‘Indiana Jones and the Stooges who Got Paid to Program Filth.’ Hell, Indiana Jones and the Holy Feta Cheese would have been a title. In a way, it is a fitting title, as infernal perfectly describes this shoddy attempt at a game. If I ran the world, every time a programmer developed a game that absolutely sucked, he and all his partners would be lined up and executed one at a time in a violent and grizzly fashion. Is Indiana Jones great? Only at being extraordinarily bad.
The Goods
Size: 38.84 MB Pros: Semi decent graphics. The music is kinda cool, I guess. Um… um… sorry folks. This one’s dead on impact. Cons: Control system from hell, piss poor interface, awkward camera movement, the whip doesn’t do offensive attacks! Bottom Line: Stay away if you value your sanity. This demo will drain it from you faster than a trip to your local public high school.
Published on 17 February 1999, this review featured the analysis of myself and fellow 3DGNer Paul Mordini. Goofiness, of course, ensued.
Paul Mordini in red, Ilya Popov in white.
Better than yelling “FIRE” in school during SATs…
Whenever anybody who has any taste in games says the words “half” and “life”, then we all know that person must be one smilin’ mofo. But alas! Whenever I hear those words in a combination, I just shrug or stare blankly. For I, am a Half-Life Virgin. Yes, I confess *sobsniffle*. But I feel much better having it out now. Having not played this game, I could only imagine from screenshots and crazed online lunatics chanting “Half-Life,” what to expect. All I saw was another 50 MB download. I saw wrong.
I’m wondering what the hell Valve was thinking when they released the demo of Half-Life. As a veteran player of this game, I’ve run through the full game twice just to see what I missed the first time around. Then I got my hands on the demo, and based upon the press release from Gabe Newell, I thought that this could turn out to be pretty damn cool.
Turns out, I’m pretty damn stupid. Frankly folks, if you own the full version, this isn’t worth your time, but if you’ve never played the full game before (I can only wonder what the hell is wrong with you if you haven’t), then this is something that might want to consider. It’s the equivalent of a quickie in your dad’s car, but hey, those’ve always been fun.
The Half-Life: Uplink demo, not present in the full game, is a great deal of fun; it’s kind of funny due to the fact that usually only people with Half-A-Life jump up saying, “Hey, I’m gonna go home and play some more of the such-and-such a game demo”. You sneak along shooting people, creatures, and little canisters with the words “Danger” printed on them, as well as solving slight puzzles and viewing in-game cinematic scenes. The demo takes you to the point of almost crying… it’s so good, then it fades out, leaving you with a burning desire to play more.
For starters, this demo has about as much replay value as a cheap hooker… after the first time you’ll want to find something better. My brain hurts so much that I have to compare this to Sin. The Sin demo was the most amazing demo to come along in recent years, but the full version was a mediocre product, whereas here the full version is astounding, and the demo is merely adequate.
Clocking in at 48.5 MB, I recommend finding a fast server and then playing with socks or something for a few hours. Thankfully though, for those of you that already have the full version, a lite version of the demo can be downloaded that clocks in at 4 mb and requires the full version of Half-Life to play.
Right, I installed, ran the game, looked at the “Game of the Year” AVI clip that seemed a bit absurd to me at the time, tweaked the config, and clicked on new game. Looks cool so far, I go through the sequence, get the crowbar, and die. I smacked the soda machine, and it fell over on me. I do it again, I die. I stuck my face in the steam coming from the back of it. Right-O, won’t do that again. Go along, I die.
The security guard killed me when I smacked him a few times with the crowbar. I learned some things the hard way… you can’t shoot tanks with “danger” printed on them or get by the lasers by blowing them up, unless you want to alert everybody around and take damage. It works to get rid of anything in the vicinity though. Every possible way to die, I did. A soda machine! Felt like the poor sap who tries to take free drinks…
My main bitches are the length of the demo and the level design. The playing time on the demo sucks more than Sweet Dick Willy on a Friday night after kicking back a few pints o’ ale. I ran through the entire demo in under an hour. In the computer gaming world, we call this linear. I’ve played demos that had my rapt attention all day, and this had my attention for about an hour. In a pinch : Wham-Bam-Thank You ma’am. As for the level design, half the time, I felt as if though I was walking through Lego land instead of a warehouse.
The weapons selection was even more horrendous. If you own the full version of Half-Life, then you know what weapons are in the game. Sadly, not all of them are included here. It would have made my day to have the rocket launcher in the demo. That bad ass would show those punks up in the tower what pain feels like… but the fun doesn’t stop here. The worst sin of all? No multiplayer. This is just plain idiotic. It wouldn’t take much to have people set up demo servers. Hell, it worked for Sin, why the hell not do the same for Half-Life?
While all the other options for adjusting controls, graphics, sound, loading and saving games, etc, may be present, the lack of any form of multiplayer is inexcusable.
My friend stops by… he is one of fruity guys, but we love him. I asked him to try this out, (he dislikes Quake due to the way you charge in guns blazing) “Sure, why not?” He gets angry with the sensitivity, plays the game a bit, and decides to try ‘The Hazard Course”. The Hazard Course just runs along through the movements; I was surprised at how fast he picked it up… I mean over here in Quake he usually falls in lava right after spawning and only plays RTS’s. Who knew? Controls are a plus. He plays the game for a while with his new controlling skills then runs out as fast as he can go (he is a large fellow, but he sure can move) to go pick it up.
The graphics are still top notch, and the sound is still as good as ever. If you own an MX300 you’re in for a really intense audio experience. For those ‘not in the know’, the Half-Life engine consists of 30% Quake/Quake II code and 70% Valve code. And thankfully there’s a wide palette of colors so don’t run in expecting to see the varied hues of brown and gray that have become id Software’s trademark.
Next to Unreal, this is just about the prettiest shooter I’ve ever seen. Supported out of the box, er, demo, are OpenGL, Direct3D, and software mode. A little something for everyone. And for those of you with the more powerful videocards (read: TNT) you can run the resolution as high as 1024 X 768, if not higher. And thankfully, there are no prevalent bugs, so the game should work fine for everyone.
This demo is the ultimate way to sell a game; it’s crisp, clean, loaded with options, and makes me sad to think I didn’t get Half-Life the day it came out. My friend who loathes first-person games must have seen the light, because I’m still trying to clean up the mess he left on my keyboard. Sticky, yuck.
It’s not hard if you actually use your brain (coughcoughSodaMachinecough) and ingenuity. If you’ve played Half-Life I recommend you try this out just to experience the joy of wanting to play more. Download this now, and keep some paper towels beside you for the safety of all keyboard-kind.
