Game: HeXen: Beyond Heretic
Year (s): 1995 (original), 1996 (expansion)
Company: dev. Raven Software
pub. id Software
Engine: id Tech 1 (modified)
Type: First-Person Shooter
Price (as of 10/27/11 )
Regular price on Steam: 4.99
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping): 29.99
Game Time: 20-30 hours
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqqWP2uOK6E
Plot
Heretic established that three evil Serpent Riders conquered three worlds. In Hexen, three heroes (a warrior, a cleric, and a wizard) set off to destroy the second of the Serpent Riders to free their world.
Gameplay and Classes
Before the first level, the player chooses to be a Warrior, a Cleric, or a Wizard. Weapons are different for each, with the warrior favoring melee, the wizard sticking to long-range attacks, and the cleric in the middle. Athletic ability, i.e. jumping, varies between classes, and each use flechettes (grenades) differently. Exploring the different classes makes it more interesting to play the game more than once.
An inventory of magical item complement your weapons. Some of these return from Heretic, and others are new. Heal yourself! Turn you enemy into a pig! And so on. Unfortunately, this system is still clunky and not really useful on the fly. Realistically, you have to select the item you want to use before you get in a fight, because scrolling through inventory while attacking and dodging isn't feasible.
The Hub System
As a diversion from what was, and continues to be, a genre of linear games, Hexen introduced the hub system. Each level, of hub, is made up of a handful of distinct, interconnected locales. Switches in one area have effects in another, and you'll be moving back and forth between the areas.
The hub system is a cool idea, and it has been utilized in other games such as Quake 2. In Hexen, the hub concept isn't done so well. At times, it's a fun run-and-gun with refreshing changes of scenery. At other times, I wandered around a hub for an hour or more trying to find out what the hell that switch did. It did something, but that something could be anywhere in the hub. And it might be in a nook or some illogical corner.
Improvements to the Doom Engine
This was the first game I played where I could jump, and took damage from falling. While still using MIDI for game sound and music, Hexen was able to play audio CDs. Rotating objects, doors that swing open, and scripted events round out the technical advances.
Regardless, zDoom is compatible.
Expansions / DLC / Sequels
Deathknights of the Dark Citadel offered three new hubs to play through, but without new items, weapons, enemies, or gameplay elements. I have not played this, but if there's anything worth mentioning about it, I'll augment this entry after playing it.
Hexen 2 (1997) uses a modified id Tech 2 (Quake) engine. This game offered a few improvements over Hexen and involved fighting the third and last of the Serpent Riders. An expansion was also developed.
Heretic 2 (1998) uses a modified id Tech 2 (Quake) engine and follows the later adventures of the character from the original Heretic. Gameplay introduced third-person cutscenes, and plot has nothing much to do with the other games. This is the only game of the the Heretic/Hexen series that was not published by id.
Final Thoughts
I think the hub concept was, and still could be, a valid alternative to a genre that is still mostly linear. Sandbox games have changed things up, but the hub system seems to have been left behind. Hexen was, at times, a fun old-school shooter. Too often though, I didn't know where to go or what to do, and got frustrated. Unlike in other games, no-clipping through one obstacle or cheating to get one key may well allow you to bypass an entire level.
I picked this one up because it was cheap and I played it as a kid. If you don't mind cheating when things get stupid, you might have some fun with this, but it's not great. I offer it as a footnote in the genre, but I don't recommend it.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Ball Review
Game: The Ball
Year (s): 2010
Company: dev. Teotl Studios
pub. Tripwire Interactive
Engine: Unreal Engine 3
Type: First-Person Puzzle Game
Price (as of October 17, 2011)
Regular Price on Steam: 19.99
Lowest Buy-it-Now on eBay (new): 18.50
Game Time: 11 hours to do everything
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caIYXaKp-qo
Plot
Thousands of years ago, an advanced race known as the Caretakers had a flourishing underground civilization. Inside a volcano. The ancestors of the Aztecs were sheltered there, until one day they stole the source of the Caretaker's power: The Ball. You, an archaeologist, fall down a pit and enter this realm of ancient technology and monsters. Plot during the game does not answer all the mysteries, and isn't really a driving force.
From Unreal 3 Mod to Independent Game
This was originally a mod for Unreal Tournament 3. Initially, there were a handful of survival maps with rounds of enemies. Your only weapon is a giant ball you can crush enemies with, and various traps you can trigger. The retail copy of the game includes all of the survival maps, and adds a single-player campaign.
Since 2004, Epic has been hosting the Make Something Unreal contest. The Epic Design Kit can be used freely to make games, ranging from multiplayer shooters like Red Orchestra, to tower defense game Sanctum, to the free bird's-eye-view action game Alien Swarm. The winner of the contest wins money and a licensed copy of the current Unreal Engine. The Ball won the million dollar prize, and thus fleshed out a single player campaign and made some sales. Not bad for a permanent staff of three guys from Sweden.
