As announced on io9 this morning, Paramount Pictures have decided to debut Mission: Impossible 7 on Paramount+ 45 days after the movie’s arrival in cinemas, as a result of (naturally) the pandemic. With the majority of cinemas still closed at the moment across North America, it’s clear that film studios are trying to find new ways to maximise audience engagement and revenue streams.
In io9 writer Germain Lussier’s own words:
Mission Impossible 7 starring Tom Cruise is currently filming and aiming at a November 19 release, which would put it on the streamer in early January.
So expect the still-untitled seventh instalment in the series to be on streaming platforms in early 2022.
EA and Bioware have announced that they will no longer be working on Anthem 2.0, otherwise known as Anthem Next, and will instead, redirect all energies and focus to Dragon Age 4 and Mass Effect 4.
Christian Dailey wrote, in an official Bioware blog post:
“In the spirit of transparency and closure we wanted to share that we’ve made the difficult decision to stop our new development work on Anthem (aka Anthem NEXT). We will, however, continue to keep the Anthem live service running as it exists today.”
A famously troubled production (originally codenamed ‘Project Dylan’), Anthem lacked a strong direction and focus for several years while in development, and ultimately launched to the worst reviews and sales in the history of Bioware.
Anthem was one of several SaaS games that emerged on the market during the 2010s, alongside No Man’s Sky, Destiny, Destiny 2, The Division, The Division 2, and more. Despite some excellent design ideas and an absolutely magnificent soundtrack by Sarah Schachner, Anthem never quite found an audience, and featured content that had clearly been gutten to hit a release date.
Hopefully, Bioware have learned from the mistakes of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, and release games worthy of their name and legacy.
This was originally published on 12 March 1999 on the now-defunct 3DGaming.net.
Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
While taking a break from fragging on a Quake II server, I found myself wanting to play something with more depth and color, so I decided to load up a golden oldie that I never got around to finishing, Jedi Knight. I’ve had the game for a little over two years now, and I never got around to completing it. After spending many hours in the single player campaign, I decided to sit down and write about this game and why it has remained, after all this time since its release, my favorite game.
At 1024×768 the game runs clean as a whistle. That right there is a primary indication of a game’s long term success: will it look good when looked back upon a year or two after it was released? In Jedi Knight’s case, that’s a resounding yes.
Looking back at Jedi Knight, I found myself noticing things I’d never paid attention to in the past:
A. The game shipped with no bugs. B. The multiplayer elements were vastly unique compared to other games. C. The single player campaign is still unparalleled to this day. D. FMVs are not dead. And I much prefer them to the in-game engine cinematics used in Mysteries of the Sith. I much prefer seeing real live humans talk. Talking polygons terrify me.
Since Jedi Knight takes place in the Star Wars universe, it already has an advantage over everyone else. Why do I say this? Undeniably, the Star Wars universe has always been a damn fun universe, whether you’re reading one of the many Star Wars books, watching one of the movies (or that mind-blowing trailer) or playing a Star Wars game, it never gets boring, which is part of the attraction. Everyone knows Star Wars, and because it’s so well known, it’s easier for people to associate with it.
What made Jedi Knight stand out the most was its kickass gameplay. Whether it’s running around in the Bespin Mining Colony, or chasing after 8t88 in Nar Shaddaa, the game manages to keep reminding the player, “This is Star Wars! Have a blast!” The immersion never stops. And what more could be asked of a game? I know myself, when I sit down to play a game, I want to get lost in the world I’m playing in.
And with Jedi Knight, the moment I hear the rumble of John Williams’ Oscar winning music, I’m caught. That to me is the definition of success. Why gameplay? It can rise above everything else. Even if the graphics are mediocre and the sound merely adequate, great gameplay can always save the day. And Jedi Knight more than does the job. It did everything right.
While talking with a friend, we ended up discussing Jedi Knight. He piqued my interest when he said “There is nothing more amazing that cutting someone in half with a lightsaber in a deathmatch!” I couldn’t agree more (What, no gibs?) The deathmatching aspects of Jedi Knight are unlike that of any other game, all due to the combat system created by LucasArts. In addition to the lightsaber are the Jedi force powers (the ultimate pooch screw for those of you who fear force grip) which makes gaming oh so deadly. With dark and light Jedi force powers to choose from, deathmatching will not be the same again.
A little over a year ago, at the end of 1997, Jedi Knight received in several different publications the Game of the Year award for combining the right mix of adventure, role playing, and 3D shooting action. Along the way LucasArts managed to properly use of the third person point of view, with top of the line graphics, and a great story with a cool hero, spunky sidekick, nasty villains. Plus that little thing about being able to use a lightsaber is pretty damn cool.
No other game I’ve played recently (excluding rpgs) has come to have as much sheer replay value as Jedi Knight. While it may not be a lengthy game (it can be beaten in under a week), the option of playing your character as a light or dark Jedi, basing the choice upon your actions throughout the game, presented a branching storyline. With the addition of Mysteries of the Sith, we’re presented with more single player options, as well as multiplayer options.
All of these combined make Jedi Knight, in my mind, the finest game ever crafted. Not a bug in sight out of the box, flawless multiplayer, a variety of options for skins and levels, the optional use of Jedi force powers, superbly crafted levels, a well presented single player game, add to that a flawless setup, and that makes in my mind a perfect game. I cherish this game above all and will never stop playing it, not even when Quake IV hits the market.
This was originally published on the now-defunct 3DGaming.net some time in 2000.
The fruit of the tree is always sweet. Or so we would be led to believe. Everyone covers upcoming games, it’s a fact of life. Who wants to read about upcoming games when every site has the same info just rehashed? I sure as hell don’t, and I don’t think you do either.
That’s right, you, over there with the pink plush dragon, you know what I’m talkin’ about. Come on, say it with me: “Tomorrowland Part Deux: Modland”.
What’s new this week? Real Time Strategy Games baybee. We’ve got the stuff love and it’s all for you. So without further interruption let’s get on with the show!
Middle-Earth Diablo
The first mod of the week I owe props to theonering.net for p1mping. It seems as if this mod had slipped past the attentive eyes of gaming writers around the world (we are that numerous folks): Middle-Earth Diablo.
What’s so damn special about ME: Diablo? Here’s the short and skinny of it all: New monsters, bosses, base items, linguistic changes, and new armor and weapons. Weapon speeds and damage have been added and modified. I’m sure there are rpgers out there who role play Middle Earth who are going to go absolutely nuts with this mod.
You’re also probably asking yourself why this is so freaking special. Very simply because Lord of the Rings is not only one of the most successful fantasy series ever published (at a current total of over 50 million copies sold), but there’s also a movie on the way.
Suffice to say, interest in Lord of the Rings is running rampant right now. Fantasy is finally experiencing a renaissance period, which excites me greatly. First Wheel of Time had a game (as well as a possible television movie ala Merlin) and now Lord of the Rings dances in the spotlight. The other big plus is that Diablo has a huge fan base, which means heavy publicity for the makers of this mod.
Next on the list is WarCraft III. Now, I know you’re thinking “Well waitaminute, isn’t Blizzard already working on a 3D version of WarCraft III?” The answer is a hearty “Yes,” but that’s never stopped anyone in the past.
Based on the StaftCraft engine, WarCraft III: The Total Conversion promises to be one of the largest total convesions for an RTS game yet seen, and with good reason. The conversion will include new units and spells for each race, converted units, new weapons of war, such as the storm riders and gnomish cannons, a new race (the burning legions), a new interface, a fully functioning campaign, and a new storyline.
All of this will also be playable on Battle.net. A playable release is currently out for download with a new build expected near the end of April. Notice the eye of Sauron on the left hand side of the screenshot. Cool stuff, eh?
So what’s so hot about this mod? Very simple. This one will challenge developers. Like Shadowed Destiny for Wheel of Time, WarCraft III is a mod that will give developers a run for their money. I can only imagine what would happen if WarCraft III: TC turns out to be more enjoyable than WarCraft 2. Let’s all try and imagine what that would be like.
The last mod of the week is also a modification of a Blizzard game (this is all by chance folks. None of this has been plotted out in advance against your will). This time the mod is: The War of the Ring, a total conversion of WarCraft II. Take one guess what this mod could possibly be inspired by. You betcha, Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s hot property these days, isn’t he?
So what will ‘The War of the Ring’ (otherwise known as WotR) offer players? How do new units, graphics, unit statistics, and missions all based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous trilogy sound? Spooging yet? I thought so.
Why get hot under the collar for WotR? Because it’s Lord of the Rings dammit! Whereas Middle Earth (ME) Diablo is an action version perspective on ME, WotR offers a more epic and grandios ‘battles on the plains of Middle Earth’ vision of ME during the third age. There’s also the obvious perk of getting to see some of the more famous sites of Middle Earth, which is what has me attracted.
Originally published on 3DGaming.net at…some point in 2000.
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Tomorrowland has drifted off the radar as 3DGN threw the goodies at you. And what goodies they have been. But like the ever-changing tides, the flow of content at 3DGN sometimes shifts, and everything old is new again.
