Diablo III: The PG Version

Torchlight comes with some serious pedigree: Travis Baldree, designer of Fate, and Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, co-designers of Diablo I & II put their heads together and came up with an action hack&slash isometric RPG game that can appeal to all ages. The result is a good game that will keep us hacking and summoning - until the ...3rd coming that is.

In fact, the game developers made sure to often pay tribute to the Diablo Series: from the background music while at the town-camp (you would recognize those Tristam guitar riffs anywhere!), to the draining health and mana fountains and to the voice announcing & warning, you cannot miss the timeless Diablo influences. Having said that, I found Torchlight to be something between a Diablo and a Fate game.

If you have experienced any of the Fate games you will be reminded of them often, although the heroes here are not children. The village NPCs will keep giving you straightforward quests (usually a go-and-fetch excuse to dwell deeper into the dungeon). Extra dungeons, however, can be accessed by accepting the extra quests of the male NPC in the south and by purchasing dungeon maps of various levels from the local merchants. Also, sometimes a spectral animal appears while in a dungeon: slaying it will open up a bonus dungeon where better equipment often becomes available. There is no traveling to/from town while in a bonus dungeon, so you better keep an empty inventory before entering it.

Yes, you do get a pet (a dog or a cat - but you can interchange them by purchasing and feeding them a special fish) and, yes, you can transform them by feeding them different types of fishes. Fishing is carried out in pretty much the same fashion: you wait for two concentric circles to merge and their color to change from pale blue to purple but it is less important than it was in Fate (so far I brought in nothing else but fish - no equipment or valuable items).

Now, when not playing an AD&D RPG (where I always choose to be a Paladin), I like to play other RPGs as a warlock, a fighting mage. The Alchemist class allows you to both cast powerful spells and exchange blows in the midst of the action (the other available classes is the Destroyer and the Vanquisher). The Destroyer is the up-close-and-personal tank warrior whereas the Vanquisher is the ranger.

When leveling up as an Alchemist, make sure to get both the (steampunk!) golems and the Ember Strike spell. Together with some good shielding spells, nothing can stand in your way.

Try not to go broke. At first I though, "finally, an RPG that is not stingy with its money". But that was only at first. Items are less expensive at the shops but (surprise!) they also sell for a pittance. The good news is that money drops like rain from slain foes. The money-hole is the enchanter: attempting to further enchant your equipment will deplete your funds faster than you would imagine! And you also run a considerable risk of having all of its enchantments removed. No post-dated checks are honored. No credit cards accepted. I tried.

You will get swarmed so be prepared. Place healing potions, defensive and knockback spells on quick-slots (1-0); equip your pet with self or group healing spells and a powerful summoning spell; and never forget to first stay alive and then keep pounding on your enemies. In the heat of the battle it is best to deactivate (Alt-key) the fallen-items labels (more on this later on) and to always keep an eye on your health and mana levels. Respawning is not free: it will cost you either time, money or experience.

The inventory seems small but, in fact, it is more than adequate. Potions and scrolls are stackable up to 20 and (more importantly) every item takes up only one inventory square (no, you do not have to carry your fishing pole, it is just there).

You can send your pet to town to sell off its inventory and the time it needs to return is much less that what it did in FATE.

And there are treasure rooms you can only access by finding and pulling levers (sometimes in specific sequence) to open doors or turn bridges.

Now, some negative points: first, the game is only a dungeon crawler, there are no outdoors locations. Moreover, the graphics of the the spells are very impressive but they can become really confusing as well. Even at maximum settings, unless the fallen-items labels are deactivated you will not be able to actually see much of the battle. That means alternating between fighting and looting - but it also means missing some important interactive objects (levers or ballistas). Also, when electric, fire, ice and poison spells get mixed the result is not something one can discern friend from foe in. It makes no tactical difference (you cannot harm yourself or your company) but it sure would be more enjoyable if you could aim more than...80% of the time.

Finally, the environments are beautifully designed but your path is often blocked by obstacles that visually you could easily bypass. Sometimes you find your hero running in place, stopped by a ...pebble.

Finally, some closing suggestions to the developers for a future patch: add the possibility to order our pet to bring back potions and identification scrolls when sent into town, and make it possible to change class in mid-game (keeping the level and redistributing the skill points).

All in all, Torchlight is a very enjoyable experience. It is easy to master, it is beautiful and it is fun for the whole family.

An Experience Just Short Of A Holodeck

Now this is what I call immersion!

In the past, Bioware has shown a tendency to surpass itself whenever developing a sequel (remember how much better Baldur's Gate II was compared to I - and the original Baldur's Gate was already excellent). Well, compared to this second installment, the original Mass Effect now seems like a typical space-RPG/Shooter.

Having played the original game will not only help you better insert yourself into Commander Shepard's boots (you can actually import your original character form the first game - choices and all) - but also appreciate the improvements more.

The story in Mass Effect 2 is darker and (without spoiling it) the choices harder to live with. Combat has been streamlined, with tactical decisions (using cover, taking the high ground) now being more important, without the game loosing its shooter character though.

Both the visuals and the sounds are exquisite. Not only are the graphics really impressive (and I am running WinXP so that is DirecX-9 mind you) and the sounds dramatic but the voice acting and dialogue integration should be taught in game-design seminars.

In this second installment there is no actual inventory to speak of (more on this later), loading times are shorter and better concealed (remember those endless elevator rides? Now forget about them), and accessing your special abilities menu has been simplified.