Further information about Make Something Unreal can be found here : http://www.udk.com/showcase
Gameplay
There are enemies to kill, but this is primarily a puzzle game. Most of the puzzles aren't too hard to figure out, and if you hit H the game will tell you exactly what to do. I prefer this to Portal 2, where I would get stuck, get annoyed, and have to exit the game and visit YouTube to find out what to do. The ball itself is essential in solving puzzles, and you're pretty defenseless without it. It is impossible to lose the ball over a cliff or get it otherwise permanently stuck. Secondary fire rolls the ball toward you, as long as that is physically possible. Primary fire punches the ball (or small enemies) away.
Expansions / DLC / Sequels
A free Portal-themed series of puzzles is included with the game. The Ball was part of The Potato Sack; a multi-game Steam promotion for Portal 2.
Final Thoughts
Of the 11 hours I spent playing through this, the single player campaign only took 6-7 hours. I got this on sale, and wouldn't suggest paying full price for it because it's so short. That being said, if you catch this cheap, it's a fun, laid-back game with a surprising and creative array of uses for a giant friggin' ball.
Teotl Studios has not made announcements for additional projects.
Year (s): 2010
Company: dev. Teotl Studios
pub. Tripwire Interactive
Engine: Unreal Engine 3
Type: First-Person Puzzle Game
Price (as of October 17, 2011)
Regular Price on Steam: 19.99
Lowest Buy-it-Now on eBay (new): 18.50
Game Time: 11 hours to do everything
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caIYXaKp-qo
Plot
Thousands of years ago, an advanced race known as the Caretakers had a flourishing underground civilization. Inside a volcano. The ancestors of the Aztecs were sheltered there, until one day they stole the source of the Caretaker's power: The Ball. You, an archaeologist, fall down a pit and enter this realm of ancient technology and monsters. Plot during the game does not answer all the mysteries, and isn't really a driving force.
From Unreal 3 Mod to Independent Game
This was originally a mod for Unreal Tournament 3. Initially, there were a handful of survival maps with rounds of enemies. Your only weapon is a giant ball you can crush enemies with, and various traps you can trigger. The retail copy of the game includes all of the survival maps, and adds a single-player campaign.
Since 2004, Epic has been hosting the Make Something Unreal contest. The Epic Design Kit can be used freely to make games, ranging from multiplayer shooters like Red Orchestra, to tower defense game Sanctum, to the free bird's-eye-view action game Alien Swarm. The winner of the contest wins money and a licensed copy of the current Unreal Engine. The Ball won the million dollar prize, and thus fleshed out a single player campaign and made some sales. Not bad for a permanent staff of three guys from Sweden.
Further information about Make Something Unreal can be found here : http://www.udk.com/showcase
Gameplay
There are enemies to kill, but this is primarily a puzzle game. Most of the puzzles aren't too hard to figure out, and if you hit H the game will tell you exactly what to do. I prefer this to Portal 2, where I would get stuck, get annoyed, and have to exit the game and visit YouTube to find out what to do. The ball itself is essential in solving puzzles, and you're pretty defenseless without it. It is impossible to lose the ball over a cliff or get it otherwise permanently stuck. Secondary fire rolls the ball toward you, as long as that is physically possible. Primary fire punches the ball (or small enemies) away.
Expansions / DLC / Sequels
A free Portal-themed series of puzzles is included with the game. The Ball was part of The Potato Sack; a multi-game Steam promotion for Portal 2.
Final Thoughts
Of the 11 hours I spent playing through this, the single player campaign only took 6-7 hours. I got this on sale, and wouldn't suggest paying full price for it because it's so short. That being said, if you catch this cheap, it's a fun, laid-back game with a surprising and creative array of uses for a giant friggin' ball.
Teotl Studios has not made announcements for additional projects.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Review
Game: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Year (s): 2006
Company: dev. Bethesda Game Studios
pub. 2K Games, Bethesda SoftWorks
Engine: GamEmbryo
Type: First/Third-Person "Shooter" RPG, sandbox
What I Paid: $20 used, at Game Stop (GOTY edition)
Game Time: as long as you want to keep playing
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXWYWfFqlSw
Plot
Early in the game, the emperor (voiced by Patrick Stewart) is assassinated. The imperial bloodline, with a magic amulet, are the only thing that can stop the hellish might of the plane of Oblivion from invading. With the emperor's death, portals unleash the fiery hordes. You must recover the amulet, find the bastard heir, and see them safely to the capital, all whilst battling the forces of Oblivion.
The main plot line is relatively short, and has some holes in it.
Graphics and Glitches
GamEmbryo Engine at it again... or maybe for the first time. Like all games on the engine, it's buggy as hell and crashes often. Compared to Fallout, the scenery is more interesting, as there's vegetation and standing structures. The video link looks like crap; the graphics are actually equal to other games on the engine, just in a fantasy setting.
Combat and Crime
You can shoot arrows and cast spells from afar, but most of the time you're going to be bashing things with an axe or sword. In events when you have allies (unless you get a horse, there are no permanent sidekicks without a glitch or exploit) it's really easy to hit a friend in the fracas. Then they attack you, and/or you get arrested for attacking them.