So what is new now, you ask? Mods, my dear readers. Unlike the Tomorrowlands of the past, I’m not content with reporting the status of upcoming games. That’s been done before countless times, so I’d like to try something a little bit different this time.
I’d like to send a little love back to the mod community that has kept so many games alive and interesting. What would Quake 2 be like without Chaotic Dreams, Jailbreak, Lithium, RailArena? What would Half-Life be like without Counterstrike and TFC?
So what mods would I like most to discuss? I have a few in mind that seemed of interest, and for this week it’s first person shooter mods. Why first person shooters? Because I like them godammit! So you’re going to sit down and read about them!
Immediately upon deciding to write this article, I knew I wanted to pursue mods that would somehow stand out. Rather than discuss something such as Rocket Arena UT or LMCTF Quake 3, I wanted to discuss something new that hasn’t [to the best of my knowledge] been done before.
Half-Life: Blade Runner
The first mod comes our way from the wonderful lads at Terminus Studio, who are fervently working on a project that I personally am quite interested in: Half Life: BladeRunner. I’d like to believe that is the sort of path Westwood Studios would have pursued had they chosen to make BladeRunner a first person shooter style game, rather than the excellent adventure game they produced.
So what does Half Life: BladeRunner have to offer? Quite a bit actually, such as multiple modes of gameplay. Deathmatch is all fine and good, but who really cares anymore? It’s been done. BladeRunner means to offer something a bit more diverse, such as:
THE HUNTERS AND THE HUNTED. The Hunters and the Hunted will feature a group of Replicants on the run from special police units called BladeRunners, who track and execute them. Add a dash of ‘last man standing’ from Unreal Tournament and throw in a timer. The Reps have to wipe out the RepDetec within a certain amount of time and vice versa.
OFFWORLD. This mode could be called ‘Assault and Conquer.’ The premise of this mod is that BladeRunner units are holding a Replicant doctor hostage. Other Replicants have to rescue him as a first priority, with a second priority of killing all the BladeRunners. And the setting is on Mars rather than Los Angeles.
POLICE HQ. BladeRunners protect Police Chief Bryant from a Replicant assault.
HIDEOUT. Replicants must protect several doctors from BladeRunner units. If the BladeRunner units kill all the doctors and/or Replicants, they win. This could turn out to be a bit like TFC’s ‘The Hunted’ in design, which I personally wouldn’t mind, since The Hunted is an awesome game.
STREET CHASE. This mode of gameplay is somewhat akin to ‘one on one assault’ with npcs. BladeRunner units hunt Replicants who are trying to reach a certain point on a map.
TYRELL CORPORATION. BladeRunners must protect Tyrell, the head of the Tyrell Corporation, from a Replicant assault.
At the moment ideas are still being tossed about amongst the design team, so nothing is for certain. Nonetheless, the ideas already in consideration could make for an incredibly fun mod. This is an extremely interesting project that has had my attention since its inception.
The next mod is a project that can be described in one word: ambitious. Shadowed Destiny has officially earned its place in my mind as a mod that is truly by the fans and for the fans. I’m surprised to see a mod of such scope in development, due to the lack of interest in fantasy games in recent times.
Games such as Hexen II and Heretic II all but disappeared from the radar within months of release. I feared the same fate for Wheel of Time until I discovered that Game Knight Software had begun development on Shadowed Destiny, a mod that has acended to the position of expansion pack, rather than a simple mod.
So what’s Shadowed Destiny about? It’s a single player mod involving a newly raised Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah who is sent to investigate the whereabouts of a man who purportedly can channel. I don’t expect a brief five level expansion pack, for several reasons, one of which is the inclusion of fifteen new cutscenes. When was the last time a single player mission pack (free, no less) shipped with its own pre-rendered cut scenes?
Could cutscenes using the engine be done? Yes, but having videos to contribute to the story adds a great deal of narrative to the game. As well as the new cutscenes, the mod will include new levels, music, skins, and most likely new ter’angreals. We might even be allowed to channel more than ‘a trickle’ (that got kinda annoying in the single player game, didn’t it?).
In addition, the mod takes place in 248 AB (After Breaking), a scant amount of time after the Time of Madness. Why is this a significant detail? During the breaking [of the world], the physical shape of the planet was wildly altered by insane male channelers, and civilization was destroyed. Hopefully Game Knight will realize the significance of this and include famous sights of the period.
Release Date: TBA Developer: Game Knight Software Official Site: Shadowed Destiny
Half-Life: Goldeneye
The final mod of the evening is none other than 007 himself, James Bond, staring in Half-Life GoldenEye. Originally the project began as a series of deathmatch maps for Half-Life that were recreations of Rare’s GoldenEye, which shipped on the Nintendo 64. Due to the unwillingness of developers to develop a PC port, a group of talented individuals took it upon themselves to begin work on a multiplayer partial conversion, which will include most of the weapons from the original game, as well as skins for Bond, M, Q, Moonraker (dear god why?) and a variety of options.
One such option is randomly spawning weapons (which is guaranteed to piss off my camping whore of an editor), bot support and a new twist on making deathmatch more strategic: life is as important as death. Every time you die, you lose a kill, which makes staying alive imperative. This isn’t Die Hard, John McClane run-and-gun blitzkrieg attacks are no longer encouraged. Your new mission is to stay alive as long as possible and kill everyone else.
If there was ever a mod deserving of attention, this is it. Developers, pay attention to this mod, it might just own you. You too Carmack. You want the way of the future? I have three words for you: “Bond. James Bond.”
That’s all for this week folks. Next week the sheep humpers at 3DGN shall bring more goodness to the table. Or something like that. Just like Bond, Tomorrowland shall return…
This was originally published…sometime in 1999, on 3DGaming.net
Welcome all! Welcome to the most unlikely show on Earth since Ted Danson’s career! That’s right, it’s time for another journey through the Ouji board playing, beer guzzling, cheap stripper whore psychic with a heart of gold world of Tomorrowland.
Prey
The first game to not see the light of day by us is Prey, being developed by Apogee and 3D Realms. To give you a good idea of how damn pretty this game is… Prey is to Unreal what Quake was to Doom. That’s right, get ready to become Apogee’s bitch (wait a sec, that’s Ion Storm). Prey will be sporting portal technology (those orange globes in Half-Life multiplied by 1 gillion), advanced kinematic character animation system (I have no idea), and something called full radiosity lighting (sounds damn cool to me).
Simply put, Prey is going to smoke Unreal, you got all that? S-M-O-K-E. And with the promise of being able to blow just about everything up, Prey looks to be a damn cool game. Throw in the high-speed multiplayer promised by 3D Realms, an ultra 16-bit palette, and an actual character with an actual name that has a history and purpose, and Prey makes itself stand out in a crowd of competing shooters.
Release Date: Unknown Developer: 3D Realms Official Site: Prey
Seed
The next 3D shooter is second oldest to Prey and has seen almost no hype in its many months of development. If you would kindly follow me, our first stop will be at the ‘We Got the Goods’ display. Here we have real-time shadows, dynamically handled worlds, realistic physics (a touchy phrase in the wake of Trespasser), an unlimited number of lightsources in 16 and 32 bit color, and OpenGL and Glide compatibility (yeah yeah, I’m wondering where the hell D3D is too).
With the addition of platform gameplay via the first and third person point of views, Seed will attempt to balance the gameplay elements just right, similar to Jedi Knight. While not the behemoth that is Prey, Seed intends to stand out through its humor and ‘morbid game elements.’ Basically, you better laugh your ass off while playing this game.
And with a lack of hype, this could become ‘the little game that could’ and may surprise everyone when it’s released. Remember, Half-Life had very little publicity when compared to the likes of Quake II or Daikatana…
Release Date: Unknown Developer: Human Soft Official Site: Seed
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – The Heart of Gaia
For the final part of our journey, we arrive at Werewolf, whose title is simply too long. Utilizing the Unreal engine, Werewolf may just turn out to be the most fascinating of all the Sons of Unreal games. Alongside The Wheel of Time, Werewolf is utilizing the Unreal engine to bring gamers a fascinating single player experience, and Werewolf will not settle for anything less than spectacular. One of the things that makes this baby tick are the transformations that will be produced via the engine.
That’s right, imagine a man transforming into a werewolf right in front of you. All thanks to the Unreal engine. No avi, no tricks of the eye, polygons will shift form right there in front of you. Yep, Werewolf dares to do it, and the end results could be mind blowing. Also, be on the lookout for the option to play the game from a third person perspective.
And if that’s not enough, ASC has promised that Werewolf will have just the right blend of action and story to satisfy gamers of both story driven games and shooters. If DreamForge can blend the two elements together properly, this game could turn out to have a very high drool factor.
That’s it for this week… stop by again as we’ll be spotlighting many more future ‘hits to be’ here at Tomorrowland, where the tax price is always cheaper. Now go call Miss Kitty, and she’ll get you a good hamster to love.