The AI does tend to become a bit flaky at times, and a guard will end up shooting at you to kill a creature behind you, but the full version had the same problem, so pay it no mind. Unfortunately, the demo lacks the atmosphere that made the full version so amazing. And while the demo does contain a new mission (thus the name Uplink), no one said it was going to be any good.
To make matters worse, half the time is spent running back and forth in familiar areas. In short, this is a tiny mission. The Half-Life demo ‘Uplink’ is worth trying for those who’ve never played the full version, but as for myself, I own the full version, and I expected more from Valve. It made me want to eat bad cheese. Shame on you Valve. No hamsters for you.
The Goods
Size: 48.5 MB Pros:It’s a Half-Life demo, need I say more? New levels, great graphics and sound. Cons:It makes me feel as if my mind has been taken over, messages telling me to play… this… game. No multiplayer, weak plot, too short, no replay value. Bottom Line:Wow! I have never had a gaming experience like this in my life; I’m still reeling. While offering new levels for everyone including those who own the full game, there just isn’t enough in this demo to make it worth the download time.
Published on 30 April 1999 at the now-defunct 3DGaming.net. Yes, we actually reviewed demos. Back when that was still a thing.
Eidos is giving us a demo of the ‘gold’ version of Tomb Raider II entitled The Gold Mask. Wow, didn’t Sierra do something similar to this with the last King’s Quest? I smell copyright infringement. I’m going to attempt to explain the logic behind this demo, as it has in its time of existence already broken some of the major laws of physics and has sent the scientific world into a flurry of debates.
You see Herr Jones, it is not physically possible to walk through walls. Neither can one swim right through a dead shark. Mind you a shark is composed of enormous polygons. And Lara is composed of about 2. One for each breast. How else could this game have sold so well? There is also the question of the shotgun shells lying innocently around snow panthers. I detect pissed off animal rights activists in the distance.
Ah, Lara Crotch, er, Croft, the Demi Moore of the video gaming industry, but more exciting. Well guess what, she’s back. Yippee.
There is a niggling question on my mind. Why the hell release the gold edition now? While there are still Tomb Raider fans out there who’d jump for it like Paul for head cheese, Tomb Raider III crashed and burned, (despite being a good game), and yet Eidos is releasing a gold edition of Tomb Raider II? What’s that smell in the air? Do I smell cheese?
If you’ve played one Tomb Raider you’ve played them all. The demo plays the same as the three other Tomb Raider games, except this demo brings new meaning to the word “stinker.” The ‘Cold War’ mission left me wondering if anyone had ever heard of ‘light sourcing’ as this level just cried out for better lighting. Last I saw, light reflected off of snow.
A hint for those of you determined to complete the mission: use flares often. The problem with flares is that they are dropped the moment that Lara goes into ‘whip it out mode’ and fires off her pistols. Make sure you pick up all the flares in the level, otherwise you’ll have as much chance of surviving as you will of seeing ‘The Phantom Menace’ opening night.
Of course, the enemies also attack at random moments, which made playing stressful as I ended up all too frequently firing blindly in the dark, which quickly became an exercise in futility, despite the auto aim. On that note, including an opening video would be helpful to explain why the mission starts with Lara falling into cold ass water from the middle of nowhere. Or is that one of Lara’s new powers? Big breasts, big guns, and now wings.
The sound is average. Yep. Average. Just the regular ambient wav files copied from Tomb Raider 1. No really. You would think that by now someone would grasp the concept of A3D or EAX or something swanky like that.
Remember way back when Tomb Raider came out? There was an awesome level named St. Francis’s Folly that was simply mind blowing. It was a masterpiece in video gaming history and has yet to be surpassed in sheer originality of design. Now why can’t the same be said of the demo level? For the first time ever in a Tomb Raider game I’m going to slam the level design. I’ve seen better user created levels for Quake. Let’s put it that way. Quake.
As shown in the picture, the entire level was a bunch of walls and boxes with gourad shading and a bit of color. Of course, there is no map editor either since Eidos doesn’t want mappers making bad maps. Cough. Ok. Then how do you explain this mess of a demo?
Perhaps it’s the repetitive textures and floating gourad icebergs, perhaps it’s that Lara still looks like every guy’s greatest wet dream, perhaps it’s because the series is slowly dying, and Eidos is draining all life left in it. As a demo that’s only 10 MB, there’s a whole lot of nothingness. No really, one mission, no multiplayer, awful keyboard control with no mouse control, no replay value, unless her breasts bring somekind of value that, you know what, I’m not completing that sentence.
This demo has very little going for it. As a Tomb Raider level, it fails to deliver. As an exercise in level design, it makes me want to furiously beat myself into a bloody pulp on the floor. Mark thought it couldn’t get any worse with Gromada. Hey Mark, check this bad girl out!
The Goods
Size: 10.3 MB Pros: Um, I guess being able to take screenshots of her ass for your friend next door on an old Apple IIe. Cons: Graphics from the dark ages, awful level design, no mouse control, sounds taken from Tomb Raider 1, her breasts are triangular. This demo really is flat out bad. Bottom Line: If you like to blow shit up and you have the patience to feel up a real flight stick… this game will smell sweeter than yer mom’s tuna casserole.
Originally published on 11 March 1999 for the now-defunct 3DGaming.net, I clearly abandoned all pretext of taking myself even remotely seriously. But that was also the sort of thing that 3DGN built its image around – we didn’t take ourselves seriously and we tried to offer readers entertaining writing. I like to think we succeeded.
You run around. You shoot stuff that doesn’t look like you or your next door neighbor. And then you do it again. And again.
Concept
In case you haven’t heard of Rainbow 6, it’s just about the most amazing “shooter”, a term I use lightly, to ever hit the market. In a genre flooded with Quake clones, Rainbow 6 was a fresh of breath air when it was released. Unfortunately, the fun was limited by the lack of a level editor. For the most part though, there’s no “real” story. Basically, you get in, you take out the bad guys, rescue some folk, and then go onto the next mission. Not exactly a heart stopping masterpiece, but then hey, I’ve come to expect no brainer gameplay from shooters in this day and age.
The basic premise comes from the Tom Clancy novel of the same name. The concept as written in a book is essentially an anti terrorist squad that replies to terrorist threats before anyone else can, quickly, efficiently, and secretly. And you’re the guy heading the operation. Have fun. As with Tim’s gripe about the storyline, mine is the same. There’s no real cohesiveness here folks, the levels have about as much to do with one another as Burt Reynolds does with good movies.
Ok, so you say it’s cool. What else?
But after a while, that becomes a moot point as the gameplay saves the day. Remember, the game is “loosely” based upon the novel of the same name, but at least the book had a plot. Once again, Rainbow Six: Eagle Watch is a wonderful example of gameplay saving the day. Got that? Good.