If you trespass, lockpick doors, steal from, attack, or kill an NPC, you get a bounty put on you. This is enforced by guards in every city. They'll confiscate your stolen goods and then you either pay a fine or go to jail. Time spent in jail permanently reduces stats.
SO... COMPLICATED...
Character building is quite complex, much as I would imagine it is for MMORPG's. There are (loose guess) a dozen races and a dozen classes, and a dozen astrological birth signs, and all of these are unique. Oh, and then you choose one of three specialties. Your skills are major or minor. Major ones level up faster but give you less points to put in to stats on a level up. You gain levels by increasing major skills... ahhh!
Really, it's a mess. I didn't know what I was doing the first time and made a terrible hodgepodge character. Later, I tried making a straight-up wizard, but that's impossible to do. I hate sneaking around. The offered diversity mostly boils down to homogeny: bash crap and cast spells here and there.
The menu system is awful. Instead of text, there are icons for everything. A few are intuitive, like a compass for the map, a shield for armor. Then... 5-6 tabs for spells, all with meaningless icons. Ahhhhh!
So Much to Do!
I don't have gameplay clocks to back this up, but I'm pretty sure there is more to do in Oblivion than in Fallout 3. The downside is, completing inconsequential side quests gets tedious. Some locations are exactly the same as other locations, ESPECIALLY in the realm of Oblivion. While I tried to do everything I could find to do in Fallout 3, I didn't bother with half the repetitious content of Oblivion.
Expansions / DLC / Sequels
I have the Game of the Year Edition, which includes The Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine. Knights of the Nine adds a few locations to the map, and sets you off to recover the relics of the holy paladin. If you refrain from crimes, you can don the relics and battle a foe unique to the expansion.
The Shivering Isles is an entirely seperate area. Once you start, you have to complete that area's lengthy quest line before you can return to the rest of the game. The Isles are the realm of the mad god Sheogorath, who is funny for about a minute and then just annoying. Both of these expansion offer quite a bit of additional gameplay and areas to explore.
The Deluxe Edition of the game offers several additional expansions that are not otherwise available.
Final Thoughts
I personally found this game overly complicated and horribly mindless, even frustrating. Note: I think I would have liked it more if 1. I'd played it before Fallout 3 and, 2. I was a fan or WoW or similar games. If you need a mindless game to play this wouldn't be my first suggestion, but it can't be beat for amount of content.
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim comes out soon. Bethesda made vast improvements between Oblivion and Fallout 3, and Skyrim is built upon a purportedly more stable engine. The graphics look better, and the leveling/character building is simplified enough for the casual player to enjoy. The plot for Skyrim is, "Oh shit, dragons!" I'm actually looking forward to it.
Year (s): 2006
Company: dev. Bethesda Game Studios
pub. 2K Games, Bethesda SoftWorks
Engine: GamEmbryo
Type: First/Third-Person "Shooter" RPG, sandbox
What I Paid: $20 used, at Game Stop (GOTY edition)
Game Time: as long as you want to keep playing
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXWYWfFqlSw
Plot
Early in the game, the emperor (voiced by Patrick Stewart) is assassinated. The imperial bloodline, with a magic amulet, are the only thing that can stop the hellish might of the plane of Oblivion from invading. With the emperor's death, portals unleash the fiery hordes. You must recover the amulet, find the bastard heir, and see them safely to the capital, all whilst battling the forces of Oblivion.
The main plot line is relatively short, and has some holes in it.
Graphics and Glitches
GamEmbryo Engine at it again... or maybe for the first time. Like all games on the engine, it's buggy as hell and crashes often. Compared to Fallout, the scenery is more interesting, as there's vegetation and standing structures. The video link looks like crap; the graphics are actually equal to other games on the engine, just in a fantasy setting.
Combat and Crime
You can shoot arrows and cast spells from afar, but most of the time you're going to be bashing things with an axe or sword. In events when you have allies (unless you get a horse, there are no permanent sidekicks without a glitch or exploit) it's really easy to hit a friend in the fracas. Then they attack you, and/or you get arrested for attacking them.
If you trespass, lockpick doors, steal from, attack, or kill an NPC, you get a bounty put on you. This is enforced by guards in every city. They'll confiscate your stolen goods and then you either pay a fine or go to jail. Time spent in jail permanently reduces stats.
SO... COMPLICATED...
Character building is quite complex, much as I would imagine it is for MMORPG's. There are (loose guess) a dozen races and a dozen classes, and a dozen astrological birth signs, and all of these are unique. Oh, and then you choose one of three specialties. Your skills are major or minor. Major ones level up faster but give you less points to put in to stats on a level up. You gain levels by increasing major skills... ahhh!
Really, it's a mess. I didn't know what I was doing the first time and made a terrible hodgepodge character. Later, I tried making a straight-up wizard, but that's impossible to do. I hate sneaking around. The offered diversity mostly boils down to homogeny: bash crap and cast spells here and there.