In a true Bioware tradition, the available companions all come with their own special abilities and personal stories to explore.

The selection of armor and guns has been reduced. There are about 15-20 guns to choose from and very limited loot. The guns I do not mind. Personally, I'd rather have a small number of well designed and fun to use guns at my disposal than a myriad of guns that in the end make no real difference (I am looking at you, Borderlands?).

Having said that, I missed the thrill of looting and upgrading my equipment (not to mention having a real inventory). I mean, that is a great part of the fun in any cRPG! I am not holding my breath but maybe one of the upcoming DLCs could take care of that?

And if I am to open the improvements-request file, how about speeding up those minigames in the next patch?

Finally, you also get a personal apartment aboard Normandy (an excellent idea introduced in Fallout 3) which you can equip with various ornaments and personal items (from fish for your aquarium to a...space-hamster - I call mine Boo).

As for the DRM scheme used, the game does contain SecuROM but (similar to Dragon Age: Origins and Fallout 3)  it only uses a disk-check. Mass Effect 2 neither requires any online activation nor does it limit the numbers of its installations. It is not the best solution possible but it is a compromise I can live with. If you still find this objectionable, you can now make an informed decision.

All in all, I found Mass Effect 2 to be a beautiful RolePlaying Movie of a game, an immersive cinematic-action shooter with limited loot and more story than equipment choices. In other words, Mass Effect 2 may not be a pure cRPG or a cRPS experience (Dragon Age: Origins and Fallout 3 still rule those segments) but nevertheless it is an experience well worth its admission price.

Go for the light-sensors Boo! Go for the light-sensors!!

(no, I am not explaining that...)

An Excellent Mythology RPG

Yes, this is what Diablo3 would have looked like (had it been released in 2006) - but this cannot be a bad thing. This is a beautiful game that goes well beyond being an eye-candy.

Titan Quest offers quite realistic graphics achieved even on medium range PCs (a 5-year old system I used to have with only its video card upgraded to a nVIDIA 7600GT, can run it easily with everything on high). I particularly liked that you can see the exact armor and weapons on your opponents and, after you killed them. Fighting a hard opponent is rewarding because everything drops for looting.

I am a great fun of AD&D RPGs. However, in Titan Quest (and its expansion) there is no deep background - except lots of excellent Mythology (correctly told for once). Sure, there is no "official 20-sided dice" getting thrown somewhere in the background - but do you really care?

Hack, slash, zap, burn and destroy. Loot, sell, buy and equip. Repeat as needed, until satiated.

You will surely enjoy it! A game that is is great to look at and great fun to play.

Liquid Velvet

Christmas break of 1998, second floor living-room of a New Jersey Victorian house, visiting friends; the snow started falling at dusk and now it was well underway, the generous flakes absorbing any sound in the atmosphere. The fireplace radiates a soft glow and the sweet scent of burning pine wood. Tucked in the couch, I am reading a good spy novel. And on the Stereo, Sade's Love Deluxe is playing over and over, making the evening unforgettable, etching every detail to my memory.

Since then the deep, magic voice of Sade provided the soundtrack of many evenings of my life. However, Love Deluxe remained unsurpassed. Soldier of Love though came close, closer than  any other album.

Soldier of Love is a masterpiece. Every single song is wonderful and yet Long Hard Road and In Another Time are the ones I feel longing for. Both of these songs remind of Sade's signature sounds. The rest of the album though takes well studied steps, dancing around her previous works.

Fans will find this album comfortable like an old favorite sweater and fresh like untouched morning snow. If you do not know Sade, this is one of her albums that you must have.

The Magic Of The Twilight

The last Zelda game I had played was The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on my good old GameBoy. And I still remember how much fun that was. Since, I had been an exclusive PC gamer - until last Christmas. So one can imagine how very pleasantly surprised I was when I discovered that this is a whole new ...sword-game.

In The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess the world is immense and beautiful and mostly open-ended. The graphics may be inferior to the latest PC games (Wii graphical capabilities are not one of its strong-points) however, I cannot remember when cutting-edge graphics were essential in the enjoyment of any cRPG. Having said that, the environments (from the grass and the creeks to the trees and the skies) have been designed to maximize the console's potential in most instances.

Not so with the sound: good music but low quality sound. And the dialogues are still scripted, not voiced. It makes no sense to hire top talent to compose the themes and sounds - only to present them badly.

The use of the motion-sensing Wii-Remote together with the Nunchuk follows a steep learning curve. Once mastered though the real fun begins. Moving with the Nunchuk and fighting with the Remote make the game such an immersive experience. Swinging the Wii-Remote actually swings Link's sword - and aiming in the screen will ail your arrows and projectiles.

It surprised me and brought back memories at the same time - and I had not have so much fun in years.

And never forget: It's dangerous to go alone! Take this.

Purshuing Its Own Tail

This was my first Cotton Malone novel and I think it shall be my last. The protagonist's previous exploits are amply advertised throughout this novel but I do not care enough to go through another one of these. And I will try to explain this without any spoilers.

The Charlemagne's Pursuit starts off promising enough, a sub in trouble and probably lost at sea. Cut to the hero about to pick up a package in a clandestine setup, at the high terminal of a ski lift. Of course all hell brakes loose. Of course the hero survives. And the pursuit begins. But it is hardly ...Charlemagne's.