This review was originally published on 15 November 1999 at the now-defunct 3DGaming.net
Once upon a time in a beta test across the country, a man named Rainz got the smack down on a certain Lord British, proving once and for all that knowledge is power.
Have you ever awoken from a restless night of sleep sweating, feeling lost and filled with a desire to go beyond the boundaries of life? Have you ever wanted to be a hero? Has the desire to pass through the halls of Lord British’s castle ever crossed your mind? If it has, then the Ultima series is the game series to try. Unlike other role playing games such as Baldur’s Gate, Fallout, Final Fantasy, and the myriad online rpgs, Lord British’s Ultima games have always held firm to the idea that in order for a game to succeed, the player must care about the character he or she is investing such a great deal of time in.
So could Ultima IX change the way role-playing games are crafted in today’s market? That’s a tough call to make. Lord British is renown for having a love of depth and history in his games, as well as involving the player and making them care. If British were ever to have a career high, IX looks to be it. If there’s something role-playing games today lack, it’s a system of morals. Of course, that’s just one of many things rpgs tend to lack, no thanks to games such as Diablo that have dropped rpgs to an inferior level. But nonetheless, they shall survive.
As someone who’s wasted one too many hours in Baldur’s Gate, perhaps only three times did I truly care about the repercussions my actions would have. I’m one of those nice folk who have a thing called “integrity”, so when someone asks me if I found any important remains on a corpse that a family would like, regardless of whether or not it’s worth money to me, I return it. This, in a pinch, is the type of drive I’ve felt has driven Richard Garriott, aka Lord British’s games in the past. That and annoying jump features.
It’s been years since Ultima 8: Pagan (hey, my irc nick!) and without a doubt, anxiety has been developing on Garriott’s newest game. Understandably so in the wake of Tiberian Sun. Fortunately, Garriott aims to please, and if Ultima IX: Ascension is everything that he promises it shall be, then I’d begin telling your loved ones that you’ll be gone for a few weeks.
So what’s Ultima about? If you haven’t been living under a rock since 1915 then you’ll know it’s the granddaddy of role playing games. Ultima IX is the 9th, the final trilogy of trilogies, or something like that. It’s also the one that in Garriott’s own words, is a culmination of 20 years of work on the Ultima series.
Graphics
Ultima IX is one a smack dab new engine built from the ground up to bring the avatar (that guy decked out in armor that you control) to full three-dimensional glory. How does it compare to the likes of UT and Q3 for competition of ‘prettiest game ever’? Well it certainly is a ram hog. British himself said that 128 mb of ram is ideal on this bad boy.
I think its very efficient to sit on the toilet while eating.. it goes in and comes right back out
From what I’ve heard on the newsgroups and in updates about the game, the fans of the Ultima series are in an uproar over the fact that for the first time ever in a Ultima game, it’s not top down as all the rest were. The most prominent fear is ‘Tomb Raider Disease.’ Well unless the avatar suddenly develops some boobies and uh, you know what else (which btw would be really cool) then I don’t think we have anything to fear.
After all, what’s wrong with a fully 3D Britannia? Personally I think The Avatar is about to give Lara a big swift kick to the groin with the imminent release of Ultima IX. She deserves it to. Have you played the TR 4 demo? That demo sucks so much!
Regardless, 3D is the future folks, Neverwinter Nights is evidence of that. The game will also be sporting full 16-bit color. Aha. No 32 bit for you! Mind you, this is not EverQuest. This slaps EQ like a good monkey. While I don’t know what the polygon count is, in this case, the world looks too friggin pretty to matter to me.
If you’ve ever played EverQuest then you’re most likely familiar with the ever annoying zones that pop up at the most inopportune of times. To say the least, EverQuest is to Tomb Raider what Asheron’s Call is to Ultima IX. How’s that for a comparison ? The college boards would be impressed I bet! College, here I come! Hah. I made a funny. Lord British must have heard that load times pissed me off, so he decided to make the world a continuous world.
Storyline and the power of the verb
Without revealing too much about the game, let’s just say that it involves Santa, a double-barreled shotgun and a bottle of scotch whiskey. Actually it involves the avatar’s return to Britannia one last time. This isn’t the Britannia that we all saw in Ultima VIII though, as things have changed, and not for the better.
Welcome to Britannia. All sheep are welcome. Hit next to enjoy them in private.
Twenty years have passed since the Avatar passed through the land of Britannia. Upon being called back for one last adventure, the player (you!) discovers that eight large pillars have risen from the ground all across Britannia. Somehow these pillars are negatively affecting the populace of Britannia, warping everyone and bringing out the bad side of Britannia. Welcome to the dark side of the force baby.
Of course, the guardian is back for one last dance. But this time he doesn’t want to take over Britannia, this time his intent is much more unpleasant. Is the complete and utter destruction of Britannia epic enough for you? That’s what awaits the Avatar. Save the world, restore the virtues to all of Britannia, and ensure that Britannia can survive without your presence, since this is the avatar’s final quest, the adventure to top all adventures.
Drunks elves and gun toting deer! Talk about a wild Yule Tide Season!
The world of Britannia has been rendered in a fully 3d Victorian era design, just the way British likes it (I heard he likes to be on top, but hey). Along the way you’ll run into old chums like Iolo the Fletcher, Shamino the Ranger (am I the only one that thinks they sound like soap products?) Katrina the Shepherdess (good for more than sheep), Geoffrey the Knight and many more.
Control System and the Perils of the Space key
Afraid Garrett fell into Diablo Central? Fear not my rpg loving freaks, Ultima IX is not going to be a hack and slash clone. That title is left for Darkstone. The combat consists of simple attacks that progress to round house attacks and a golf ball type swing that is gained as experience and wisdom are gained. Jumping has also been fixed (Ultima VIII fans know a great deal about this issue).
You want a piece of me fat boy? I’ll spork your ass!
Easy access is also provided to the spell book and map. Just like Baldur’s Gate, when you wear something, you’ll see it too. The mouse icon thingy also changes to indicate what the item the player is looking at. The jump system works now too. Merely point the icon to where you want to jump, and then press the jump key (I’m a whore and use the space bar for such an important task)
Also be on the lookout for the new 12-slot tool kit belt, not unlike the kind Tim Allen wore in Home Improvement. Just like Asheron’s Call, the first slot is ‘1’, the second is’2’ and so on. All the options are easily adjustable, like a good paid of pants. The one factor that has me drooling over Ultima IX like my new cashmere sweater ($100 for a sweater. What is the world coming to?) is the system of virtues, which basically determines whether you’re a wuss, or a real man.
Well not quite, it’s actually a system that balances the players’ values with consequences of actions and through that determines how the character advances in skill. If anything it’s one of the smartest additions to role playing games I’ve yet seen, as it encourages the player to care about the world more and to become more involved with the character and the npcs.
Cinematics
The cinematics are also damn amazing. If you’ve downloaded any of the myriad 4 million Mb files you’ll know that the videos in Ultima IX are dialed pieces of work that would make 3d modelers proud.
Multiplayer
Do we even need to touch this issue? Five years was spent on the single player alone, and nearly half way through the entire design was scrapped. Adding multiplayer would turn this into a Daikatana scenario, which is the last thing the gaming world needs. At least British has cool hair.
Welcome to Britannia Young Adventurer! Don’t mind the smell!
Interface
There are three types of interfaces in my experience. Interface 1 is well designed, clearly shows what can be placed and stored where, presents the user with a myriad amount of options, and is basically placed on a pedestal by players. I place Baldur’s Gate on the pedestal, as well as Asheron’s Call.
Interface 2 is the unused one. If you’ve ever played Tomb Raider or MDK then you’ll know what I mean. They’re the nonexistent arcade interfaces that matter about as much as how many sheep Sweet Dick gets the funk with each night.
Interface 3 is the one I’ve oh so tastefully named ‘Pure Crap.’ Examples of ‘Pure Crap’ include the Nerf Arena blaster demo and Blackstone Chronicles. They’re the type of interface that causes my body to systematically reject the game. The feeling is quite close to having a stomach pumped.
What category does Ultima IX fall under? Well the interface from what I currently understand is fairly simple. Right click to move. Left click to interact. The cursor floating mysteriously in front of the avatar changes shades to determine where the avatar may jump. If the icon is green, the location can be jumped to, red means you’ve got about as much chance as Tonya Harding does of ever seeing Olympic glory
Music
All I have are a whopping load of midis I found from Ultima 1-8 and two mod files that are just above the crap we know as midi. I don’t recall hearing any music in the E3 press junket that Garriott displayed in a crowded sweaty room. (Note to readers: wearing a leather cap in Los Angeles is hazardous to your health.) Hopefully the demo will present me with new music to add to my video game music collection, which I’ll have you know I’m very proud of.
Oh look, it’s daylight savings time.
Conclusions from sedation
This is the section where I get to talk about what I think about Ultima IX based upon what I’ve seen up until this point. Well first I want Lord British nudered for releasing so many large videos but not a single mp3 of music. Ultima IX: Ascension. It can bake a cake. It gives amazing hair cuts, and it’s fat free. It’s Lord British in a brand new way! And it’s dishwasher safe!