The menu system is awful. Instead of text, there are icons for everything. A few are intuitive, like a compass for the map, a shield for armor. Then... 5-6 tabs for spells, all with meaningless icons. Ahhhhh!
So Much to Do!
I don't have gameplay clocks to back this up, but I'm pretty sure there is more to do in Oblivion than in Fallout 3. The downside is, completing inconsequential side quests gets tedious. Some locations are exactly the same as other locations, ESPECIALLY in the realm of Oblivion. While I tried to do everything I could find to do in Fallout 3, I didn't bother with half the repetitious content of Oblivion.
Expansions / DLC / Sequels
I have the Game of the Year Edition, which includes The Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine. Knights of the Nine adds a few locations to the map, and sets you off to recover the relics of the holy paladin. If you refrain from crimes, you can don the relics and battle a foe unique to the expansion.
The Shivering Isles is an entirely seperate area. Once you start, you have to complete that area's lengthy quest line before you can return to the rest of the game. The Isles are the realm of the mad god Sheogorath, who is funny for about a minute and then just annoying. Both of these expansion offer quite a bit of additional gameplay and areas to explore.
The Deluxe Edition of the game offers several additional expansions that are not otherwise available.
Final Thoughts
I personally found this game overly complicated and horribly mindless, even frustrating. Note: I think I would have liked it more if 1. I'd played it before Fallout 3 and, 2. I was a fan or WoW or similar games. If you need a mindless game to play this wouldn't be my first suggestion, but it can't be beat for amount of content.
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim comes out soon. Bethesda made vast improvements between Oblivion and Fallout 3, and Skyrim is built upon a purportedly more stable engine. The graphics look better, and the leveling/character building is simplified enough for the casual player to enjoy. The plot for Skyrim is, "Oh shit, dragons!" I'm actually looking forward to it.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Hydrophobia Review
Game: Hydrophobia AKA Hydrophobia : Prophecy
Year (s): 2011
Company: dev. Dark Energy Digital
pub. Dark Energy Digital
Engine: HydroEngine
Type: Third-Person Shooter (loosely), Platformer
What I Paid: a few bucks
Game Time: just over 7 hours, first time, on default
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6kbOIcrJqE
Game Type
I label this as a third-person shooter because you have a gun and there are enemies to shoot. However, there's only a few dozen bad guys; you'll be spending most of the short game climbing, jumping, and swimming around. There are some puzzles, but the game holds your hand and tells you what to do, so I wouldn't call it a puzzle game.
Plot
Very little plot. Some time in the future, overpopulation is a problem. You are a girl on a giant boat/city. A few dozen terrorists set off bombs and start shooting people (their answer for overpopulation is murder). Areas on the ship are in various states of fire and flood, and you are trying to escape.
The ending is completely inconclusive.
Water Everywhere!
The big sell of this title is the water physics. They did a great job of accurately portraying how water floods in to an area, sloshes around, and interacts with objects. That being said, the graphics are average, and, ignoring physics, I think BioShock had graphically superior water.
In roughly the last ten minutes of the game, your character gains a "hydro-kinetic" ability. This allows you to make a water tentacle, which is functionally a crappy gravity gun.
Gameplay
In addition to the above mentioned jumping and swimming, the game offers one gun. There are five types of ammo, but you'll only regularly use the initial type. You have a device that can open doors from afar and infiltrate camera systems (then, it can open doors in the camera's viewing area).
There are some electrical hazards to overcome, and fires to put out by flooding. I read that the more damage you do to the environment (explosive barrels and such), the more flooding. So, navigating rooms can be different depending on how you play. I honestly did not notice this factor in-game, but it sounds cool.
After completing the campaign, the Challenge Room is unlocked. I was hoping this would be puzzle-based, but it's just arena combat. Five rounds of bad guys, with increasing difficulty. I didn't care enough to bother with the Challenge Room.
Final Thoughts
The dynamic fluid physics are well done, and I liked some of the puzzle aspects. However, the puzzles were tediously simple, combat was rare and simple, and there was basically no plot. The hydro-kinetic thing was underutilized, and some of the key bindings were clunky. The developers had some neat ideas but just didn't flesh them out. So we're left with just another gimmicky 7-12 hour game. Not recommended.
Year (s): 2011
Company: dev. Dark Energy Digital
pub. Dark Energy Digital
Engine: HydroEngine
Type: Third-Person Shooter (loosely), Platformer
What I Paid: a few bucks
Game Time: just over 7 hours, first time, on default
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6kbOIcrJqE
Game Type
I label this as a third-person shooter because you have a gun and there are enemies to shoot. However, there's only a few dozen bad guys; you'll be spending most of the short game climbing, jumping, and swimming around. There are some puzzles, but the game holds your hand and tells you what to do, so I wouldn't call it a puzzle game.
Plot
Very little plot. Some time in the future, overpopulation is a problem. You are a girl on a giant boat/city. A few dozen terrorists set off bombs and start shooting people (their answer for overpopulation is murder). Areas on the ship are in various states of fire and flood, and you are trying to escape.