With the exception of Mysteries of the Sith, MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear’s Legacy, and the various addons for X-Wing and TIE Fighter, very few missions packs live up to their predecessors. Rainbow 6 is one of the rare few that does. It’s not a step up from its father, infact, it’s exactly like Rainbow 6, but the level design is so far beyond that of the original that it deserves whatever recognition it gets.
See the bad guy with the gun? Put a bullet in his head.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Eagle Watch is just as amazing as the its prequel. Being a self proclaimed Quake 2 aholic and railgun whore, R6 was one of the few games that changed the way I looked at first person shooters. No longer could I pretend that I was John McLane and that everyone around me was Hans. Now I had to think! What? In a 3D shooter? That’s what made Rainbow 6 so damn amazing. And Eagle Watch is the same way.
The one major issue though is a lack of any real story. The novel has every terrorist event occur to test the main character’s will for some kind of enormous challenge. The game version lacks the same novelty feel that the book conveys, thus losing any interconnectivity between the various missions, other than that they get harder with time.
It’s fun to play. But is it fun to look at?
Thankfully, there’s an option to load a preset map that sets predetermined paths for the other troops to take. It’s sad that the AI on the other soldiers sucks so badly, because had it not, the game might have been more fun. Despite that though, the gameplay rises above the craptastic AI to save the game. I always believed that the point of a mission pack was to continue the story of the original game, and I only wish that Red Storm had attempted to make some kind of story in the game so that the level progression would seem more logical and flowing.
The one fact that must be remembered is: this is a sim. Not an action game. There is a severe difference between the two. With sims, it’s harder to just jump into the game and play. You have to know which keys to use and how to make one thing to do another. Because of this, the keys are always complicated since there are so many of them.
Everything else seems the same unfortunately. The graphics still have the occasional glitches, the AI is still at times fuzzy, and the weapons are for the most part the same. So outside of the levels, you ask, “Well, then what is new in the game Ilya?” Well, from the looks of it, 3 new weapons, 4 new operatives, and some interesting new deathmatch options. Other than that and the new missions, there’s not much else. Sadly, I was hoping for more. But then, they can’t all be golden, can they?
Is the game prettier than an SAT test on a Saturday morning at 7am?
Graphics
In a pinch, it’s the same crap as before. That’s right, in the last half a year or so since Rainbow 6 came out there have been no graphical improvements in the industry. Yup. Right. Ok. Sure. And David Caruso has a career. There’s still the occasional clipping problem, and the flat “I’m a dancing polygon!” look that everything has.
While the models actually do something when they’re not moving, they don’t do much. I think I saw someone scratch his ass once or twice, but that was about the only really neat thing I could think of to mention. Although I don’t want to start up a flame war about this being an aging engine, there’s always room for improvement.
Enough with the shiny monkey’s ass, I wanna see the porn!
Compared to Unreal and Half-Life, I’m left wondering why no one thought to make improvements upon the engine? Were they all so busy working on five levels to stop and think “Well, there’s been some new graphical developments these last few months, and people bitched about a lack of story, let’s give them one!” Yes, I’m very cynical. There was almost a 6 month period where a few people could have made the graphics so much better.
I was hoping for lotsa skin here. I got guns instead. A fair exchange.
Cinematics
In his Rainbow 6 review, Tim mentioned the lack of any real cinematics throughout the game. Same complaint here. Except my opening introduction didn’t have any voice over at all. Just prerecorded gameplay with music. I wish I could have a neat voice telling me about the beat down I’m going to bestow upon the terrorist scum.
The least Red Storm could have done is created some cinematics to make the story actually function. Instead of having me assume I’m going in and introducing people to the wonder of an mp5 because I’m a laugh a minute guy. At least then I’d feel like I had a purpose to play the game. Believe me, every bad guy has an alterior motive. If you don’t believe me, read the Evil Overlord List. I’m sure a bad guy would rather be in his dungeon drinking tea while torturing a victim than going out and setting bombs up all over a building. He does have a life you know.
We call this sound effects. This game borrows it from another game by a similar title, called Rainbow 6.
Sound
Half-Life and Thief emerged before Eagle Watch did, and in that time I expect that everyone all of a sudden said “holy shit!” and began working on implementing better sound it into their games. Rainbow 6 sorta did that. There’s no real 3D sound per say. It really depends on your definition of it. When moving around, my anti terrorist guy made so much noise cause of all the shit strapped to his ass, and who knows where else, that I wanted to personally end his life for not being quieter.
Other than that little flaw, the sound is fairly on the mark. The weapons sound the way they should (although since I don’t know Charles Heston and his little gun toting psychos too well I wouldn’t know, but I would imagine they sound the way they sound in the game).
Perhaps the most outstanding part of this game (other than the orgasmicly lush level design) is the soundtrack. It’s the same as the music on the first CD. But at least it can be said that the music was developed by Hollywood professionals, and whoever wrote the music had something to do with the music from The Rock. It’s good stuff to. I actually listen to it now and then, even though all the songs are short as hell.
It’s good stuff. I’ve heard better, but still, it’s good stuff. As for the rest of the sound, it’s all (and I’m sure you can see this coming… lifted from the original. I guess it’s too much to have some new noises? Maybe have some terrorists shout orders to one another while I sneak around and reveal to them the wonder of my silencer?
Interface
I have to quote another 3DGN writer(Tim) on this paragraph, otherwise it’ll be a waste of html and Office 97. “‘(Woo-ooh-ooh) It’s all been done. (Woo-ooh-ooh) It’s all been done. (Woo-ooh-ooh) It’s all been done. (Woo-ooh-ooh) It’s all been done (done, done) before.’ — This Barenaked Ladies lyric applies here.” I love the amount of originality presented in this mission pack.
3 rings for Elven kings…wait, that doesn’t belong here. Dude, this can take forever to figure out. Have a cookie.
Multiplayer
Anyone else here a Hydra-SB addict? I’ll even accept Gamespy for an answer instead! Now don’t you hate it when neither support a game? Well, that’s yet another flaw. The co-op multiplayer is absolutely rock solid. On a 33.6 the game can get a bit laggy at times if the server absolutely sucks though. And with the one-shot-one-kill attitude, the game can become that much more difficult to enjoy online. And it’s absolutely a must to go and kill a squad member and blame it on someone else. Kinda like that body guard in Out of Sight who shoots himself in the head when he runs up the stairs and slips.
DM in R6 was never very fun, and since there isn’t a great deal of space in which to move, when compared to Delta Force, the DM aspect looses its fun quickly. Fortunately, there are four new options at hand to elongate the online aspect of the game: Scatter, Assassin, Terrorist Hunt, and Save the Base.
There are also six multiplayer modes that derive from the main four types: Assassin, Scatter, Scatter Assassin, Team Terrorist Hunt, Scatter Team Terrorist Hunt, and Save the Base. Each offers something different and helps elongate the life of what could otherwise be viewed as a stillborn child of a game.