In all honesty folks, I don’t see how this game could not succeed. It just looks too damn impressive not to be successful. If the storyline is consistent, the music well written, characters fleshed out and three dimensional, then I don’t see this game not succeeding. It’s just not within my realm of understanding to imagine how this game could fail.
But then again, I’m an eternal optimist who can’t wait to get his hands on Daikatana. Trust in John Romero and Richard Garriott and they shall deliver. Hey, if Ray Liotta can play Shoeless Joe Jackson, then Richard Garriott can take five years to release the follow-up to Ultima VIII. The question remaining in my mind is how well this will stack up against the likes of Baldur’s Gate II and Final Fantasy VIII. Only time, the demo and final shipping version will tell. And remember, when it Rainz, it pours…
The Goods
Quick Peek: You are the mighty (aren’t they all?) Avatar, called to return to the land of Britannia to save the land from the Guardian (I thought guardians were supposed to protect people, not hurt em) and restore the eight virtues to the land of Britannia (open a portal to Woodstock circa : 1963).
Release Date: Imminent. The week of November 23, 1999 is my guess.
This article was originally published on 14 October 1999 on the now sadly defunct gaming site 3DGaming.net.
In an attempt to discover whether or not Daikatana exists, Garrett snuck into Ion’s offices to discover the truth.
Garrett here,
“Log: 2300 hours. The Downwind thieves guild beat me to the punch in stealing Lord Randall’s Sapphire Vase. Word on the street has it that the two leaders of the guild are at each other’s throats about what to do with it, so a third party should help. Of course, I’m no mediator, so I’m going to steal it instead, by breaking into the Overlord’s Fancy and taking it for myself. They’re so busy arguing they’ll never know I was here…”
“Log: 2350 hours. Sneaking in through the back door took more effort than anticipated. I had to pick that lock several times to jimmy the damn thing. I made it just as the guard was coming around on his nightly shift. Sucker never even heard me coming. I snuffed the chick behind the desk and hid her body in the backroom. The patrolling guard was left to the same fate.”
This is Garrent, and this is his world. One half medieval ages, one half heavy metal, brought to you with love by Looking Glass, the pirates who gave us the Ultima Underworld series, System Shock 1 and 2, Thief, and now, Thief Gold, and the upcoming Thief 2: The Metal Age.
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Gold versions exist to drain a series of all it’s monetary value and sap the life out it. Just ask Lara.
So let’s get down to the skinny, shall we?
The graphics haven’t changed much if at all. 1997 graphics, meet 1999.Although Thief looks mighty purty at 1024 X 768 with the graphics turned up all the way up, the models still suffer from a lack of polygons, and the world itself lacks the detail it could have. But hey, when the gameplay is this good, who cares, right? I’m sure some of you do, considering the times, what with video cards pushing 15 million polygon’s a second.
The kickass sound is still there, with EAX for all you SoundBlaster users. I’m uncertain as to whether or not A3D is supported in game or not (it was in the original Thief), but the sound was pretty amazing. The doors squeaked when I opened them, women cried out in terror when I showed them the hard end of my blackjack, and guards shook in terror when I danced the YMCA.
So what’s the level like? Well…I’m currently trying to figure out how to get into the basement at this point in time. The only solution at this point seems to be jumping down what looks like a laundry chute and landing on a metal floor. And then I’m going to have to kill everyone in the hallway. Old habits die hard for this Quake 2 weaned gamer.
The concept of the level, breaking into a thieves’ guild, is a brilliant one for Thief, but unfortunately, the game suffers due to poor level design. All too often I’ve found myself wandering thinking “now what?” This can’t touch the original levels from Thief, which I don’t enjoy admitting, especially for such a well-crafted and thought out game.
As always, there’s a opening video detailing the heist. Readers beware, there are two versions of the demo, the smaller 42.41 MB has no AVI files included, so good luck trying to figure out the point of the mission. Although the separate movie file can now be downloaded, what’s the point, right? You only really need it once so you know what’s going on in the game. Deathmatch has yet to be added as of yet. Hopefully Thief 2 will present some form of multiplayer option.
So is this happy puppy worth it? Let me be frank. You can be Sally.
There’s only one level. With the opening video it’s 68.91 MB, without it’s 42.41 MB. For one level. After that it’s over.
The Goods
Size: 68.91 MB Pros: Amazing atmosphere, slightly updated graphics, a new level for Thief! Swanky intro, easy to use interface. Cons: Only one level. Enormous file size. Dated graphics. Bottom Line: If you liked Thief, give this a try, otherwise go play with socks.
This was originally published on the now-defunct gaming site 3DGaming.net on 27 March 1999.
It has become medically proven that porn can save your life. And why does the music from EverQuest remind me of the music from ET?
This previous November, a small Seattle based company known as Valve Software released Half-Life, which some have labeled as one of the most revolutionary games in many years. Before the release of Half-Life, there were rumors of a remake of Team Fortress Half-Life style. Sadly, to ensure a stable product, TF did not ship with Half-Life. Instead, it was to become its own stand along product, to emerge from the shadows concurrent with the release of id’s Quake 3 Arena and Epic’s Unreal Tournament.
And similar to these other two products, Team Fortress 2 would similarly be a multiplayer only game. Much to the surprise of its fans, Valve announced an update soon to be released for Half-Life: Team Fortress Classic. More than a demo, but less than a new game, it would be something to quench the thirst of TF fans until the release of Team Fortress 2. Team Fortress Classic doesn’t have many expectations to live up to; all it has to do is simply be fun. That’s all we gamers can ask.
Concept
At the time of its release (online) there was nothing quite like the squad warfare twist of Team Fortress, and thus it stood out. And still does to this day. But if you’ve come in search of a story, please don’t sit down, this isn’t your floor. Stories are found on the third floor, this is the exclusive multiplayer only floor. I enjoy multiplayer as much as the next guy, but this is one of the few games that did it right, and to add injury to insult, the programmers of TF did it for free.
When compared to games such as Blood 2 it’s absolutely stunning how well made it is. And when people are playing a game almost three years after its release, that’s a clear sign of the game’s quality.
Despite popular rumor, Charlie was not Willy Wanka’s meat popsicle.
The translation to Half-Life’s engine is flawless. Infact it perfectly fits Half-Life’s pseudo-science fiction/military feel, since Team Fortress is a military tactical squad based warfare game. The engine wraps around TF like a new skin. Nothing felt out of place at all, although at times, it felt very similar to playing Chaotic Dreams (the hallucination grenade is really friggin’ cool), but it’s nothing to get excited about.
As long as Valve focuses more on the gameplay and less on the graphics I’m satisfied. Everything here is just right. No complaints from me. Read on below and you’ll discover why I’ll be playing this game for a long time to come.
Gameplay
I was never much a fan of Quake or Team Fortress Quake myself, because I stuck to what I knew best: adventure games. That was then. This is now. Much has changed since the “I wrote this plot on a napkin and thought we should use it for a game” days. Gamers have asked more of the developers, and they have listened. Quake II has become the multiplayer game to beat, Sin failed to be the blockbuster it was projected to be, Half-Life has set an example of how future games should be, and Wing Commander has its own movie.
They call me Doctor Worm, good morning how are you I’m Doctor Worm.
But that was then. This is now. And the gameplay is still for the most part, the same. Although since I never truly involved myself very much with Quake TF, I don’t know what was or wasn’t in it even after having played it a fair bit. But I believe that I should be asking myself “Well Ilya, did I have a good time playing it?” And to that I can honestly say “Yes” .
There’s nothing wrong with TF, and it is very enjoyable, but I myself prefer the visceral victory of deathmatch more, but that’s merely personal preference. But yeah, if you liked Tribes, and you liked Quake TF, and you enjoy team based games, give this a jingle, cause baby, it’s got your number. Just set up a gun turret and get out of range and watch the fireworks.
The weapons of the game are pretty friggin cool. Everything right is wrong again. And I couldn’t be happier. First off is the new shotgun. It’s about the same length as the old one, simply thinner. And fires a helluva lot faster. I love to get down with the hoe rhythm of this gun, cause it cranks out shots quicker than Sweet Dick Willy does Heinekens.
In short, it’s really friggin’ cool to show off the room cleaning process with this bad mutha. If you’re not familiar with the room cleaning process, well, this is it: you walk into a room filled with people, and you’re the only one who walks out. Well, that’s the room cleaning process. Back to Team Fortress Classic.
It’s violence time!
The shotgun has also been given the once over. Now it fires two shots at once, instead of one, essentially, what used to be it’s secondary fire is now its primary fire
The rocket launcher has a new setup as well. Now there are two variations on it. One is the regular version, and one is the pyro version. The regular version allows for four consecutive shots to be fired before it’s reloaded quickly. Let’s call this Rocket Launcher A (RLa) This is the most amazing weapon to use against the scout running away with your flag.