I cannot understand why Charlemagne was dragged into this, besides providing a catchy title in a "Da Vinci Code" fashion. The story could unfold without the dead emperor's item as it holds no crucial hints and it provides no motivation to anyone. The entire "mysterious symbols / ancient writing" gives off a sense of mimetic attempt rather than add anything to the story. Both Cotton and his antagonistic companions already have a strong motivation to go on with their quest (in fact, no imagination was stretched in providing said motivation) and the records of the footsteps that are to be followed already exist.

What is never explained is why the nefarious bad guy is paying an expensive assassin to take out a number of people only to keep a secret that is not exactly...earth-shattering if it came out. The (minor) scandal would have been the covering-up and not the information that was supposedly protected - so why cover it up in the first place?

If you are the airport and are between this one and the latest Kathrine Neville novels, go for this one. In any other case, though, pass.

A Metroid Universe

The last Metroid games I had played was Metroid II: The Return of Samus on my old GameBoy and the absolutely exceptional Super Metroid on a borrowed SNES. I still have the music from when crossing the Red Soil in Brinstar as a ringtone in my cellphone. So, buying this trilogy was more of a compulsion for me however, it turned out to be a very smart idea.

With Mtroid Prime: Trilogy, for the price of a single game, you get all three Metroid Prime games: Metroid Prime I, Metroid Prime II: Echoes, & Metroid Prime III: Corruption. Metroid Prime I and II: Echoes have been ported from the GameCube, with improved graphics and controls adapted to the Wii. Metroid Prime III: Corruption is one of the best games ever designed for the Wii!

You can access any of the three games from the Menu and play any one of them interchangeably. I found I and III to be beautiful games, offering endless hours of fun whereas II was a bit darker but still a not-to-be-missed experience. It took me a while to master the controls (I am a seasoned PC gamer yet new to consoles) but once I started feeling comfortable with them I had to tear myself away from the game.

Since all of my previous Metroid experience was limited to side-scrolling games, stepping into the space boots (and sticky-ball) of Samus was a blast!

Don't sit this one out. The fate of the Universe depends on it.

It's A Blue Planet. And It's All Yours To Explore

Ever since I watched those old Jacques Cousteau undersea documentaries, the idea of one day snorkeling myself never left my mind. So far I never had the opportunity to dive but I often catch myself daydreaming about underwater excursions. Until I can add a check-mark beside that item on my before-I-am-too-old-list this game offers an excellent substitute.

Dive & Relax. Leave the world behind you and become on with the underwater realm. The locales are beautifully designed, the fish, whales, dolphins and the rest of the marine life move in a very realistic fashion. The missions are pretty simple and most have an educational parameter but it is mostly about exploring at your own pace. Well, you do have to mind the oxygen level...

The underwater sounds are very well made and placed whereas the background music is a soothing companion. All in all Endless Ocean: Blue World is an excellently designed and produced diving-simulation game.

This is a game that will bring you home early, it will put a smile in your face and it will relax you like no other game.

I cannot emphasize this enough: this game is digital massage. It soothes your nerves, relaxes your body and puts you in a very easygoing mindset.

Take the plunge.

Erudio Coniecturalem Artem Esse Machinariumnam

To paraphrase Cornelius Celsus, Machinarium is the Art of Educated Guessing. Yes, art.

This indie gem is a definite affirmation to the question whether PC gaming is an art-form. In recent years the genre has strayed towards the-latest-hardware-demanding yet vapid eye-candy. So when a slow and moody game comes along, on that can run in almost any machine and offers subtle fun, we tend to underestimate it.

This is a logic puzzle-adventure. Sometimes the puzzles are easy. Sometimes you get lucky (hence the "Educated Guessing" in the title). And sometime you get stuck and you shall need hints or even the level walkthrough contained in a locked book that opens with a mini-game. However, perseverance is rewarded with the satisfaction of being able to untangle the inner logic of the game.

I have been playing puzzle adventures ever since Myst and, although I am not an exclusive fan of the genre, over the years I have played its best representatives. And Machinarium should be considered one of them.

The game is also a avant-garde cartoon story, with beautifully hand-drawn backgrounds and an endearing protagonist.

The game may not last long but, I promise you, it will stay for you for a very long time.

The Absolute Asphalt Driving Experience

I have been playing PC games all my life and have tried most Racing/Driving games, from the legendary Outrun to the latest Need for Speed installments. I have to admit, Grid is the Best - by far!

The collection of cars is not vast but rather exotic and exclusive. The graphics are unbelievable, gorgeous and detailed. And the sounds (although will not accurately follow the engine revs) they greatly add to the total immersion. This is such a beautiful game that I have to tear myself from my screen not to keep playing.

There are three views (hood, cockpit and behind the car), all working as they should but what I really appreciated was the collection of available racing types: from closed circuits to demolition derbies, rest assured, you too will find your favorite.

This is not an easy game: deactivate the driver assists and you will find yourself fishtailing all over the place! And keep in mind that dragging is frowned upon in...LeMans-24. Not to mention riding a rattler! That's wright: Grid features totally realistic damages! Hit another car or the guard-rails and your fine tuned drive will get crashed and bumpers will fall off - and its handling will be affected accordingly!

Choose your name from the setup list and pit-bosses will call you by name (sadly, no...NeuroSplicer option though). Another nice touch is the random events that can occur in a race: from engines failing or bursting into flames to tires going flat or bouncing off, there is not a dull moment and the game keeps you constantly on the edge.

Now, CodeMasters seems to be able to learn from its mistakes. First of all, unlike Dirt, Grid does not require an...ubercomputer to run. The requirements are not "all invited" but not "next generation" either. I managed to run it fine on the 6 years old lab computer (a P4 3.2GHz with 2GB of RAM and a 7600GT nVidia).