You can kill alone, with a friend, in the company of many friends, and with absolute strangers.
Conclusion
This has been something of a challenge to review due to the nature of the game itself. Rainbow 6 was unlike any other game I’d played when it was released. And I’d come to expect quality work from the team that designed the game. But everything presented here suggests a shoddy, rushed product. The manual is a worthless waste of trees. The game ships with all of 5 new missions.
The sounds and music are all lifted from the original game. There are only 3 new weapons. And the install is buggy. I had to reinstall Eagle Watch twice to get it to work. Bugs are amiss to the point where I discovered I had to go and edit something in my registry to play the game. I can only imagine a newbie who doesn’t know what he’s doing editing something in his registry. Oh yes, I had to turn off the opening video as well.
Besides these outlandish bugs and the lack of any story whatsoever, the grand total of 5 new maps and several new multiplayer options just isn’t enough here to make me want to recommend that anyone run out and buy this. And it requires that Rainbow 6 be installed as well. If Rainbow 6 happens to be your favorite game, then I see no reason to not run out and buy this, otherwise it’s not really worth it.
Software developers release new levels all the time online, I don’t see why Red Storm couldn’t have done the same with Eagle Watch. There’s some decent work done here. But everything just seems to not work right together. The multiplayer and interface are the best parts of the game, and although the concept is neat, it’s just not deserving of a higher grade.
The Goods
Quick Peek: A unique and challenging first person shooter than requires as much thought as it does balls. Pros: Interesting concept and gameplay, varied internet options, stunning level design. Cons: Pathetic manual, new troops are useless, only 3 new weapons, only 5 new maps, no level editor, AI tends to act idiotic. Value: If you don’t already own Rainbow 6, you can pick it up and throw in Eagle Watch for another $20. If you like shooters with a twist, give this a whirl.
End of the Line
System Reqs: Pentium 166, 16MB RAM, Rainbow Six API’s Supported: Direct3D Hype Level: 5/10 Overall Grade: C Recommendation: For fans of the original who have the patience for this, it’s a fun experience. But if you’re willing to shell out $60 for Rainbow 6 and Eagle Watch and you know you’ll love it, then hey, go for it. Otherwise, it’s a cheap thrill that can be saved for something more worthwhile. Buy a book.
The Grade
Concept: B Gameplay: B Graphics: D Cinematics: N/A Sound: D Interface: B- Multiplayer: A Overall: C
Originally published on 13 June 2000 on 3DGaming.net. Man, those were some fun times.
Concept
Recently, Origin released a second expansion pack for Ultima Online, known as Ultima Online: Renaissance. This new expansion offers a variety of improvements to the original product, as well as the full game to those who don’t own either UO or the first expansion, known as The Second Age.
Ultima Online: Renaissance felt like an old friend upon the initial boot. I’d played Ultima Online shortly after its initial release, which, as has been told many a times, was a less than perfect release candidate. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it for a short while until I found myself enchanted with other products. Ultima Online stands as an achievement in the online RPG category. Not only is it a unique game for not replying upon an AD&D level based system (as the competition does), but it also earns high marks for not forcing its players to resort to combat to make a living.
For those who are ready and waiting for some flaw in my review, I’ll make this clear right from the start: I am not comparing the gameplay aspects of UO: Renaissance to the original Ultima Online, nor to The Second Age. Instead, I’m stating what the upgrades to the original product have been and how it compares and contrasts with the current competition on the market: Asheron’s Call and EverQuest.
Although I have played UO before, it has been quite some time since I have ventured into Britannia, thus any mistakes made in the review are based solely on my own limited amount of time in which to review the product, as well as lingering memories of the original product. There are no biases present, only observations made during my time playing UO: Renaissance.
If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence you tried.
The concept of Ultima Online is succinctly explained in an opening video detailing the Avatar’s defeat of the evil mage Mondain, who used a crystal in an attempt to enslave the world of Sosaria. Apparently the Avatar wasn’t very nimble, as he destroyed the magical crystal the wizard was having an affair with.
You’d think Mondain could get a room so we wouldn’t have to watch the love making process with the crystal. Anyway, the Avatar killed him and shattered the crystal, thus creating a concept I’ve seen before in DC comics, a thousand different worlds that are all more or less the same. Or something.
Does Ultima Online really need more exposition than this? I think not. On with the review!
“See, you just shouldn’t have a social life! It works!”
Gameplay
Welcome to the world of online RPGs. Time to make a character! Choose your gender, your hairstyle, your traits, your skills, and your name! We hope you don’t mind, but…you’re a sprite in a 2D world. No 3D for you! You know, I bet you could make a song out of that: ‘Sprite in a 2D [Kind of] World.’
Anyway, the gameplay is pretty much still the same old thing you all know; you have your character and he can do whatever you built him or her to do: blacksmith, chief, dominatrix, anything you like. My cool guy Tauger Aman is a mild mannered adventurer with swagger and style. In my first adventure in Britannia, I wandered around and had random NPC’s telling me to talk to various people that a magical floating arrow would point to. Eventually, if you talk to enough people you begin receiving free stuff.
After having harassed the local blacksmith about what hours his daughters were free during (note: plural. I was going to have some fun tonight!), the blacksmith sent me to a woman dressed in a purple cloak. Apparently fashion sense is a phrase lost to the people of Sosaria. After I talked to her for what must have been the fourth time, she gave me a free sword. In the real world, sexual harassment cases are taken to court. In Sosaria, you get a free sword. This game is starting to look better and better all the time.
“Man, I gotta stop eatin’ the whole box of pop tarts. I was okay when there were six in the box, but eight definitely plays tricks on my mind.”
I decided to go hunting and see what neat stuff I could do. I found a goat stomping around in the forest, so I decided to kick its ass. After about five minutes of combat, the little bastard finally fell to the might of my powerful newbie sword and I was victorious. After taking a few minutes to heal though some means unknown to me (I’m guessing it’s magic), I saw a llama. I decided to attack the llama. It kicked my ass. I ran back to the city and vowed revenge upon the llama.
Eventually I met up with a dialed dude by the name of ‘The Respectable Druuz.’ He taught me to swing like the coolest of cats and gave me some bone armor, after which we decided to go hunting in the forests surrounding the city. He helped me pick up a box, lift some rocks, and stand on my head. Then he attacked a wraith. I joined in the battle and we kicked its smarmy little ass.
Then I saw that damn llama. With my shiny new sword, shield, and armor that I was too weak to wear, I attacked the furry bastard. A few minutes later I stood over the corpse of a sautéed llama, covered with its blood, but by Tempus, victory was mine! Wait, Tempus was a god in The Forgotten Realms. Dammit! Wrong universe! I knew I should have taken my Ritalin this morning!