Sadly, the hum of the rocket launcher is gone. You know what I’m talking about. When you’d be running down a hallway and someone would aim for your head, you’d hear the hum of the rocket coming for you. Well, suck it down, cause now it’s a helluva lot more silent. The pyro version is a bit slower, louder, and leaves a red trail, and it does less splash damage; a direct hit is not something that I desire. This’ll be referred to as Rocket Launcher B (RLb).
The pistol is slightly changed. Now it doubles as a regular pistol and as a silencer. Unfortunately, the silencer fires too damn slowly, which isn’t much fun. The Gauss Gun is a weakling (not too unlike me at 3 in the morning) and fires a pussy green laser thing. I have deemed it the pussy gun. The mp5 did a Pamela Anderson and got a face lift, er…sorta. Instead of firing bullets at a rapid pace, it fires…nails. Yeah. Nails. I forgot we were playing Quake. You won’t see me using this.
Big badaboom!
The sniper rifle and its automatic version are the shit. This is why the sniper class rules. The regular sniper rifle has a secondary fire that allows it to zoom in and fire one shot at a time. And even when it’s not zoomed in, it’s friggin cool. The automatic version of the sniper rifle doesn’t allow for zooming in, but it more than makes up for it with the automatic firing. Really fast. A lot of bullets. Popcorn!
The Egon Gun is now officially too cool. Instead of firing that ghostbusters effect thingy, it’s a flame thrower. And people light on fire. Yep. 3D polygons with sprite fires. Not exactly a stunning effect, but still, people are running around! On fire! Because of the flame thrower! Fire! Fire! Yeah! Cool! Sadly, the crossbow was pulled.
Well, it wasn’t in the original, so why break tradition? This isn’t a quickie in your dad’s car you know… The humiliation weapon known as the crowbar is still around for those of you who think you’re cute. The chaingun is the newest addition to the gang. It takes a while to spin up, but, to quote my a friend “Dag yo, this gun smokes.” That’s right. Watch the carnage. Jump into my ocean baby.
There’s also two new grenade launchers in the game, one is similar to that of Quake’s, and the other one works through remote detonation, although I’m not quite sure since the grenades wouldn’t blow up when I stepped on them, and I couldn’t figure out how to blow them up. I can’t find any documentation on them either, so go figure…The final new weapon? Oh this one is so cool. The monkey wrench. Yeah, random, but very cool.
Run Forrest, run!
As for the characters themselves, there’s a whole lot more to it. In the game are 9 character classes: scout, sniper, soldier, demolition man, heavy weapons guy, pyro, spy, engineer, and medic. Each class has different traits to them. Here’s the low down on them to get you in the know.
Scout:This is the guy you want to have capturing the flag, cause he doesn’t just run, he flies. It’s pretty cool. The scout is not only the fastest class but also the weakest. And he has the special ability (also referred to as the secondary fire) to display onscreen the status of the flags. Yeah, it’s kind of a retard special ability, but bitch to Valve, not me. The scout comes equipped with the new shotgun, the remade mp5, and the crowbar.
Sniper: He comes loaded with a very cool looking sniper rifle that has a secondary fire option that allows it to zoom in. Slow but deadly. The second weapon that the sniper can use is my favorite: the automatic rifle. It’s the popcorn gun of Half-Life. Unfortunately, it doesn’t zoom in, which isn’t a bad trade off for the fast rate of fire.
The sniper also comes with the mp5 nail gun and crowbar and moves at about the equivalent of Quake, if not a tad bit slower. If you’re wondering about the grenade attack, the primary and secondary grenade attack are the sam : bland regular grenades. Damn. No acid tab lube job grenades of love? Oh well.
Soldier:Comes prepared with RLa, crowbar, and the new and old shotguns. He’s not quite as fast as the scout, but he packs a punch. And don’t stand near him when he fires his grenade, especially if it’s in an enclosed space, cause you’ll be dead. The damn thing spins around shooting nails before exploding.
Demolition Man: Explosively fun. Oh yeah. What a great pun. Ha! I’m hysterical! Anyways, he carries two grenade launchers, a regular one (if you’ve played Quake, you’ll know what I’m talking about) and a pipebomb one that detonates remotely. And the secondary grenade attack on the demolition man is a grenade that explodes into smaller grenades. Lethal. His lack of speed is compensated by the sheer power he has.
Heavy Weapons Guy: He comes equipped with a very much loaded chain gun. Do not walk in its way for any reason other than being completely drunk. Also in his arsenal are the new shotgun and the crowbar. The only recompensation for all this power? He moves slowly. Real slowly. And the secondary fire on the grenade is the same as that of the demolition man.
Pyro:He comes equipped with a modified Egon Gun, now a flame thrower. Also in the package thrown in for good measure are the RLb and crowbar. The rocket launcher now has a red trail at the end of it and smaller splash damage, and it seems to move more slowly, but its effect is really cool. A direct hit will light someone on fire and after 3 direct hits from the rocket launcher, say goodbye. His secondary fire on the grenade explodes and leaves a circle of flames. So, uh, don’t walk into them. As for the movement rate, well, it’s not quite as fast as Quake, but it’s slightly faster than Quake II.
Spy:He is surprisingly slow for a spy, as the movement rate is somewhere near Half-Life speed. But he more than makes up for it by being lethal. The spy comes packaged with the shotgun, the mp5 nailgun, a knife, silencer, and regular pistol. Slow but deadly. Just like my last girlfriend.
Engineer: He is always a guy you want defending the base, since he sets up all the turrets. He (I suddenly find myself wondering why there are no she in TFC) comes bundled with a modified gauss gun that shoots little green things, the shotgun, and a wrench. Yeah. I know. A wrench. But he’s cool. I promise. The engineer builds the sentry guns you see defending flags. These guys rock. A lot. And as for movement rate, they’re a bit faster than the spy.
Medic: I really hate this class. They’re such pricks. Especially if they camp. Medics have the ability to poison others. And only the medic of the team you’re on can cure you. Annoying. The medic comes prepackaged with a mp5, shotgun, the new shotgun, and a medical recharge thingy. And he moves as fast as the scout does. So he might be useful to have around if for one reason or another, no one picks the scout class.
Graphics
If Unreal is the prettiest engine on the market, this is the second prettiest engine around. What can be said of the graphics that haven’t already been said? They kick ass. Skeletal animation, 16-bit color, and a whole crapload more than even Paul could blow. But despite that, it’s still a very pretty game. What makes the game even more impressive are the backdrops of the day/afternoon/evening desert sky which add to the atmosphere.
Click here to play Unreal. In that case… don’t click here.
The colors work well with one another so you don’t really tend to see guys looking like a part of a wall. Everything fits just right. I can’t say enough how much the graphics of the Half-Life engine are a prime example of programming at its best. Team Fortress keeps up with the tradition. The flame graphics have been slightly improved over the regular version of Half-Life, yet they still look kinda jaggy at times.
The skins themselves are slightly improved and don’t all look alike, as was the case with Quake II. Can we say hard core Half-Life pr0n? Yes, just imagine, you too could become a conspirator in this conscious act of evil against all that is good. Ack. Yes. Back to graphics. Well, they’re pretty friggin damn good. Stop talking about Unreal. Shut up and play. Cause the graphics kick. The models all have their own distinct personality, and everything sort of just… meshes. Hell, one model even has a cigarette in his mouth.
The one giant piece of credit that Valve deserves (Romero, are you listening?): everything feels and sounds like what it is. The rocket launcher looks and sounds like a rocket launcher, the sniper rifle looks and sounds like a sniper rifle, etc. And even what used to be the Egon Gun, now the flame thrower, looks and sounds like a flame thrower. Now, uh, Ion. Read what I just wrote, and uh, stop and think for a second. Cause, uh, your rocket launcher looked like a friggin tuning fork, and, uh, that’s pretty damn lame. That’s all for now. The news will follow the evening movie. Have a nice day.
The stuff that lets you click on all sorts of neat things is called an Interface…
Sound
Perhaps more than any other game out there, Half-Life is an orgasmic jungle of sound. It is a veritable cornucopia of sounds. And Team Fortress Classic continues that proud tradition. How? It’s called A3D 2.0 baby, and it’s a luscious little trinket of love and happiness. Everything has its own sound down to the two different versions of the rocket launcher. The sound effects in Half-Life have always been orgasmically lush, and I’m happy to say the trend continues.
The implementation of top notch sound Sweet Dick Willy style really comes to the foreground when someone has the sniper rifle and you don’t. The sheer sense of terror of having to figure out where the sound is coming from is what impressed the hell out of me. Even the clang of metal has it’s own sound. And for those of you with Aureal 2.0 based cards (I happen to be one of those special people): there’s not a whole lot than can be said other than ‘Please be careful where you step and please refrain from wetting your pants’.
See Spot. See Spot Run. See Spot Die From Fatal Bullet To The Head.
Interface
I’m wondering how long it’ll take newbies to figure this game out. Hit a special key and it gives you a list of character classes. Choose one and have fun with it. If you want to change classes, hit the nifty little class change key and choose a new class, and then die, and you become the newly chosen class. Or you could do it quicker, go to the console and type in ‘kill.’