Moreover, unlike Dirt which was damaged by StarFORCE, Grid harbors a... milder garden variety of SecuROM (without limited installations RootKits). There is clearly room for further listening to customers' dislike of DRM schemes (hence the star withheld), yet, in all fairness, this is an improvement.

So, if you are boycotting SecuROM you have been warned. Otherwise, recommended.

An Endless Medieval Saga

Do not expect to find high literature here. But expect to be very entertained. Ken Follet's World Without End, the sequel to the tighter and more cared for The Pillars of the Earth is an endless medieval soap-opera.

Set on the backdrop of the English cathedral city of Kingsbridge in the early 14th century the heroes have to avoid poverty and starvation, weather an ongoing war and survive both the ever-returning plague and their cruel overlords. Fortunes are made and lost, love is reciprocated or shunted, offspring is fathered by strange bedfellows. Life and death are intermingled - but life always finds a way to go on. Even in those harsh times.

This is a long book. It could use a heavier-handed editing but I doubt it would make much of a difference. Sure, there are themes that keep repeating (the greedy and ever scheming monks of the priory make underhanded attempts to steal, bring down or even kill the independent Caris again and again; Merthin the prodigy builder having to fight the self-serving conservative establishment to implement his innovative designs; the villainous Ralph in an insatiable vengeance-trip against a peasant boy who once broke his nose). After the third time you go through the same story-arcs you grow a bit tired of it. And yet you cannot stop reading on.

Is there a happy end? Well, I shall not spoil it for anyone. However, whether there is one or not, brace yourself for a long journey. You shall enjoy it too.

Little To Command And Nothing To Conquer

It is always sad when a great historic game franchise comes to the end of its road. But it is depressingly sad to watch it do so in this condition.

KANE IN DISNEYLAND?

The graphics of Command & Conquer 4 are laughable. True, EA has been steering the C&C franchise towards the ...cartoon direction ever since the Red Alert 3 installment. But the Red Alert Series had always been more playful. Even so, what was barely palatable for a Red Alert game is outright insulting for a Tiberium one.

If his tanks could still run-over infantry units, have no doubt, he would hunt down whoever did this to him.

Because, you cannot mock Kane and avoid having your lungs infused with Tiberium fumes!

MORE UNITS? PLEASE WAIT BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE. FOREVER.

One of the most annoying features of the new C&C4 is the units cap. You cannot produce more units above a (very low) number. Upgrading your tech-tree with such a unit cap in place means you have to kill and replace most of your units - and make painful decisions as some units are more equal than others. It feels like having to deal with a (small) Diablo-like inventory: whatever does not fit within the grid must be left behind to rot.

And to add insult to injury, extra units are bestowed with a dropper. A tiny one.

This cap reeks of one thing: an attempt to turn this series into a Massively Multiplayer Online Game (fewer units means less lag). And no one seems to care that this took away one of the most fun tactics in a C&C game: tank rushing.

SORRY, ALL OF OUR TIBERIUM-HARVESTERS HAVE BEEN RECALLED. WOULD YOU CARE FOR A SENSIBLE COMPACT?

A Command & Conquer game without harvesting? It could be an RTS game of any name (and there have been baseless RTS games before), why did it have to be a C&C game? Because, once again, EA proves to have no respect for this beautiful art-form. If it means exploiting a classic title in its swan song to sell a few more units, so be it.

Moreover, game publishers seem to have an ever declining expectation of their targeted customer IQ. Hence the ever simplified games released. So, yes, this feels like C&C-for-Dummies.

BATTLEFIELD CONTROLS OFFLINE? YOU'RE ROYALLY SCREWED COMMANDER!

Yes, this must be the most inconvenient DRM scheme ever.

If you hate STEAM for requiring endless updates, this is worse.

If you hate games that require online activation because they never actually become yours, yes, this is worse.

And if you hate games that come with Limited Activations and become worthless the moment you pop the box, well yes, this is worse.

This inconceivable scheme demands for the owner of this game to always be online to verify that the copy he payed for is legitimate. That's right, not just activation, always OnLine. Yes, even for a single player game.

Will it deter piracy? No, pirates will be playing the game without all those DRM hassles. Legitimate gamers are left complaining - and, once more, EA will turn a deaf ear.

All in all, C&C4 will not appeal neither to old friends of the series nor younger gamers. And (for as long as it will keep working), it will have you jumping through hoops for the privilege of having ...bought it. And I thought it was the other way around.

This Tiberium field has been depleted long ago.

Move along Commanders.

What Comes Around, Comes Around

For more than two generations the music industry behaved as if they had us all by the short and curly. They controlled the source, the prices and the demand. Then all hell broke loose. And they are running around, chasing their tails, ever since.

Dirty Little Secrets of the Record Business will help you substantiate everything you suspected for so long. Yes, it was always easier and more profitable to promote untalented signers or groups bootstrapped together with a lot of image and little else than having to deal with really talented artists. Real artists last long enough to start making demands and if they are not met they can always take their talent elsewhere. In contrast, untalented posers are a dime a dozen. And are all willing to waste their lives for fame, maybe some drugs and some short-lived adoration (p.237).