I mentioned earlier (somewhere) that Ultima Online: Renaissance sports a variety of new features, and among them is one called Modified Player Killing. Asheron’s Call had it right from the get go. Origin didn’t. Any ‘1337’ newbie with a “DIE YOU STUPID HEAD!” T-shirt and a face resembling the surface of Mars could take your ass out once outside the city limits.
The interface (or the lack thereof) has been improved for group/party playing. Imagine the game twister but with swords and you’ll get the idea. Members of your group can also take loot from your body if specified in the group options. The landmass has apparently also been increased in size, which should make all you real-estate agents happy. Let the auctions begin!
The object of war is not to die for your country but try to make the other bastard die for his!
Graphics
Six years ago, Ultima VIII: Pagan was released, powered by the… Ultima VIII engine. The same engine that powers Ultima VIII powers Ultima Online.
I’m at odds with this part of the review. On one hand, the graphics are fine and decent for their time, but compared to modern games such as Baldur’s Gate, the as yet unreleased Neverwinter Nights, and even Diablo, the graphics of Ultima Online feel a bit underwhelming and dated.
All the characters are sprite based. ‘3D’ is not an applicable term with this game. Even your old S3 Virge you’ve condemned to the darkest crevices of your basement would have no trouble running this game. At least it’s not as graphically intense as other games in this day and age, but that’s to be expected with an engine this old. Having 3D graphics would be nice, but then, that’s what Ultima Online 2 is all about, right?
“Iku iku!! Translation: I’m coming I’m coming!”
Cinematics
As I mentioned in the gameplay section, the opening video details the Avatar’s overcoming the evil mage Mondain, which sounds dangerously close to “mundane.” This brings me to my biggest gripe. Why are all mages evil? Why can’t they simply be… misunderstood? Perhaps venting at the world due to the death of their favorite servant? I think future fantasy games really have to work on fleshing out their ‘evil mages’ into something a bit more three-dimensional.
Nonetheless, the opening video conveys the plot of the game and at least attempts to explain the existence of the various servers (known as shards). It’s more than other games have been willing to do. Then again, perhaps the other games simply don’t care.
(blakeRz) Anyone who confesses to being a Starbucks fan will be banned for one hour.
Sound
In the day and age of red book audio, compressed wav files, mp3s, and mod files, why am I still hearing midis for music? The day and age of midi is over ladies and gentlemen! I want to hear crisp digital audio at 448000 Hz! No more of this midi nonsense! As midi goes though, the music isn’t quite as catchy as EverQuest, but it’s better than Asheron’s Call. That’s an inside joke, since Asheron’s Call has no music.
Don’t expect superb quality midi when you purchase the game. It’s passable as background noise, but that’s about it. The ambient sounds are decently done; sounds such as footsteps and birds are common to the ear when playing UO.
I expect to hear high quality music in all the games I play. This is the year 2000, not 1996. Technology has advanced to the point where having music via an mp3, mod file, wav file, or even red book audio is the only way to go. Please catch up with the rest of the world, Origin.
Interface
Ho boy! This one is a crapper. Ultima Online, meet the year 2000. Your interface sucks. Due to UO: Renaissance being nothing more than a glorified patch, the chances of getting an overhaul to escape macro hell seems highly unlikely. Hopefully someone at Origin will realize just how much of an aberration the interface is (not likely) and won’t allow such a travesty to occur with Ultima Online 2. The problem is this: the game is run completely by macros. Everything is a shlep and a bitch to access. I wonder if anyone working on the UO Live staff has ever played Asheron’s Call or Baldur’s Gate, which stand as the best examples of how to make an interface work properly.
(Rob) I love Starbucks. -o+b Rob
Due to the already overly strenuous learning curve to the game, a cumbersome interface only further pushes my already strained tolerance. Having items scattered about a backpack in no specific order is not what I would consider organization, and the item recognition system isn’t the finest I’ve seen either. Hopefully UO2 will sport a refined and smarter interface than the one currently in use.
Another gripe is the chat system. It’s simply disgusting. 1994 is no longer in style. Having dialogue appear above characters is simply an ugly system that not only clutters the screen but also causes an immense amount of lag, which is felt quite painfully by those on dial-up connections. Having a chat box at the bottom of the screen is the way to go. It also allows for a larger amount of chatting to occur without slowing down the game.
The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.
Multiplayer
I really don’t think this needs much detail. Is there lag? Yes, but only when you’re in a heavily populated area. Other than that, the lag is minimal and I have no complaint with it. I’ve rarely ever felt any, which may be largely due to my cable modem, but I have felt it, and when Britannia is crowded… no one is safe.
Compared to the likes of EverQuest and Asheron’s Call, the lag has been fairly tolerable. The servers do die on occasion, and during peak hours I do suggest staying the hell away from crowded areas, but otherwise, it’s not all that bad. I didn’t see any window that monitored lag to give me an idea of just how bad it was. Personally I think it’d be a welcome addition to UO.
Conclusion
Whether or not you like MMORPGS, or specifically Ultima Online, one clear fact can be ascertained: Ultima Online is a hit. There is something inherently fun and exciting about Ultima Online. Perhaps it is the ability to not have to fight to survive and make a living. Perhaps it is the wholly unique role playing system; perhaps it is the lack of a ‘MarketQuest’ style atmosphere. Perhaps it is something else entirely.
While it may not be a brand new game, the expansion does add more depth UO by offering more options for group playing, culling player killer power, expanding land, improving the interface, offering new looting options, and improving the chat options. Then again, being able to kill a llama in any game means it will offer hours of joy.
The Goods
Quick Peek: A new update of Ultima Online, a “massively multiplayer” game with the ability to hold hundreds of players in one world on different servers known as shards. Pros: Atmospheric world, addictive gameplay, Pking improved, tweaked interface. Cons: Extremely steep learning curve, dated graphics, midi music used, hellish interface, macros rule the game. Value: It’s $10 a month for terrifyingly addictive gameplay. You know the deal, you log on, and you don’t stop playing. Origin takes your money, your loved ones leave you and you’re left all alone.
End of the Line
System Reqs: Pentium II 233, 32MB RAM, 590MB HD, 8X CD-ROM, 56K Internet Connection API’s Supported: N/A Hype Level: 7/10 Overall Grade: B- Recommendation: MMORPG, drug, it’s the same thing as far as I’m concerned. Although it’s not a 3D game like Asheron’s Call and EverQuest, it’s still damn fun and has its own pros and cons. There’s a great deal to be enjoyed. If you want a game with depth, you can’t go wrong with UO. I highly recommend you try it, despite the steep learning curve.