The interface is fairly simple. Once you start the game, all your options are presented to you in a neat and organized style. To activate Team Fortress Classic you have to go into the custom game option and activate it. It would be much easier to place this on the main screen as so to not confuse people like myself or Levelord(drunk, stoned, or who knows what else).
You know, I was going to put in an amusing little quote about how Daikatana owns, but you already know that.
Other than that, the interface is fairly intuitive and easy to understand. The options to set up controls, advanced controls, graphics, sound, etc, are all present. I’d loved to have seen some more options for graphics akin to Unreal, but perhaps it’s best that Valve not include such options as to not throw newbies for a loop.
In-game, the interface is fairly simple. Buttons 1-9 are all different weapons. And no one really has a problem with this do they? Good! Unlike the other games I’ve bitched about, this one is so newbie friendly even someone who just graduated from Myst could understand this, and two days later you’d see that same person in irc doing ascii art of penises and fireplaces.
Am I the only one I know who enjoyed Wing Commander immensely?
So, yeah, the interface is fairly simple. You can choose your skin, your name, your logo (you can spraypaint a logo, yeah, it’s kinda cool. Mine says ‘You Suck’) etc. It’s pretty friggin easy to comprehend. The game even pings servers via its own in game pinger thingy. Yeah. Have a ball. No gamespy? Nice! Although, I prefer Hydra-SB (insert sucking noise of choice)… that’s just me.
Multiplayer
Everything said and done. Half-Life rocks. It’s the most gosh darn amazing game to play multiplayer, While it lacks at times that ‘let me play with your boobies’ visceral feel that Quake II has, it makes up for it with all that blood. Massive and massive dollops of blood. So much blood. Everywhere. Ahem. Yes. Well, TFC is so cool it’s beyond words! Why? The Hunted. I love this mod so much I want to start typing in caps to exhume my love for this mod.
What is the hunted you say? Well, remember back in the old school days of Quake that I never really liked because I thought the Quake engine wasn’t all that? Well, anyways, there was this neat mod out called ‘The Hunted President’ which I never played. But I knew about it. And ladies and gentlemen, it’s back, and it is amazing.
Anyways, in The Hunted, there is one big fat turd of an ambassador, and he has to get from the starting point to the volvo on the other side of the map… alive. How praytell is this done? With bodyguards. Yep. Very cool. And who’s out to kill this jello blob of a man? Assassins of course. Who else would it be? Gene Simmons?
Well, anyways, I love this mod. Why? Actual teamwork is required. Yep. Real teamwork. Not the sassafras ‘blow me and I’ll help capture the flag’ of Tribes and not the ‘r.t.f.m. newbie!’ of Quake II CTF. I mean real teamwork is done here. It has to be done; otherwise the person playing the ambassador is pooch screwed the moment he spawns. Well, that’s The Hunted, I already found a new icq buddy because of this alone.
I would actually talk to my teammates and ask “Is it clear?” “Good to go”? And they would reply with “Stay there sir,” or “Go go go!” To say the least, I felt involved and a part of something for the first time in a game. No longer was I just helping out or being the lone wolf (in this case, the lone wolf has a John Carmack skin), but for once I was working with random people on the internet to get a job done. And it was tres cool.
Alert! Enemy approaching base! Someone get the mayonnaise!
The next thing found in TFC? It’s called ‘Defend the Capture Points.’ I’m not too crazy about this game because the map blows. But essentially, each team has a base with flags inside, and once you pick one up your movement rate hits the ground. So, you need to take that flag and place it over one of five markers. Once that’s done, the area where you placed that flag becomes your territory. Until the red team decides to place their own little lucky charm eating flag on there. At that point you introduce them to the tip of your rocket launcher and send them through a wall.
Also found in TFC is regular capture the flag. The most notorious map, as well as the most enjoyable one is 2Fort5. Each team has to capture the other teams’ flag. Just get a few scouts and medics to pimp the flag and leave a moist and warm surprise for the other team. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the stuff love baby.
This is where the real fun begins, because here the engineers come out and play. You want your flag defended? Create some sentry guns to piss off the scouts. Want to make sure your pyros and heavy weapons guys don’t run out of ammo? Set up an ammo dispenser. Essentially, wreak all havoc upon the map.
The final type of game is a mod on ctf called ‘Rock 2’, which takes place in a prison and is probably the biggest map of all the maps available. There are two teams. Each with their own warden’s office and gas chamber. Each team’s objective is to get the other team’s key from the warden’s office all the way on the other side of the map, and then head for the enemy’s gas chamber. What happens when you arrive there? Oh, nothing much, you just… kill everyone on the other team who isn’t wearing a protective suit as toxic gas fills the level. Oh yeah, you can’t get damaged if you’re in water. Above all though, hunted is the most fun, simply because it’s actually thrilling. And it’s riddled with bugs.
My favorite? If the fat tubby dude leaves, one of the bodyguards ends up taking his place. There’s only one problem. The bodyguards carry rocket launchers. And now the hunted is carrying a rocket launcher, making the job of snipers that much more difficult. That’s just one bug. Of several. Occasionally, models will just…break down. No, really. Arms and legs and shit will go spinning around in ways the human body never intended them to.
I’d take a screenshot, but that causes TFC to crash. Unless you’re playing a LAN game. Like I said: riddled with bugs. So for rating this one, I’m going to be a prick and rate each mod. Yeah, yeah, you may not like it, but neither did anyone on the other team when they suddenly found themselves dead from poison gas.
Conclusion
Sometimes TFC is purely brilliant (The Hunted), and sometimes it’s really friggin stupid (Defend the Capture Points), but at least the damn thing is fun. And yeah, it’s buggier than Aaron’s (Sin reviewer) beard. But it’s always fun. And remember, this is still a beta, so I’m sure Valve will have stamped out all the problems by the time the release on April 2nd. I have to give Valve credit for listening to their fans though. They could have released this today, and it would
have sucked, but instead it was delayed, so that it would stop crashing… all the time. And instead of releasing this as part of the final game, Valve wanted to hype the game a different way. Not through ‘Suck it Down’ ad campaigns, or through ‘We’re using our technology to save the worl… uh, sorry guys, we’re going to use this crap to make video games cooler,’ marketing hype. Nah. Instead, we get a small taste of things to come.
Valve has so far earned themselves the best marks I’ve seen in a long time and have consistently outdone their competition simply by catering to the fan base with updates, new maps, new skins, and simply caring about what their fans have to say. Valve could have gone the low road and released new maps and made fans pay for it, as many developers have done. Instead, they release new ones periodically to give their fans something new to play with. By releasing new maps for an upcoming addon that they could have simply charged for, Valve deserves a lot of credit. But for going above and beyond the call of duty, Valve, baby, we love ya.
What’s even more interesting is that I could have had this review out two days ago just to beat everyone to the punch, but I didn’t. I wanted to find out everything I could, look for all the bugs, and give myself time to judge this addon properly. And that can’t be done by playing with a game for forty or so minutes and then writing a review. Take that into consideration when reading this, because unlike other sites, we try to give you the real skinny on the game. If it sucks, believe me, you’ll know it, even if the game is Daikatana.
The Goods
Quick Peek: A unique twist on squad based tactical warfare Half-Life style. Pros: It’s free, it has some truly outstanding mods, Valve made it, it rejuvenates Team Fortress, it’s multiplayer only. Cons: Not enough maps, some bugs still prevalent, only us press wankers have it. Value: It’ll be available for download on the 2nd of April if Valve sticks to their promises. And all that’s required is that you own Half-Life.
End of the Line
System Reqs: Pentium 166, 32MB RAM, Half-Life APIs Supported: Direct3D, OpenGL Hype Level: 10/10 Overall Grade: A Recommendation: Get this baby the second its out for download. You won’t regret it. Really.
Mod Grades
The Hunted: A+ Defend the Capture Points: C+ CTF: B+ Rock2 CTF: A
The Grade
Concept: A Gameplay: A Graphics: B+ Cinematics: N/A Sound: A Interface: A Multiplayer: B+ Overall: A
Published 23 April 1999 on the now-defunct gaming website 3DGaming.net.
Can I have your address please sir? “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU NEED THAT FOR? I don’t want any crap sent to me!”
Concept
It’s not very often that a game comes along that makes me oodle with joy to play over and over again. Out of the 30 something games I own, not many have enraptured me the way StarSiege has. The list is small. Very small. Baldur’s Gate and Jedi Knight are pretty much the only other two games on the list.
I won’t mince words: Starsiege owns. It’s not quite MechWarrior 2 or 3, but it’s not quite a first person shooter either. And having been a big fan of MechWarrior 2, this surprises me. Since I didn’t really like Starsiege’s predecessors Earthsiege 1 and 2, I thought Starsiege would clone the MechWarrior games, and much to my surprise, Sierra has opted to not do such a thing and instead created what feels like the first robot simulation fps game. And it’s a helluva lot more fun to play than Dakota’s toaster.