Promoting far lesser talents was never a problem as the music industry has always been hand-in-hand with most radio producers. Payola-and-plugola scandals never seem to go out of fashion, from the 1960's in California to some years ago with SONY-BMG in New York. Ever wondered why most radio stations play the same drivel over and over and ignore both indie groups and older songs? And how exactly did you think "hits" are made? Not ..."listeners' requests" I hope! (p.105)

It was like the Cola Company controlling both our taste-buds and our thirst center - and then going on selling watered-down soft drinks for the price of a four-course meal.

So, the geniuses running the music industry kept picking stars-to-be from the lazy-yet-ambitious crowd and paid them close to nothing ("sure, you bring in millions son, but all that money goes to production and promotion expenses, see. I hardly break even myself"). When their shooting stardom faded, they simply discarded them and moved on to the next star-system victim. It was a well-oiled machine. It made billions - just not for the people we thought it did (p.259).

Then, in the early-90's a group of inventive Germans came up with the mp3 sound-compression and the sky fell in. Even with the first slow internet connections, downloading a song of quality comparable to that of a CD took about 10 minutes. Sure, it was not exactly kosher but what was worse: downloading a song you could hear on the radio for free or asking half a day's wages for a CD that was not only half empty but it also contained only a single good song - the rest was known as filler? Napster, Grockster, KazaA and then torrents - there was simply no closing the flood-gates once they had burst open.

So what did the music industry do? First thing they came up with was the "let's make our customers pay for the same music again and again" policy. They lobbied for (and, being a wealthy industry, of course got) draconian "intellectual property rights" that make any form of sharing or reselling illegal. The long arm of RIAA in effect, is run just like a shakedown (p.277).

Now, try to imagine Chrysler getting second-hand car sales to be illegal only to enhance its own sales - would that make any (legal or moral) sense?

They also discovered TV talent Shows. Enter the clowns. And make them run faster. Talent shows not only equate "success" with slave-labor contracts but they also provide the music industry with numerous fresh pools of semi-trained singers. No more need for the Milli-Vanillis of the world to lip-sing. Their new boys and girls may still be ephemeral but they can more or less sing by themselves.

But it's a battle already lost. When an industry makes more money from suing its former customers than from selling its product (that becomes more irrelevant every day), you just know they are way past the point of no return.

Intrigued? Well, this book tells the whole story with far more details and far juicer tidbits. The writer is a music industry insider and has no qualms backing his claims with a lot of inside information. It is an easy read and it even has a chapter on Amazon.

A must read for any music buyer!

(and any PC Gamer I am afraid, as the Gaming industry is following in exactly the same footsteps)

Murphy's Law On Radioactive Tovariches

This is not a game to pick up to have mindless fun. Because everything that can go wrong eventually will. Unfortunately not just in the game.

Metro 2033 is set in a postapocalyptic Russian cityscape where only the lucky(?) commuters in the famous Moscow underground survived the nuclear blasts - and are now tormented by the cruel conditions they have to face. The underground tunnels belong to surviving humans ranging to both ends of the moral spectrum and various mutant creatures, all trying to make the most of their life.

And life is harsh. Ammunition is so scarce it is used as currency. So you have to be very careful with your aim. Having to make every shot count may sound fun but the next time you get caught with an almost empty weapon between nasty mutants and bloodthirsty enemies you may long for a more generous game design.

The weapons are not many but they are well designed. Both the pre-war and the improvised ones offer more or less realistic mechanics and satisfying results.

Light and shadows play an important role and stealth is something you will be thinking quite a lot - especially if you are low on ammunition. The graphics of the environments are detailed and beautiful whereas the movements seem fluid and natural. The game designers aimed in increasing the immersion factor wherever they could (there is no HUD besides your cross-hairs, you have to hit T to take a look at your watch - very important when venturing into the irradiated cities); however, pop-up messages and stuttering take a big bite out of that.

Metro 2033 will inevitably be compared to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.. I found S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to be more of an RPG (hence its open sandbox nature) whereas METRO 2033 is more of a shooter with a predestined path to follow.

The PC I run this maxed out is a 2 years old system (WinXP SP3, P7 920 on MSI Eclipse with 3GB of RAM and an ASUS nVIDIA GTX480) and the game showed a proneness to stuttering, especially when enemies swarmed. I guess a future patch could take care of that but I would had preferred to receive a finished game and not one rough around its edges.

The retail version of Metro 2033 comes with Red Faction: Guerrilla as a bonus. It is not a bad game and, contrary to Metro, it offers more fun than immersion.

Finally, even he retail version of the game will require to be tied to a STEAM account. Yes that means ownership of your game will be stolen back and you will be allowed to play with it but not actually keep it. Whether this is acceptable to you or not you can now make an informed decision.

Tread with caution.

Workers Of The Outer Worlds, Unite!

The original Red Faction did not only break new ground and bring a number of innovations to the FPS genre - but it was also great fun to play. It was the first game, if I remember correctly, that incorporated damage to the environments that was not just for effect but played quite an important role in the story. Now, its sequels... well, succession in times of revolution is never easy.

Like any revolution, Red Faction (III): Guerrilla, strives to overcome but falls victim to harsh realities - and some bad decisions. But there are also a lot of sparks coming out from under this hammer.

First off, this game tries to be too many things at the same time. It has missions and you get to augment your weapons - but it is clearly not a cRPG. And you get to explore and shoot - but, even if you will find yourself in some hairy situations, the moments of adrenaline rush and intensity are rare. Early on the weapons get too powerful and the importance of explosions overtake the gameplay. Do not get me wrong, I love the smell of a singularity bomb in the morning as much as the next guy - but you can have too many explosions.