Grades
Concept: A Gameplay: A- Graphics: B Cinematics: A Sound: C- Interface: D- Multiplayer: A- Overall: B-
This review was published on 3DGaming.net on the 26 April 2000, nearly a year after the first Daikatana demo was released. It took a year for the second demo to make its way online, to coincide with the launch date for Daikatana – which hit shelves on 23 May 2000.
—
“Bake me a Daikatana? That wasn’t funny the first time you said it, and it isn’t funny now.“
Daikatana. It’s a word that makes me very happy when I think about it. And then I think about the half-baked multiplayer demo that was released last year and I wonder why it took so long to make another demo and complete the game. I’m not certain I’ll ever know. But at least I have the recently released demo to sink my teeth into. There’s a great many reviews already on the net that bash it and put it down. I’d like to express a different point of view.
The Single Player Experience
I guess I’ll begin with the single player, since that’s a big part of Daikatana. The single player in the demo is somewhat laughable. Things just happen because they can. There’s very little narrative cohesiveness. If I gave this to Roger Ebert to analyze he’d probably throw his book of movie rules at Romero and inflict a massive paper cut upon him. Things should happen for a reason, not because two people are stuck looking for one another while speaking horribly trite accents.
Although, I will say this much: the demo for Jedi Knight was supposedly horrifyingly bad, and look at how awesome that game turned out to be. Due to my faith in a stable final product, I’ll reserve a final judgement until I obtain a copy of the full game. Storyline aside, the cutscenes, which are rendered via the Quake II engine in-game, are absolutely breathtaking. The Catacomb level has a stunning opening cutscene that I found myself wowed by.
The single player missions are definitely disjointed, since there’s no cohesiveness between the levels. Wheel of Time pulled this same trick with their demo, which in turn caused the demo to be nowhere near as good as the full game. Nonetheless, it still turned out to be a fantastic game.
The Levels
Getting back to the topic at hand, there’s a decent bit of exploration to do in single player mode. The entire game felt like series of ‘find the switch and get out’ missions, and I don’t mind this sort of gameplay if this is how the entire game will play out for one giant reason: Variety-akimbo. This sucker is the most diverse fps I’ve seen in a long time. Between the Kyoto time period, Greece, and Norway, I found myself stopping and simply getting a feel for the different weapons and dropping my jaw at the level design, which really does deserve a round of applause. The levels, which are broken up into hubs, are radically different and are dripping with atmosphere and ambiance.
The Weapons
The weapons are a welcome change of pace from pathetic gun, middle range gun, rapid-fire gun, big damn gun, and rocket-launcher-clone gun. Each weapon suited the age in which it was presented. And the weapons are really really fun. I love the Discus of Daedalus; it is such a cool weapon! Believe me when I say that you’ll be using this quite often in the Greek levels. It’s too fun not to!
The Silverclaw is also a very fun weapon. I didn’t think it would work initially, but having it leave little scraping marks upon the wall (which the Daikatana does as well), plus the motion and damage it does, makes for a really fun weapon. Supposedly it’s the only weapon that can kill werewolves during the Norway jaunt. That seems to have changed, at least in the demo, since anything can kill the werewolves, who are absolutely gorgeously modeled. It’s been a while since I’ve seen werewolves in a videogame. I’m proud to say that they’re very well done, as are most of the enemies in the demo.
The Graphics
What about the graphics? I like them. I really like them. More so than Kingpin, more so than Soldier of Fortune. I’d place the graphics in Daikatana right underneath Heretic II, which utilized the Quake II engine better than any other game. Sorry John, you’re number two. On a side note, I’m anxious to see whether or not Anachronox will take the Quake II engine to new heights. It’ll be interesting to see how it turns out. Regardless, the graphics are absolutely adequate for the style of game that Daikatana embodies.
While it’s perfectly fine to argue that Romero should have used the Unreal engine, I couldn’t care less. The level design is all thumbs up; each time period oozes with atmosphere and the music perfectly compliments the already well established tone of each time period. It’s a perfect mixture that could have been great on Unreal, LithTech 2, or Quake 3, but it works perfectly well on the Quake 2 engine. Considering that Soldier of Fortune just came out using the Quake II engine and no one’s complaining, I see no reason to complain about the graphics in the Daikatana demo.
Models and Animations
The various layers (that seems to be the only way to describe it) that detail the models are wonderfully modeled. The models are also well detailed, although they are a bit blocky. But then, this is the Quake II engine, and it does have limitations. That’s not to say there’s no room for improvement. Apparently someone fed the sky crack, because the clouds fly by much faster than normal clouds are supposed to. I guess real life clouds must be on large doses of Ritalin.
The weapons are all superbly modeled and don’t seem the least bit boring; at least, not to me. There’s really not much to say here other than whomever was hired to skin the weapons and models did a fantastic job. Props to the environmental FX team as well; the rain was very well done, as was the fog and snow. Overall the effects in the game are really well done and deserve a large pat on the back (or the ass if you feel that they’re really special).
The Multiplayer Experience
What about multiplayer? I can sum it up in two words: Very nice. Now allow me to expand upon that thought. Quake II deathmatch, especially Chaotic Quake II, remains one of my favorite types of deathmatching experiences. I also enjoy a good match of Quake 3 or Unreal Tournament from time to time, but I haven’t enjoyed myself the way I have in Daikatana for some time. It doesn’t top Quake II DM, but it’s pretty damn good nonetheless.
The combination of different time periods, a diverse range of weapons, fast paced movement, well designed levels and background music all make for a wonderful experience. I would like to have seen some CTF or Deathtag in the demo, but all it offers is deathmatch. At least it’s an improvement over the previous demo. I highly recommend jumping onto a server playing in the Catacombs level, simply so you can play with the Discus of Daedalus, which is essentially a flying guillotine. It’s really cool! The weapons and the design of the level make for a really fun match.
Music and Audio Production
The music deserves some attention as well for being so damn cool. Will Loconto, Al Chaney, Will Nevins, and Stan Neuvo wrote the music. And it’s damn well written. I’d say this has to be the best videogame music I’ve heard since Wheel of Time, and I listen to this music while working. Yes, it’s that good. The interface is also pretty cool. No real complaints in that department, although I’ve been told that the interface bears a striking resemblance to Forsaken.
RPG Elements Ahoy
Another noteworthy aspect of Daikatana is its role playing stats. Yup, you heard me. To add some depth to Daikatana, rpg stats were added to the game. There are several different stats: power, attack, speed, acro, and vitality. You can build up your stats as you play on a server and over time as your level and stats increase, become a foe to be reckoned with, but when you log off the server, your stats drop to the default level.
So What’s Wrong With It?