I need off the planet… check please.
It’s hercs. They have big guns. They shoot people. They’re very big and heavy. And they make a lot of noise. Come on, this is an age old idea that’s been around since before you were born. So anyone who says this game is a brilliant star in the sky and is revolutionary, come over here so I can give you a smack down on the way this world turns, cause buddy, you got it all wrong. Remember: the whole reason it’s fun is cause we’re killing one another with really big toys. Boys with toys, that’s what makes this world a better place. And hercs are always fun. Even when you name is ‘Activision without an awesome license.’
MercWarrior 2 is still the king. This is a step down but with better graphics. No more disappearing mountains and flames. Now they stay put. Gourad shading is officially a thing of the past. So, no, along with the ‘two armies at war who band together to fight a common enemy’ crap that we’ve seen in a thousand and one different movies, there’s about as much originality in this as there is in sex; there is none.
You see sir, the problem is that you’re just a complete moron. You’re too stupid to be allowed to purchase anything that has an electrical current running through it.
Gameplay
Teddy kicks some dusty Cybrids are all rusty Mommy’s Burning Mommy’s Burning All Fall Down!
Let’s get this right out: it’s so friggin addictive. Not like a craving for chocolate at 2 in the morning type thing, I mean like ‘give it to me give it to meeee!’ type addictive. The type of addictive where the CD doesn’t leave your CD-ROM drive type thing. I cannot stress enough how much this game has me in its grasp. It’s quite amazing. I always believed that gameplay can rise above anything. Shitty graphics, bad sound, piss poor multiplayer. Anything. But gameplay is a combo of everything working in perfect syncopation. And Starsiege does just that.
There’s nothing exceptionally new and amazing about Starsiege, since we’ve seen this all before. The story is practically ripped directly from a certain George Lucas movie, with a slight twist of course, and the mechs were renamed to HERCS to avoid confusion with Hercules I suppose, and they’re small as hell either way, but still, it’s pretty damn fun, like good cheese.
Have you ever played a game where you could never get past a certain area because of the difficulty of the mission? Yeah, bring back those memories you have of Commandos, because they’ll come into play here. The keywords here are porn and patience, and you to have these both in this game. Well, not really, but some missions are so frustrating that the porn helps to get over it. Really.
You see Mr. Bond, there is no way you could be here and in her pants at once.
Let’s get onto the hercs. There’s an assload of them here. Each one has different pros and cons.
Here’s a list to make you happy.
Apocalypse: Used by both the empire and rebels. This is the heavy attacker d00d. Very fun for offensive missions.
Knight Apocalypse: 10% faster than the Apocalypse. Like a Voodoo 3 3000 to 3500. Except more fun.
Basilisk:For empire use only. Offensive attacker. Not quit as powerful as the Apocalypse.
Knight’s Basilisk:Same as above but with the capacity to store a larger shield generator.
Emancipator:For missions where stealth is a plus, use this bad boy. He’s not very strong, but like the scout in TFC, he’s the one you want capturing the flag.
Gorgon:Slow but powerful. Really powerful. Avoid getting into its sights at all costs.
Minotaur: This is the midway vehicle. Something to use if you prefer a good ‘overall’ vehicle.
Knight’s Minotaur: Same as above but with a slightly faster top speed and acceleration.
Olympian:Light but slow. 6 weapon mounts. I’ll see you online. I’ll be in this. And you’ll be dead. This herc is awesome. There is simply no other way to put it.
Talon:A supped up version of the emancipator. Slightly more powerful, but slightly slower. Never let this thing get into a combat situation, otherwise it’ll be more dead than David Caruso’s film career.
Knight’s Talon: Same as above with a faster top speed and improved acceleration.
Avenger: John Deere would love this thing. It’s a tractor-trailer from hell. The front of the thing even says ‘Danger’. Unfortunately the armor on this thing sucks, and it can’t carry very powerful weapons.
Disruptor: It’s slow. But I will say this much. Stay the hell away from its cannon.
Knight’s Disruptor: A slightly faster version of the Disruptor.
Dreadlock:Here’s the gist of this herc to get you in the know: take a bulldozer, give it armor, weapons, and make it ram opponents. Another first from John Deere. The Dreadlock is extremely useful for ramming opponents and then firing at them at close range.
Harabec’s Predator: Awesome acceleration mixed with medium powered weapons and a small sized herc make for an awesome vehicle of destruction.
Myrmidon:Stay the hell away from this thing. It can take such a beating that all the p1mp daddies of the world would be amazed. Anyone who has the balls to take on this thing better hope it misses when it fires; otherwise, it’ll be having flambé ala herc for dinner. Skapow.
Knight’s Myrmidon:Same thing as above but with a slightly faster top speed.
Paladin:The midget hercs. I hate these guys. These are the guys who are outfitted for defense, not offense. It’s fairly fast and can use fairly powerful weapons. Another must have for the prepubescent boy in you.
Knight’s Paladin:Isn’t this becoming amazingly predictable? Despite that, this one moves a bit faster too.
Now for the Cybrids:
Adjudicator: This thing looks like Godzilla. No really, it does. This is sort of a mid range herc.
Platinum Guard Adjucator: Same as above but with a better reactor and faster top speed.
Executioner:Slow and deadly. Like your mother in law.
Platinum Guard Executioner:You know, I really don’t know why the Cybrids love to give their hercs these huge drawn out names. And much to my surprise (insert neat Batman action word of choice) the platinum version comes with a faster top speed and acceleration.
Goad: Remember that cool bike that Ben rode in Full Throttle? You do? Well guess what the Goad looks like? Neat huh? This Cyrbrid herc can be banged like a door and can only mount two weapons. This is the Cybrids’ version of a reconnaissance vehicle, because, after all, if it looks like a motorcycle, it’s gotta move like one too.
Shepherd: Buy one now and it comes with a free sheep. This bad boy is the midway herc of the Cybrids and is the equal of the humans’ Minotaur.
Seeker: I can’t describe this mec, er, herc (damn, always misspelling that) any better than the manual did: Shoot and Scoot. Yah, it’s corny as hell, but that’s essentially what this mec, er herc, is made for.
Bolo: Fast, great weapons, but the shielding isn’t all that swanky, so get yer buttocks in an out like a quickie in your dads car. Just don’t tell your dad.
Recluse: A more supped up version of the Bolo, the recluse lays a lot of mines and makes missions more difficult. Prepare to be nudered.
I feel it is my duty to mention the manuals. Whoever managed the product, have a cookie, because I love you. The manuals are gorgeous. And to make the game even cooler, there are two of them, like the hot twins next door. One is entitled: Starsiege Compendium: History of the Conflict and is at least 100 pages and contains info on the history of the imperials, rebels, and cybrids. Included in it is astounding artwork of the main characters of the conflict, the vehicles, the many different worlds, production art, paintings, and quotes.
This is a prime example of how to immerse the player in the world of the game. To those who don’t want to go out and purchase EarthSiege 1 and 2, the compendium will fill you in. It’s that good. The second book that comes with Starsiege is the pilot guide, which teaches you how to drink and drive in a herc. And how to demolish an entire city in the span of five minutes. Explained are also the commands and other neat stuff that comes jam-packed with every bite. What a lucky charm.
“You have two messages,” your email is cool… let’s go to the beach with skipper… DIE YOU INFERNAL PINK MACHINE!!!!
Graphics
One Laser, Two Laser, Red Laser, Blue Laser When Toaster smokes our Mom all smelly And stomps our Dad to bloody jelly Save one, Save Two, Save Red, Save Blue For Me, For You.
The graphics in Starsiege are nothing to ramble on about for pages, but they are decent. If you’ve played Tribes, then you’ve seen these graphics before. Except now the OpenGL ships with the game and works right. How is that possible? Someone must have slept with the right person at Dynamix I guess. The detail in the hercs are about as amazing as a pop tart.
Most of the time you can see polygons breaking apart, especially in the cybrids, who look like a collection of polygons stuck together with Elmers superglue. When I moved up close to a herc I noticed that they were detailed, but not the way I expected. It looks like someone took the skeleton of a herc and painted all over it in browns and greens and reds. Kinda like that mig jet toy set you had back in highschool that you blew to kindom come when you set the garage on fire.
Of course, no one knows for sure how it started…
The resolution options are as about as exciting as Dee from ‘What’s Happening,’ and just as hip. If you synch the refresh rate to you your monitor, you can run the game at the same resolution as your desktop. Why this is so necessary I don’t know. Apparently it’s better to see little hercs than big hercs. That’s like saying a small twinky is better than a big twinky. What?
I fight tyranny for the CI— oops forget that I work at Radio Shack.
As for the world outside the hercs, well, it’s gosh dang pretty to look at, but the hercs don’t interact with it too much. Best example. When in the training missions, which by the way are completely useless, I noticed that it was snowing. And not a single snowflake slid off the canopy glass. Not a single one.