The ending is completely inconclusive.
Water Everywhere!
The big sell of this title is the water physics. They did a great job of accurately portraying how water floods in to an area, sloshes around, and interacts with objects. That being said, the graphics are average, and, ignoring physics, I think BioShock had graphically superior water.
In roughly the last ten minutes of the game, your character gains a "hydro-kinetic" ability. This allows you to make a water tentacle, which is functionally a crappy gravity gun.
Gameplay
In addition to the above mentioned jumping and swimming, the game offers one gun. There are five types of ammo, but you'll only regularly use the initial type. You have a device that can open doors from afar and infiltrate camera systems (then, it can open doors in the camera's viewing area).
There are some electrical hazards to overcome, and fires to put out by flooding. I read that the more damage you do to the environment (explosive barrels and such), the more flooding. So, navigating rooms can be different depending on how you play. I honestly did not notice this factor in-game, but it sounds cool.
After completing the campaign, the Challenge Room is unlocked. I was hoping this would be puzzle-based, but it's just arena combat. Five rounds of bad guys, with increasing difficulty. I didn't care enough to bother with the Challenge Room.
Final Thoughts
The dynamic fluid physics are well done, and I liked some of the puzzle aspects. However, the puzzles were tediously simple, combat was rare and simple, and there was basically no plot. The hydro-kinetic thing was underutilized, and some of the key bindings were clunky. The developers had some neat ideas but just didn't flesh them out. So we're left with just another gimmicky 7-12 hour game. Not recommended.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Wolfenstein 3D Review
Game: Wolfenstein 3D
Year (s): 1992
Company: dev. id Software
pub. Apogee Software
Engine: Wolfenstein 3D Engine. Prior to id Tech 1, even.
Type: First-Person Shooter
What I Paid: just a few bucks
Game Time: 8 hours, first time, on difficulty 2 of 4
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C00n4rDUMNo
Plot
You are BJ Blazkowicz, American soldier, fighting Nazis. The ending of the sixth episode is pretty awesome. It goes like this: Congratulations! You are truly a great hero! You meet the president! You are cheered in the streets! People name their babies after you! You marry a movie star! Yes! You are so cool!
Difficulty and Gametime
I played on an easier setting because I'm so used to the WADS system now. I customized the controls as much as I could, but the setup wasn't ideal. zDoom isn't an option for this one.
I blazed through the game for a number of reasons. One, I've played a lot of shooters. When this came out, nobody had. There would have been a learning curve. Two, I didn't find very many secrets, look for all the treasure, or learn the levels well enough to beat par time. When this was new, it was a great game and players would have played through it several times. Three, I think the game is, whether by intent or not, pretty casual. Playing through an episode (nine levels, plus a secret level if you find it) took about an hour. It was, therefore, easier to put down and pick back up later.
Man, I Feel Old
I remember playing the shareware version of this (the first episode) back in the day. Back when games ran on floppies, and had shareware versions. Back before the ESRB, when games did not have to be rated (id voluntarily rated this "PC 13 Profound Carnage. It has since been revised to M in the US).
This isn't THE first shooter, but damn near. This is the game that popularized the genre. It should be played for historical value, if nothing else.
Arcade Influence
Back Then, there were arcades in every town. Places where kids used quarters to play games (there were no smart phones or tablets to play freely). Like arcade games, you have lives in Wolfenstein. If you die and have lives left, you restart the level with the knife, the pistol, full health, and a small amount of ammo. Another similarity is the high score list. Now that I think about it, pretty much every game kept score in the day... Mario, Sonic... anyway. Killing enemies, finding secrets, picking up items (especially treasure), and beating a level quicker than par time all increase your score.
A secret level was modeled after the first level of Pac Man. The ghosts from that game are the only enemies, and cannot be killed by your weapons.
Combat and Gameplay
There are four weapons. The three firearms all use the same ammo. There are five types of enemies, but most episodes only have four types, plus a boss at the end. Kill stuff, find keys, pick up ammo and health items to stay alive. Take the elevator to the next level.
One complaint I have is the relatively difficult time I had navigating some of the levels. Mazes are incorporated in to several levels, and I would have been totally lost if I didn't hug a wall the whole way. There's not a great variety of textures, and no changes in elevation, so the corridors and rooms largely look the same.
Development and Apogee
In 1991, id was under contract to develop 12 games for release through the periodical SoftDisk. They were so excited about Wolfenstein that they subcontracted the last game out to Apogee, who developed a game for them for SoftDisk. It was a big flop of a game.
Apogee published Wolfenstein 3D. Doom, however, was not published by them. Apogee (later known as 3D Realms) competed with id by releasing Blake Stone the same week as Doom (it was quite similar to Wolfenstein, and failed to compete) and later, Duke Nukem 3D and other titles.
Doom Legacy
At the end of each level, Doom continued to display percentage kills, secrets, and par time. Two midi tracks from Wolfenstein are used in Doom. Doom 2 features two secret levels modeled after levels one and ten of Wolfenstein's first episode.