So what’s wrong with Daikatana? I’m sure all you cynics and pessimists have been waiting for this. Yes, it has bugs, yes, they’re annoying and yes, I dislike them a great deal as well. All the textures are 256 X 256, but then, I can’t tell a texture that size apart from one that’s larger unless I look really closely at it, which I don’t do, since I’d prefer to play the game than have a staring contest with a texture.
The Voice Acting
The voice acting is also cringe inducingly bad. Is there a voice acting company that specializes only in videogames? I’d like to know where their office is so I can go gun them all down and hire new actors who actually know what they’re doing. It’s apparent that whoever hired the actors who supply the voices of Hiro, Mikiko, and Superfly was on something, because the characters sound like cliches and say absolutely annoying things. Did you know that Superfly Johnson is homophobic? Yup. And Mikiko is a man-hating lesbian. At least, that’s the way the script portrays them.
There’s also the lack of a variety in character animation. Sometimes in multiplayer games, it seemed as if characters were floating on the ground rather than running. It’s not a large complaint, but it’s still something I noticed. There also seem to be some issues with lockups that people are experiencing trying to play online. I’m not entirely certain who’s to blame for that. Outside of that, there’s not much to gripe about.
Enemy AI
The enemy intelligence is lacking. Enemies love to blitkreig me, like that damned werewolf. So I just kill them. Kill them dead. It also would have been nice to have the mouths move when characters talked. Half-Life made it possible in 1998, so I expect Daikatana to make it possible in 2000. A skeletal system would have also been nice. More skins for multiplayer mode would have been nice. And why do the robot animals attack me and only me? What did I do? It would have been nice to have an opening video explaining the story, rather than pasting a screen with text on my monitor.
Back to the Voice Acting, Though…
Let’s talk about character voices in a bit more depth, since I’m anal about this sort of thing. Bad voice acting can absolutely crush a game for me. The voice acting in this demo is absolutely horrendous and ear wrenching, but then, this is a videogame, and I have high expectations that Daikatana didn’t succeed in raising itself to. Hell, it’s not even my standards; it’s universal standards. This sort of dialogue I expect to hear in ‘The Collected Works of Roger Corman,’ not in a multi-million dollar videogame. Welcome to the year 2000.
Let me ask a few questions:
1. Why does the main character, Hiro Miyamoto, have an English accent?
2. Why does Mikiko Ebihara speak like someone from an old chop-sokki kung fu click produced by a crack smoking Jackie Chan?
3. Why the hell does Superfly Johnson sound like an extra from a 70’s blaxploitation flick?
Shaft went out of fashion more than twenty years ago, and nothing, not even that freak Tarantino, will resurrect that era of cheesy b-flicks. Really Ion, this should be common sense. And I have to listen to this through four different time periods? Maybe it’s time to start playing games stoned again. (Editor’s Note: These are not necessarily the beliefs of 3DGN, or… anyone for that matter.)
And for the record, I don’t mind the save crystals. I had no problem proceeding through the game and rarely used them. That’s not to say that everyone else feels the way I do. I’m sure this will upset many buyers who’ll want to save the regular way. Aliens vs. Predator had a similar option, and that was eventually removed and replaced with a regular save game option.
The AI for Mikiko and Superfly isn’t all that bad either. They follow me when I move, they don’t fall off cliffs, they actually fight… sometimes. But it’s not all that bad, although it does cripple my ability to wander around levels alone to some degree.
The Fear Factor
One of the complaints leveled at Daikatana is that the enemies simply aren’t very scary. Well, Daikatana isn’t a horror game; the monsters aren’t meant to be scary. People seemed to have been expecting something that would displace Half-Life as the best fps shooter around. It seems that people had the wrong expectations.
I found nothing wrong with the enemies. They are cool to fight though, except when they gang up on you in droves and you can’t get through them, then it’s simply frustrating. I can only kill a robotic frog, alligator and mosquito so many times before I begin getting a bit annoyed. Besides, who in their right mind creates robotic insects? The main baddie of this game must truly be one screwed up individual.
I don’t know what the deal is with some of the issues people have had with the demo, but I haven’t had a single issue with it, and I’ve downloaded it twice just to be certain. People are having tons of problems with the game though, and it just can’t be ignored. John, if you’re reading this, fix it, because the worst kind of fan is an unhappy one.
Bugs, Man – Freakin’ Bugs!
After considerable thought, I decided to reduce the score a point due to the undeniably huge amount of bugs that people have been experiencing. Poor Lowtax nearly lost his sanity (what’s left of it anyway) trying to play this demo. He’s not the only one. Hopefully a fix of some kind will be released by Ion to alleviate the demo of its bugs.
I’ve read a great deal of commentary from a variety of different sites, Evil Avatar, Something Awful, and others. Most seem to be fairly negative. While there are some truly outstanding bugs with this demo, that won’t stop me from focusing upon all the good points.
In Summary…
Here’s a demo that has five different maps, a variety of different weapons, fun deathmatch, good music, good graphics, and innovative ideas. The least this reviewer can ask of his readers is to enjoy the demo for all the positive aspects of the game.
The Goods Size: 102.5 MB Pros: Great level design, fun weapons, diverse levels, semi tolerable single player missions, fast paced deathmatch, good music. Cons: Voice acting that should be banned by law, disjointed single player missions, touchy AI, show stopping bugs, too many biased detractors, Stroke 9 should have songs in the soundtrack. Bottom Line: For 102 MB, there’s a good bit to be enjoyed here.
Worth It? Download Factor 4/5 Overall Fun 3/5 Overall 3/5
Originally published on 16 March 1999 at 3DGaming.net, this was the first of two Daikatana demo reviews (there were two demos, so – two reviews).
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And this is what we call double the pleasure for double the fun…
Oh. My. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m the official “it” boy for Daikatana at 3DGN. Hell, I wrote a 13 page feature on it. And now I get to play the damn thing, and atleast it’s the demo, and damn if it isn’t a really cool frickin game. This game is multiplayer only, so if you aren’t interested in multiplayer games, please take a number and await your turn, and I’ll get someone to help you as soon as I can. Anyways, what was I saying? Oh yeah, the demo, it’s pretty cool. Read some of the stuff I typed below and you’ll see what I wrote. It makes sense. Sometimes.
Initial Impressions
After spending something near 3 straight hours playing the demo, I have to give Romero some credit; the weather effects are spiftastic, and the rocket launcher’s speed is equivalent to that of Quake, but there are some problems. I want praise first though since this game is all I wrote about for nearly a month. The speed. I love Quake II’s speed. Nice and slow. But Quake’s was too much. This seems to be right in-between the two. Not too fast, not too slow. If anything, it should be modifiable. For small, enclosed levels, make it slow, for the wide-open levels, make it fast. And make it a client side modification.