I ask now that you turn your little gaming wheel back about two years ago to when a game known as Need for Speed 2 SE came out. It supported Glide and in each level some kind of neat little effect would splash itself upon the windshield, rain, snow, even insects! And this was way back when people were still buying 3dfx cards!
And yet two years later this technology manages to vanish? A technology that would suck down maybe 2 frames from the game. Golly gee skipper, what do you think? I think someone isn’t on the right boat Gilligan. And apparently, everyone in the Starsiege universe is an expert tumbler. Every time I show a herc the happy end of my turret and unmake them, they tumble forwards and break apart at the nads.
As a society we are deeply scarred…
Cinematics
We miss you Mark Hamill! You know, back in the dark ages of computer games, when my 386 was the best out there, a man known as Chris Roberts (who later did the Wing Commander Movie that apparently no one saw) created the FMV game, and the cinematics were quite good. Then recently, someone decided that ingame engine cinematics were better.
Lemme tell you something, when a person’s lips move but the rest of their face does not, that is scary. Especially when the lips are huge. Yah. Watch the movies in Starsiege, and watch the horror. If you can tolerate the reverb effect of wonder, the movies in the game basically outline the storyline of the game with rendered cinematics meshed with ingame sequences.
Yah. Spiftastic. Except the audio is buggier than a 12 year old can of coke. In all respects, the opening is pretty fun to watch with all the explosions.
Got milk biproducts?
Sound
Little old Peter Missing his liter While Herky plays in the red Down came the glitches And burned us in ditches And we slept after eating our dead.
After having played the MechWarrior 3 demo enough times to send someone into a spiraling ditch of insanity, I have come to the conclusion that 3D sound is the way of the future. In the MechWarrior 3 demo, when I walk on dirt, the sound of my feet hitting the ground sound muffled. When I walk on pavement the noise that emerges sounds heavy and loud.
This is what we here at 3DGN call ‘3D sound.’ And when my herc farts a grenade, you’ll hear it coming. Now, I wish I could say I was talking about Starsiege, because I never once felt that same feeling, that realization of two disctinct sounds emerging from my soundcard and making me feel as if the environment is more real. Not once.
Onto the soundtrack. Have you ever had a dream that was so real you couldn’t tell the difference between the dream world, and the real world? Have you played MechWarrior 2? Then prepare to meet its clone. Except this time it isn’t sheep we’re cloning (unfortunately)… yes, I am talking about CD audio. It’s really good. It has to be; it sounds too much like MechWarrior 2 to not be good.
In fact, I frag Rob every day to this music. What about the non-CD audio sound? It’s like a twisted version of the Sound of Music. It’s bad bad bad. To your left is a3d support, to your right we have Direct Sound 3D, and at your feet groveling like a sniveling bastard child of Santa Claus is Direct Sound (waitasec, how does that at all make sense?) as for EAX, I didn’t see any. Sorry guys. Either way, it’s nothing special.
I am 25 years old, and I sell Barbie toy cellphones…
I feel as if though I should mention the sound in the movies because I’m special. Now, I’m on an MX300, and the opening video reverberates sound like bad whiskey. Essentially, I’ve heard better. Lots better. I have to give credit to the nameless one who speaks at the beginning. This is one F$&*ked up kid! He talks about death and violence, and he’s about 5 years old! He should be promoted to highschool! At least there he’ll have something to do.
The sound in the opening video sounds like someone forgot to fix a toilet. Go ahead and have a peek, there’s this amazing reverb sound, kinda like when you used to take straws into the bathtub with you as a kid.
Ok, now if you’ll let me, I’ll try to explain how the game works…
Interface
Empire, Shadows and Smoke, Babylon We are the light, We are the flame We are the kingdom come, burn the shadows away
Ahh, how I love this thing. There’s just so much you can do, so many little things to click that make your computer love you. How wonderous. The interface is so easy to get used to that unless you happen to have an intelligence quotient below 10 you’ll love the interface.
The radar is easy to get used to since everything is nicely colorcoded, and the text shows up at the top of the screen to block out the awful voice acting, and the 2D stuff allows you to not only fudge in a lot of heavy artillery into your herc but also choose pilots and read about them (what a concept) and allows you to visit the web site of the rebels and get news feeds and watch recorded battles you’ve had.
Can we say ‘Grotto of Love’? I love the interface almost as much as I love banana and strawberry yogurt.
There is no generic health meter or numerical value. Instead, there is a graphical representation of how much damage is taken. For you and the enemy. Yellow is surviving, red is ‘Hello! Taking way too much damage’, and if you suddenly find no herc in your box on the top left hand corner, well, guess who’ll be breathing through a straw for the next couple of years. It certainly won’t be the enemy.
And for those of you who aren’t fighter pilots and use non-inverted mice, there’s something wrong with you, which is why you’ll appreciate Dynamix’s having prepackaged Starsiege with several different key bindings for the fighter pilot in you. Although I would like to have the option to tweak the graphics more (when you’re on a 400 mhz cpu you crank up everything as much as you possibly can) similar to the way Unreal allowed me to decide whether I wanted to have it regular or extra strength.
It goes out there and… does stuff. There you go.
Multiplayer
I spent years watching my brother, trying to see a way to beat him – Cannon on Harabec, 2829
File this one under good to go. Someone send Dynamix some flowers. This is such a nice setup that I have to make my love for them be known. To have an ingame broswer for games rocks. Which is why Half-Life is so damn cool. And this is why Tribes and now Starsiege 0wn. Go into options, set up what you want, name, etc, and then go find a game, and kick some toaster ass.
For those of you who made customized hercs, well… what can I say… someone’s not too bright. There’s a wonderful little bug (note the cyanide laced sarcasm) that prevents those of us who know how to make our hercs the ultimate machines of destruction and death from using them online. But outside of that, multiplayer is extremely fun. I actually found this more enjoyable than most other games such as Quake II, because you have such a vast amount of time to plan out your actions ahead of time and think about what is the best option of attack.
And as for you CTF junkies out there: To quote the 80’s: it’s rad. And when you’re in a big herc, and you happen to be used to Quake II style lag, well, grab a leg and begin humping, because the lag here is cool! If you’re stacked with big guns that go boom, and you happen to be around another herc, when the lag hits, (and you’ll know it due to the fiber optics connection wire image, which, well, for me, I know what that is, but for the dialup population, hey, one day you’ll know freedom) fire in a circular pattern all around your screen. There’s a very good chance that when the lag ends, he won’t be too happy anymore.
Conclusion
If head cheese had a sense of humor it would play this game. It’s that good. Like a good twinky. Let’s get something clear though. It’s not a sim, it’s really not. Otherwise my keyboard would be filing charges of abuse against me. I’ve always felt that what makes a simulation a simulation is that sims have about 40 gillion keys that need to be pressed just to move forwards. But in Starsiege I just need to press the forward key. Which is why I don’t really consider this a sim, despite what Sierra and Dynamix want us to believe.
Infact, I would say it feels more like a shooter, since you can move your mouse around and fire with it and can be a fighter pilot like me and invert the mouse. With Starsiege, it’s as if though someone let a deathmatcher (of Half-Life of course) wreak havoc with a simulation. It just didn’t feel like a real simulation of me sitting in a herc and killing other hercs. There are many reasons why I feel this way about Starsiege. Perhaps because there wasn’t enough focus on sound.
Perhaps because most hercs are about 3-4 stories tall, and the hercs in Starsiege look like midgets out of Time Bandits. Perhaps it’s because the graphics weren’t as good as they could have been. I don’t know. But the gameplay is the key factor here. It saves the day. Without it this game would be about as fun as Sin would be on the Doom engine (well, at least then my videocard wouldn’t burp 10 million times every time I load it up), but the gameplay saves the day here. Without it there is nothing.
I’ve always believed that gameplay can rise above everything else. If the sound sucked, and the graphics were about as magnificent as mud, and the gameplay was awesome, I’d still play it. It’s hard to explain what makes it so damn cool. Maybe it’s the hamsters, maybe it’s because I’m sick and tired of Quake II style corridor shooters, who knows, but all I know is, I had a blast reviewing this game, despite the flaws that make me want to poke Dynamix over and over again with a cattleprod. So what do I say? Despite the nagging flaws this game is very friggin fun! Which in my book is all that counts.
The Goods
Quick Peek: It’s the first of a new breed of herc sims, this time in the Earthsiege universe. Pros: Killer gameplay, decent graphics, stable OpenGL and Glide support, awesome multiplayer. Cons: The 3D sound bites. The graphics could be a helluva lot better. Value: It’s fun. The gameplay is rock solid, and it’s a nice change of pace.
End of the Line
System Reqs: Pentium 166, 32MB RAM API’s Supported: OpenGL, Glide, Software Hype Level: 7/10 Overall Grade: B Recommendation: If you want to take a break from the recent flood of generic shooters, make your way over to Starsiege. You won’t be blown away, but you will have a good time.
The Grade
Concept: A Gameplay: A Graphics: B- Cinematics: C- Sound: B Interface: A Multiplayer: A Overall: B