Expansions / DLC / Sequels
Spear of Destiny, a prequel, came out shortly after Wolfenstein. Return to Castle Wolfenstein came out in 2001 and utilized id Tech 3. In 2003 the multiplayer-only Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory game came out. In 2009 Raven Software released Wolfenstein, built on id Tech 4. Quakecon 2008 previewed a game largely for mobile devices (released soon after) titled Woflenstein RPG.
Final Thoughts
Map design is rudimentary. Gameplay is simple to the point of laughable compared to modern shooters. You want to interact with you environment? Open a door.
I somewhat remembered the shareware, so playing this through was refreshing. If you didn't play shooters back then, I don't think you'll appreciate this. Except for truly being a great hero! And marrying a movie star! Yes! You are so cool!
Year (s): 1992
Company: dev. id Software
pub. Apogee Software
Engine: Wolfenstein 3D Engine. Prior to id Tech 1, even.
Type: First-Person Shooter
What I Paid: just a few bucks
Game Time: 8 hours, first time, on difficulty 2 of 4
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C00n4rDUMNo
Plot
You are BJ Blazkowicz, American soldier, fighting Nazis. The ending of the sixth episode is pretty awesome. It goes like this: Congratulations! You are truly a great hero! You meet the president! You are cheered in the streets! People name their babies after you! You marry a movie star! Yes! You are so cool!
Difficulty and Gametime
I played on an easier setting because I'm so used to the WADS system now. I customized the controls as much as I could, but the setup wasn't ideal. zDoom isn't an option for this one.
I blazed through the game for a number of reasons. One, I've played a lot of shooters. When this came out, nobody had. There would have been a learning curve. Two, I didn't find very many secrets, look for all the treasure, or learn the levels well enough to beat par time. When this was new, it was a great game and players would have played through it several times. Three, I think the game is, whether by intent or not, pretty casual. Playing through an episode (nine levels, plus a secret level if you find it) took about an hour. It was, therefore, easier to put down and pick back up later.
Man, I Feel Old
I remember playing the shareware version of this (the first episode) back in the day. Back when games ran on floppies, and had shareware versions. Back before the ESRB, when games did not have to be rated (id voluntarily rated this "PC 13 Profound Carnage. It has since been revised to M in the US).
This isn't THE first shooter, but damn near. This is the game that popularized the genre. It should be played for historical value, if nothing else.
Arcade Influence
Back Then, there were arcades in every town. Places where kids used quarters to play games (there were no smart phones or tablets to play freely). Like arcade games, you have lives in Wolfenstein. If you die and have lives left, you restart the level with the knife, the pistol, full health, and a small amount of ammo. Another similarity is the high score list. Now that I think about it, pretty much every game kept score in the day... Mario, Sonic... anyway. Killing enemies, finding secrets, picking up items (especially treasure), and beating a level quicker than par time all increase your score.
A secret level was modeled after the first level of Pac Man. The ghosts from that game are the only enemies, and cannot be killed by your weapons.
Combat and Gameplay
There are four weapons. The three firearms all use the same ammo. There are five types of enemies, but most episodes only have four types, plus a boss at the end. Kill stuff, find keys, pick up ammo and health items to stay alive. Take the elevator to the next level.
One complaint I have is the relatively difficult time I had navigating some of the levels. Mazes are incorporated in to several levels, and I would have been totally lost if I didn't hug a wall the whole way. There's not a great variety of textures, and no changes in elevation, so the corridors and rooms largely look the same.
Development and Apogee
In 1991, id was under contract to develop 12 games for release through the periodical SoftDisk. They were so excited about Wolfenstein that they subcontracted the last game out to Apogee, who developed a game for them for SoftDisk. It was a big flop of a game.
Apogee published Wolfenstein 3D. Doom, however, was not published by them. Apogee (later known as 3D Realms) competed with id by releasing Blake Stone the same week as Doom (it was quite similar to Wolfenstein, and failed to compete) and later, Duke Nukem 3D and other titles.
Doom Legacy
At the end of each level, Doom continued to display percentage kills, secrets, and par time. Two midi tracks from Wolfenstein are used in Doom. Doom 2 features two secret levels modeled after levels one and ten of Wolfenstein's first episode.
Expansions / DLC / Sequels
Spear of Destiny, a prequel, came out shortly after Wolfenstein. Return to Castle Wolfenstein came out in 2001 and utilized id Tech 3. In 2003 the multiplayer-only Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory game came out. In 2009 Raven Software released Wolfenstein, built on id Tech 4. Quakecon 2008 previewed a game largely for mobile devices (released soon after) titled Woflenstein RPG.
Final Thoughts
Map design is rudimentary. Gameplay is simple to the point of laughable compared to modern shooters. You want to interact with you environment? Open a door.
I somewhat remembered the shareware, so playing this through was refreshing. If you didn't play shooters back then, I don't think you'll appreciate this. Except for truly being a great hero! And marrying a movie star! Yes! You are so cool!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Goblins in Magic
Goblins have been around forever, and have always been a pretty solid build for a fast, cheap deck. Last night I wondered, have there been any sets without goblins? I'm tired of them being the obligatory (often) crappy red weenies in sets.