Oh, and how come one can blow up building and vehicles sky high but the surrounding rocks remain intact? And while I am poking plot holes: where is all the oxygen coming from since Mars seem as barren as a red desert?

Now, unless the hero were to wear armor we would love to see, why was there a need to go from an FPS to a Third-Person Shooter perspective? There have been TPS games that work great (the excellent Max Payne series spring to mind) but more often than not, the over the shoulder camera ruins the immersion - not to mention your aim.

Finally, there is the issue of graphics. I have an 2 years old system at home (i7 920, nVIDIA GTX480, 3GB of RAM, WinXP SP3), yet, even when all parameters were all maxed out, the graphics were not crisper than Half Life 2 (a 6 year old game). I understand that there are way more particles on the screen and the physics of their explosion would make the game unplayable in 2-3 year old systems but I expected more effort on that department.

On the other hand, driving is great fun! A-la GTA, you can hijack almost anything: from personal vehicles to huge utility tracks. And then there are walkers you can augment. And you can drive them almost over or through everything. The most sturdy of them will take quite a beating before dying on you so I really enjoyed walking or driving through walls and demolishing buildings. Who needs a map if you can plow a path straight towards your destination?!

Did I mention explosions? True, they are a bit excessive, yet there is no denying their fun factor! And what I found particularly impressive is how the choice and design of weapons stay within the story of miners revolting on Mars.

Another piece of good news: the game may not be DRM-free (it is protected by Impulse and WindowsLIVE online saves) but it has neither any malicious form of SecuROM nor does it require any type of activation.

A Rollercoster Of A Game

What you get if you cross Far Cry's endless sandbox and Stranglehold's cool moves with TOCA's vehicle realism and Bionic Commando's grappling hook fun? That's right, you get Just Cause 2. But this is not a perfect world.

Step into the boots of Rico Rodriguez, the luckiest CIA agent ever on a mission to ...liquidate the ruthless dictator, Baby Panay. Said dictator is not the most loved ruler to begin with - hence the three existing (and bickering) factions that oppose him. As Rico you will undertake missions of destruction to help these factions. Completing these missions awards Chaos points that advances the story missions and unlocks better equipment.

The game is just gorgeous! Set in an endless archipelago world of Panau (actually about 1,000km2 or 400ml2) that spans from tropical jungles to snow-caped mountains and dusty badlands you can roam more or less freely. There are seamless day/night cycles but what are really impressive are the weather effects. Like a postal-office worker not rain or snow or sleet can stop Rico - and his clothes will get wet or dusty accordingly. And if you decide to drive keep in mind that cars will handle differently under different weather conditions.

The guns are quite satisfying but what steals the show is the grapple-gun. Grab from passing helicopters and hitch a ride or tie your enemies to exploding gas-canisters and watch them skyrocket to their exploding demise. There are a thousand uses for this weapon - and they are all fun.

There is also an endless supply of vehicles in this game. From rickshaws to super-cars and from jet-fighters to cigarette-boats, you shall not have to walk another mile in your life while in Panau. Crash them and see them accumulate very realistic damages. That's the good news. The bad news is that most of them handle like a semi-deflated boat.

Because not everything runs smoothly in the archipelago. After the fifteenth time you blow up the same tower and the twentieth time you plant explosives on a speeding car and escape with your trusted para-sail, you will start wondering if there is an actual point behind all this mayhem. Then again, is there really a need for a reason to keep blowing up stuff with great style?

To get on this ride you will need either WinVISTA or Win7. I did not notice this until I had already opened the box. I am still a loyal WinXP user at home but, luckily, about two months ago I bought a new laptop and, of course, it came with Win7. I never found gaming to be comfortable on laptops (the keys are closer together and laptop mouses not as ergonomic), but this is besides the point.

The point is that there was absolutely no reason for this game to exclude about 40% of gamers that still stick with their WinXP as they are compatible with all of our classic games.

Moreover, the game requires STEAM to run which means the copy you pay for will never actually become yours to keep. Whether you find this acceptable or not, you can now make an informed decision.

All in all, Just Cause 2 is a game with some flaws but it also offers exhilarating fun.

In Space No One Can Hear You End Your Turn

Sins of A Solar Empire is an excellent game that takes the galaxy civilization games a clear step further. Open-ended like a new science-fiction world and played as a seat-of-your-pants RTS game, this is a very intelligent hybrid that I greatly enjoyed.

In effect, SoaSE is a successful blend of the wonderful Galactic Civilizations and Homeworld series, with a sprinkling of Total War for good measure. This is not a turn-based civilization game, so expect a much faster pace. What this means is that while it maintains the characteristics of classic turn-based 4X civilization games (eXploration, eXpansion, eXploitation and eXtermination), by relieving from the micromanagement tedium, it allows for an intense RealTime Strategy experience. Now, this probably may not appeal to turn-based purists, but I would advise an open mind: this is a good game.

This concept-blending is new, so expect a slow learning curve - it took me a number of ...false-starts to get the hang of it: after all, it plays like an RTS and (although simplified) it still has enough of turn-based features that need to be taken care of. The interface is simplified and informative at the same time, with info trees sliding out only when needed.

There are three different factions to choose from (financiers, technologists and psitecs) - yet, their differences focus mainly on research tree-branching and ship designs. What I did not like was that the ships of all three factions are effectively the same and their differences are only skin-deep. What I would have liked to find (and was disappointed to the point of withholding the 5th star for fun) was ship design and building! Remember how much fun was to design our own spaceships (from freighters to battleships) in Galactic Civilizations II? Well, no such luck here. Let's hope they keep it in mind when the next patch gets prepared (up to the latest patch, 1.191, one can customize maps and starbases but not starships yet).