The Weapons
The weapons. The Sidewinder (the equivalent of the rocket launcher) is a fun little toy. Two rockets at once provides for a new twist. Very nice. The explosion is somewhat lacking, although it has earned the nickname of pitchfork of death amongst my community of friends. Yes, it does look like a pitchfork, but when it’s this good, I’m not going to care. Have a brownie.
The C4 Vizatergo. A camper’s dream weapon. My nightmare weapon. I know my editor is going to enjoy this weapon. I don’t. He’s felt my pain though. It’s a helluva lot better that the Quake II bomb gun thingy from hell, but it’s also a lot worse. What would improve upon this weapon? There should be server and client side based code that monitors every single mine, so that if a person steps over his/her own mine they don’t get hurt by it. Why do I say this? Because there are already retards killing themselves with their own mines.
The Ion Blaster. Wow. This is such an amazing weapon. I love using this bad boy. It’s like flubber as an offensive projectile. Super Jello. Wow! Anyone caught in my crosshairs with this weapon automatically knows the silence of death. And it’s green too!
Next weapon is the Disruptor Glove. Not quite what I thought it would be, but not as bad. This sucker still does a great deal of close up damage. I was hoping for some kind of disintegration effect, but I can live without it. Two to three direct hits and the opponent is bloodied and unmade.
The Shotcycler 6 is the odd child of the brood. I can understand the whole idea of reloading, but it takes too long and is a bit underwhelming simply because of that. It’s a powerful weapon, but the reloading is obnoxious. It felt as if though I fired 6 shots and then had to reload. How paltry. Either fix it or get rid of it, but don’t change the amount of damage it oodles out. The weapons aren’t bad, but they could be better. My main gripe is that with the exception of the Shotcycler 6, they all have the same color scheme. This bugs me. And I’m going to whine until it’s fixed.
The Bad Things
Now, onto the bad things. Sadly, there’s a lot that’s wrong so far.
I’ve spent a great deal of time contrasting the changes in deathmatch between Quake II and Daikatana, and the most prevalent problem is the sheer power of the weapons. Even the disruptor glove can frag someone in 3 hits. There’s something wrong with that. The reason that the multiplayer aspect of games such as Quake II and Half-Life work so well is that each and every weapon has its own strengths and weaknesses. The gauss gun is powerful, but only if you don’t miss. The sniper rifle is great if you don’t miss, but it also has the non zoomed firing option. The rocket launcher is powerful, but people can see the red dot and thus avoid it.
In Quake II the railgun is a great weapon, but it’s firing time is slow enough to not become a god weapon. The same holds true with the rocket launcher; it was slowed down to balance it out. Unfortunately, Daikatana seems to have foregone all such logic. It seems as if skill is no longer required. Just drop bombs all over, use the sidewinder, and collect the armor and health, and you own the game. There is no balancing. In addition, the weapons are simply too powerful. One direct hit from the Sidewinder can easily kill anyone. All the weapons are simply too powerful. It practically screams “No Newbies Allowed!”
Respawning and Internet Connectivity
Outside of that there are no real problems other than strange little bugs that weren’t eliminated, such as respawning and not being able to see the weapon being held, respawning with the weapon that was held just before being fragged, and an odd lag everytime someone is gibbed. Strangely enough, this last problem was encountered on many different machines, including my own K6-2 400 on a cable modem and a friend’s P2-400 (with 16mb TNT) on a T3 connection. I hope this will be alleviated by the time the full game is released.
Let’s move on to the maps shall we? Come on, I’m not waiting for you, I’m not the energizer bunny, that would be my editor Rick.
The Levels
The levels are the strange beasts here (although I suppose that my John Carmack skin for Quake II falls under the same category). The first deathmatch map, Gibbler on the Roof, is a blatant camping map. Someone could camp off the roof, off a railing, anywhere. It’s so utterly wrong and evil. And it’s only worsened by the amount of darkness prevalent in the level. Never before have I had to turn my monitor brightness all the way up to 100% to see what was going on in a level.
This level needs street lamps… or maybe a few skanky whores that Hiro can pick up after deathmatching, perhaps even some decrepit cars on the street to make the level look more interesting. And somehow make it harder for campers to camp. Once that is accomplished, then this level will truly rock. Until then it’s kinda annoying.
The second map, Storm Sector 7, is absolutely stunning. It’s reminiscent in atmosphere to that of BladeRunner and is my favorite of the two deathmatch maps. Whereas Gibbler on the Roof is very large and has many hiding spots, this does not. The map is very circular and much better lit. The rain effect is absolutely stunning.
And while I’m sure a rain mod can be downloaded as a mod for Quake or Quake II, what makes this map unique is that it’s not a mod. Someone implemented this into a map, and they did it incredibly well. And instead of being placed in the level for a graphical effect, it actually enhances the level. There’s a simple way to tell. Imagine the level without rain. And then look at the level as it is. It does make a difference. It adds to the atmosphere of the level, which is what’s important.
The Sound
The sound is about average as well. Infact, it could be a great deal better. Even though it’s been clearly stated that there is no 3D sound in the demo, with all the rain that falls in Storm Sector 7, I imagined that when I walked in the outer corridor, I would be sloshing through water. Instead I heard nothing of the sort. It’s unfortunate since I’ve come to believe that it’s the small things that make a game great. Hopefully when the full version of Daikatana is released, I’ll visit this deathmatch map again and hear the echo of dripping water and rain splashing on my boots. Until then the level lacks a certain ambiance.
It’s nothing revolutionary. But then, it was never intended to be. It’s supposed to be fun. Nothing more. And atleast it’s a helluva lot more fun than the Half-Life demo. At 34.5 MB, the demo has a fair amount of replayability if you happen to love deathmatching. Beware though, this is a deathmatch only demo. There is no single player to be found anywhere. That will be the determining factor in the download.
In Summary…
What do I say to those of you who rarely play multiplayer? Well, 5 weapons, 2 levels, and MPlayer. Not exactly a winning combination. If you want some pain, slaughter, mayhem, and hamsters, look no further than the Daikatana demo. But if you crave an immersive plot, stay the hell away. For those of you who ask whether or not it’s better than Quake II. No, it’s different. The whole feel is different. I enjoy both. But until the weapons are reduced in power, I’m shying away.
The Goods Size: 34.5 MB Pros: Nice level design, interesting weapons. Cons: Mplayer only, weapons too powerful, no 3D sound, Mplayer only. Bottom Line: After years of waiting, John Romero finally revealed a piece of his much-hyped game Daikatana. Except we can only deathmatch. While this may make deathmatch fans jump up and down like little schoolgirls, the single player people are left out. Without any really interesting maps and overly powerful weapons, the demo lacks the punch that would have made it much better.
Worth it? Download Factor 4/5 Overall Fun 4/5 Overall 4/5