In my search (which did not include Portal/Starter sets, Duel Decks, Chronicles, etc) turned out about as I expected. Antiquities almost made the list with only Goblin Artisans. The six sets with no goblins are: Arabian Nights, Legends, Homelands, Odyssey, Torment, and Judgment. They were, then, just another creature, until The Dark pushed them as one of the first tribal creatures with cards Goblin Shrine and Goblin Caves. Kobolds beat Goblins for the claim for the first tribal theme, but kobolds didn't stick around. Fallen Empires continued the idea with Goblin Grenade, albeit Elves, Orcs, Saprolings, et al had cards to make a tribal deck. Since then, for the most part, goblins haven't gone away. One could argue that Zombie Master and other "lord" cards have always made valid tribal decks, but I'd argue that a fourth edition zombie deck with four Zombie Masters wasn't as effective or, more to the point of the article, as thematic as a straight-up The Dark/Fallen Empires goblin deck.
The Odyssey block had few standard creature types. No goblins, elves, or merfolk. Instead, there were Nantuko, Cephalid, and Birds, which have seen infrequent use since. This is more interesting when taking into consideration that the Onslaught block, which came out right after the Odyssey block, was all about standard creature-type tribal decks. Onslaught made it possible to build Soldier, Cleric, Zombie, and other decks that could finally be on the same tribal level as goblins.
Just some thoughts, and some trivia.
EDIT: The full spoiler for Innistrad is up: NO GOBLINS!
In my search (which did not include Portal/Starter sets, Duel Decks, Chronicles, etc) turned out about as I expected. Antiquities almost made the list with only Goblin Artisans. The six sets with no goblins are: Arabian Nights, Legends, Homelands, Odyssey, Torment, and Judgment. They were, then, just another creature, until The Dark pushed them as one of the first tribal creatures with cards Goblin Shrine and Goblin Caves. Kobolds beat Goblins for the claim for the first tribal theme, but kobolds didn't stick around. Fallen Empires continued the idea with Goblin Grenade, albeit Elves, Orcs, Saprolings, et al had cards to make a tribal deck. Since then, for the most part, goblins haven't gone away. One could argue that Zombie Master and other "lord" cards have always made valid tribal decks, but I'd argue that a fourth edition zombie deck with four Zombie Masters wasn't as effective or, more to the point of the article, as thematic as a straight-up The Dark/Fallen Empires goblin deck.
The Odyssey block had few standard creature types. No goblins, elves, or merfolk. Instead, there were Nantuko, Cephalid, and Birds, which have seen infrequent use since. This is more interesting when taking into consideration that the Onslaught block, which came out right after the Odyssey block, was all about standard creature-type tribal decks. Onslaught made it possible to build Soldier, Cleric, Zombie, and other decks that could finally be on the same tribal level as goblins.
Just some thoughts, and some trivia.
EDIT: The full spoiler for Innistrad is up: NO GOBLINS!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Painkiller Review
Game: Painkiller (Black Edition)
Year (s): 2004
Company: dev. People Can Fly
pub. DreamCatcher Interactive
Engine: PAIN Engine with Havok 2.0 physics
Type: First-Person Shooter
What I Paid: 10-12 bucks for the whole franchise
Game Time: 16 hours, first time, on Nightmare difficulty (one more than default)
I did not finish this, but got roughly half-way through.
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAsk2Q5KeDw
Plot
The game starts with you and your wife dying in a car crash. You didn't make it to heaven. You're told to defeat the four generals of Lucifer's army in order to be forgiven and see your wife again.
Cutscenes between episodes add a little more to the plot. More than Doom had, but not as much as Doom 3.
Audio
When there aren't any enemies around, the background sound is what you'd expect in a haunted house (or a Rob Zombie song). When there are enemies around, a power chord, pinch-harmonic riff plays. Amusing.
PAIN Engine
Looks fine graphically. It had, to me, a "console look." No water effects to note; otherwise competitive at the time.
Not a solid engine, though. Will talk more about that in a bit.
Old School
This game, surprisingly out around the same time as Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, sticks to the roots of the genre. Doom and Quake are particularly noted inspirations. Weapons do not reload.
Enemies typically attack en masse, but it's never as hectic (or, by merit, as gratifying) as Serious Sam. I might kill fifty guys in a row, but they're spread out to a more reasonable pace than Sam.
Ouch!
There are only a few health items per level, so I was often close to death. Enemies drop souls that restore one health point, but disappear after a few seconds. Playing the game on Nightmare (like me) or Trauma difficulties does not allow cheats, so if you're in a jam, you might be screwed.
Items
Every level has a challenge. If you complete it, you get a tarot card powerup that you can use on any level for a price. Gold is collected by destroying objects, many of which explode.
Expansions / DLC
Battle Out of Hell expands on Painkiller, adding ten more levels (I did not get to them). Additional Painkiller titles have been released since.