Quick and constant exploration is not only encouraged by a necessity if one wants to survive - let alone win. Spaceships built within a solar system cannot travel beyond it, unless using "wormhole"-like singularities. This adds to realism but can stretch your finances to their breaking point - since only locally built ships can be used. Moreover, it makes really hard to locate the strategic points to either built defenses or focus an attack. The AI will constantly be bypassing your planning like the Maginot line - and leave you with such a French feeling...

The graphics (of all of backgrounds, planets and units) are very nicely done. I really liked the multiple afterburners tracing through space as a spaceship squadron was dopplering past my screen...And less-than-cutting-edge PC owners rejoice: even 4-5 years old systems can handle this game like a breeze!

What I truly appreciated was the realistic scale of things. Galaxies are much larger than star systems, which in turn are much larger than planets, which in turn are much larger than space stations...than spaceships and so on. How is this achieved? Excellent zooming!

Supreme Commander was the first game to introduce strategic zoom; however, SoaSE implements it much better and shows how it should had been done: from a galaxy to a single planet and to a single spaceship, zooming in or out firmly maintains the effectiveness of battle controls by grouping and simplifying the info-tiles as one zooms out. In Supreme Commander we had to chose between either discerning the units or moving ...info-tiles around the battlefield - not a bad first attempt, mind you. In SoaSE, one almost never looses perspective: ongoing battles, critical hotspots, or colony revolts are all easily identifiable in real-time.

On another note, this game is a StarDock release which, yes, means their specialized installation utility (IMPULSE). Nevertheless, this game hides no DRM or other intrusive security idiocy. Since trust and respect between a game publisher and its customers is a two-way street (and StarDock was willing to prove its friendship first), SoaSE deserves our support.

For a price much lower than that of the original game one now gets both mini-expansions (Diplomancy and Entrenchment)  as well. Entrenchment improves the graphics and introduces a number of new bases and weapons upgrades. Diplomancy adds more weight to diplomatic options and actions (braking a peace treaty now will cost you dearly!), even making a diplomatic victory possible.

Launch!

Tipping The Scales Of Power With Your Knife

Assassin's Creed was on of the most anticipated games to be ported to PCs. For this, the Director's Cut edition was produced, adding some content over the console versions (mostly rooftop action missions), and care was taken to make the gamepad to keyboard/mouse-transition as seamless as possible. For the most part it was successful.

This is a tremendously beautiful game. The game is not new yet the first thing that grabs you is how real the city environments feel. The graphics are just out of this world! If your PC is a few years old, it has to be least a mid-range to enjoy their full potential (minimum requirements provided below), but real skies, dynamic shadows, facial expressions and realistically flowing robes are only beginning to describe it! Run on a roof and the other citizens will gather around and comment on your crazy behavior! Throw someone on a vendor's cart and he will come after you complaining about his ruined produce! And the city is alive well beyond your character. If only Bioware could take some lessons for its next Baldur's Gate...

Adding to this is the wonderful sound! From the crowd murmurs and the NTCs cries for help, to the whistling of the wind and the well-chosen background music, a good sound-card and speakers set is recommended to truly enjoy this game. If you have a 5.1 speaker system (I do not) I can imagine the experience to become even more immersing.

As to the gameplay, you control Altaïr ibn La-Ahad ("The Flying One, Son of None"). He is a member of the Assassin Brotherhood that sides, well, with both...sides, during the 3rd Crusade. In a story twist, he is also your ancestor, the game being your/his flashback memories. This is a twist I could do without, but I would guess it lays groundwork for the sequels.

Controlling your character with a keyboard/mouse takes a lot of getting used to as you have to manage running, climbing, fighting as well as modifying your actions from low to high visibility. The keys are re-mapable but the complexity of the controls will never let you forget you are playing a game. 

The Third person perspective works beautifully and will never loose your interest. Most missions require sneaking and murdering in the shadows. Others will have you eavesdropping for passwords or pickpocketing documents to gain access into target buildings. Some will have you sharpen those sword skills. Still, the game does not avoid its share of stupid "keep this...suicidal character from getting killed" missions. Keep in mind though that Assassin's Creed is rather a strategically thinking action TPS, not a hack&slash fast-paced one.

Pull your knives out and sky-dive into it!

The cRPGs Are Back: Another Good Addition To The Genre

From Moses and Oliver Twist to Baldur's Gate and Fable, the story of the gifted orphan who has to fight hard to eventually find its niche has been told again and again. Avencast: Rise of the Mage turns out to be a mage...Not that original a story but they manage to pull it off - as it gets really fun!

You may have no choice on your character and only limited customization options, but the novel gameplay and innovative controls will reward you. Tapping sequences for combo attacks and dodging in a PC cRPG?! Brilliant! You can opt for either Blood Magic (melee) or Soul Magic (ranged), but to mix-and-match from the skill trees is a solid advice.

As with another cRPG gem to come out of Eastern Europe the same year (The Witcher), loading-delays are a minor nuisance; surprisingly, though, they are shorter than those encountered in games developed by much larger studios. The BALDUR's GATE Saga had long loading times as well, yet I hardly ever noticed.

What WILL get on your nerves though is the...camera. If you thought that NWN had bad camera movement, well, this is worse: it moves in a very limited range and will take some time to get used to and find a comfortable setting.