The Good
Bosses are enormous. Like, King Kong. Godzilla. So, that's neat.
Level scenery is diverse. Enemies are also quite varied, as any enemy only occupies a few levels. The nearly constant new monsters keeps one from getting too accustomed to/bored with particular beasties.
The Bad
Menu navigation is a tad cumbersome.
Painkiller has some inherent flaws that have, unfortunately, never been fixed. It was made solely for single-core processors. If you have dual-core or more, you'll have to CTRL-ALT-DELETE every time you launch the game to set the processor affinity to only one core (this usually works, but not always). If you don't do this, the frames-per-second rate makes the game unplayable. It's a pain in the ass to do this every time I want to play the game.
Painkiller also has a known problem of corrupted save files. I got to a point where every time I saved (including auto-saves), loaded, or died, the game would minimize. I'd have to debug once or twice and restore the program to continue.
Loading from an earlier save didn't work, as that had also become corrupt. I didn't want to delete my data and start over, so I just stopped playing.
Final Thoughts
Painkiller was the Cyberathlete Professional League 2005 World Tour game. Unreal Tournament 2004's Epic was changing publishers at the time. Doom 3 was a fan favorite, but didn't get the honors.
This game, from what I played, was fun. Diversity, giant bosses, unique challenges for each level, and old-school gameplay were appealing. Unfortunately, it was glitchy to the point of unplayable.
If this game had ever been patched, I would recommend it for people that enjoyed Doom, Quake, etc. Since it hasn't, I can't recommend it for any price. No point in buying a game that you can't play through.
Year (s): 2004
Company: dev. People Can Fly
pub. DreamCatcher Interactive
Engine: PAIN Engine with Havok 2.0 physics
Type: First-Person Shooter
What I Paid: 10-12 bucks for the whole franchise
Game Time: 16 hours, first time, on Nightmare difficulty (one more than default)
I did not finish this, but got roughly half-way through.
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAsk2Q5KeDw
Plot
The game starts with you and your wife dying in a car crash. You didn't make it to heaven. You're told to defeat the four generals of Lucifer's army in order to be forgiven and see your wife again.
Cutscenes between episodes add a little more to the plot. More than Doom had, but not as much as Doom 3.
Audio
When there aren't any enemies around, the background sound is what you'd expect in a haunted house (or a Rob Zombie song). When there are enemies around, a power chord, pinch-harmonic riff plays. Amusing.
PAIN Engine
Looks fine graphically. It had, to me, a "console look." No water effects to note; otherwise competitive at the time.
Not a solid engine, though. Will talk more about that in a bit.
Old School
This game, surprisingly out around the same time as Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, sticks to the roots of the genre. Doom and Quake are particularly noted inspirations. Weapons do not reload.
Enemies typically attack en masse, but it's never as hectic (or, by merit, as gratifying) as Serious Sam. I might kill fifty guys in a row, but they're spread out to a more reasonable pace than Sam.
Ouch!
There are only a few health items per level, so I was often close to death. Enemies drop souls that restore one health point, but disappear after a few seconds. Playing the game on Nightmare (like me) or Trauma difficulties does not allow cheats, so if you're in a jam, you might be screwed.
Items
Every level has a challenge. If you complete it, you get a tarot card powerup that you can use on any level for a price. Gold is collected by destroying objects, many of which explode.
Expansions / DLC
Battle Out of Hell expands on Painkiller, adding ten more levels (I did not get to them). Additional Painkiller titles have been released since.
The Good
Bosses are enormous. Like, King Kong. Godzilla. So, that's neat.
Level scenery is diverse. Enemies are also quite varied, as any enemy only occupies a few levels. The nearly constant new monsters keeps one from getting too accustomed to/bored with particular beasties.
The Bad
Menu navigation is a tad cumbersome.
Painkiller has some inherent flaws that have, unfortunately, never been fixed. It was made solely for single-core processors. If you have dual-core or more, you'll have to CTRL-ALT-DELETE every time you launch the game to set the processor affinity to only one core (this usually works, but not always). If you don't do this, the frames-per-second rate makes the game unplayable. It's a pain in the ass to do this every time I want to play the game.
Painkiller also has a known problem of corrupted save files. I got to a point where every time I saved (including auto-saves), loaded, or died, the game would minimize. I'd have to debug once or twice and restore the program to continue.
Loading from an earlier save didn't work, as that had also become corrupt. I didn't want to delete my data and start over, so I just stopped playing.
Final Thoughts
Painkiller was the Cyberathlete Professional League 2005 World Tour game. Unreal Tournament 2004's Epic was changing publishers at the time. Doom 3 was a fan favorite, but didn't get the honors.
This game, from what I played, was fun. Diversity, giant bosses, unique challenges for each level, and old-school gameplay were appealing. Unfortunately, it was glitchy to the point of unplayable.
If this game had ever been patched, I would recommend it for people that enjoyed Doom, Quake, etc. Since it hasn't, I can't recommend it for any price. No point in buying a game that you can't play through.
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