Graphically it would be placed just above Dungeon Siege: the spells have been impressively designed and the cut-scenes have been done in stills of exceptional taste. Moreover, one has to appreciate the fact that all dialog is spoken, not just written. The music though is a collection staple cRPG themes that are neither annoying nor unforgettable.

This is a long cRPG, spanning for over 20-25 hours if one undertakes all possible quests (ranging from funny to quite intense). Both cRPG fans and novices will undoubtedly enjoy this one!

Zuma Fusion

ZUMA is back! And if you can believe it, Zuma's Revenge is even better than the original!

PopCap Games introduced the original Zuma in 2003 and brought to the foreground a genre that was, up to then, oriented exclusively towards kids. Zuma created a new school of games: from the excellent Luxor Series to the recent Inca Ball, the playful Beetle Bomp and (my favorite!) Atlantis: Sky Patrol, Zuma-clones came in all shapes and forms. Some introduced new ideas and some of them improved the original concept. And the new ZUMA has incorporated most of them.

If you have already enjoyed the original game, let me tell you what is new. First off, yes, the graphics and sounds are much improved. Also, your frog does not have to simply rotate all the time. As with the Luxor games, in some stages you can slide across a predefined path (not always horizontal) whereas, in others, you can hop between multiple Lily Pads.

Moreover, there are now three new special abilities: the Laser beam, the Lightening and the TriShot. With the Laser you can target specific balls (advisable to aim at the bonuses!); the Lightening will remove all balls of the same color as the one you targeted; and with the TriShot, well, it is pretty much self-explanatory: you fire off three metal canon-balls that wipe out everything in their path.

Finally, every 10 stages there are now bosses you cannot harm until their henchmen get smashed (an idea from Atlantis: Sky Patrol)  or their specific weakness is figured out - and of course you will be fighting the color-stream at the same time.

If you are not familiar with the game this is the gist of it: a series of colored balls (with the number of different colors increasing every few levels) streams in and you have to shot and match them in sets of three or more in order to remove them - and prevent them from reaching the end zone. There are now numerous different modes (Adventure, various Challenges, Iron Frog) - and all are exceptional addictive!! So take care not to have any deadlines or immovable obligations looming!

This is a perfect example of what has come to be known as Casual Gaming. It would be a good idea to download the limited-time free trial version from a casual gaming site (such as PopCap Games or Reflexive) and decide for yourself whether this is indeed your cup of tea. It comes to about 100MB so a fast connection will be needed for that.

Everybody can make a good game that will run only on a super-computer. This is an example of pure programming genius!

WARNING! Highly addictive!

Turn-Based Strategist Heaven

The Galactic Civilization Series in effect has kept the classic Turn-based Strategy genre alive. When the Civilization Series was going to the dogs with its 5th version (all flashy animations and dummied-down options instead of evolving) and the Master of Orion series was committing seppuku (unable to live with the shame of its 3rd installment),  Galactic Civilizations II reminded me how much fun space colonization can be!

Starting off with a planet in a customizable Universe (size, resource abundance, scarcity of habitable planets etc), one begins his journey of exploration, colonization and conquest. With the exception of roving pirates who can be destructive if encountered early on (but whose annoyance can be deselected), the factions are well balanced and interesting.

The graphics are clear (with full zoom capability), whereas the interface is easy to master and friendly to use.

However, what makes Galactic Civilizations II so much more fun than any other space colonization game is its ship design options. From freighters and colonist-ships to planet defenders and frigates, there are no limits in what one can build in your dockyard. Want something that looks like Star Trek's Enterprise, Star Wars' Millennium Falcon or Battlestar Galactica's Colonial Vipers? Easily done - the sky is the limit.

Research will not only keep you solvent and your people happy but it will also make it possible to better equip your ships. Stronger engines, more effective armor, more destructive weapons.

And, on top of all that, this being a Stardock release, it comes free of any intrusive DRM scheme. These days, that alone deserves gamers' support. How much more so that Galactic Civilizations II is a great game.

When cRPGs Touched The Sky

Baldur's Gate II was the longest the most fun games I have ever played!

The original Baldur's Gate was excellent in all of storyline, gameplay, music and stability. Now, nowadays, sequels usually mean a graphically-improved expansion (at best). Baldur's Gate II is a rare exception of the sequel clearly surpassing the original. And in the case of such great original, this means a lot!

Words fail to describe the perfect harmony of brilliant ideas, emerging story-line and detailed coding that makes this game an unsurpassed classic! Do not let the slightly outdated graphics discourage you. They were cutting edge only some years ago - and you will be able to unleash their full potential even on mid-range PCs!

I have yet to meet anyone who has played it and not raved about it! Hard-core D&D fans will find the character building, fighting checks and balances and overall experience very close to the actual pen-&-paper games.

Casual computer gamers will notice none of the tedious stuff of other cRPGs as the gameplay runs smooth and beautifully.

You even have the choice to turn it into either a turn-based or an action game by tweaking the auto-pause options! I am telling you: this is how computers games should be!

You will let yourself get lost in the deep dungeons of the labyrinthic story; you will be laughing out loud to the humorous dialog; you will be surprised as to who is a double and triple-agent.

There is an evil beyond imagining unleashed and only you with your party can stand in its way.

Party members offer a multitude of unpredictable balancing points and diverging story-lines of their own: side quests, conflicts and love affairs enrich the story in so many original ways!

An unsurpassed classic!