Games Left Undone

Games that were started but for reasons explained, are left undone

Console games


GTA IV
Simple - Even though I liked the game and was over 60% through with it, the game save mechanics ruined it for me. Fail a mission repeat every sequence from the beginning and try again.
Maybe it's my PC gaming background that dictates "Save and Save often". Come think of it I do the same thing in applications.

Crackdown
Excellent game but I'm dealing with the Asian mobs and the vertical (literally) challenges are way hard. I have my character pretty maxed out but I get gunned down in the number of scenarios I found myself in. The game is great I was hooked for quite a while but the level of difficulty put it on the back burner.
If there's a game I think about firing up often to finish it, Crackdown is #1 on the list.

PC games 

Crysis Warhead

The game looks awesome even today but the game as a whole lacks the story line to merit the finish. Dull story + Repetitive action + increased difficulty curve = no interest to finish
I must say the Multiplayer component is very capable but the number of online players dropped too much to continue looking for servers.

FarCry 2
Two words - Console Port. There is no excuse to take the engine that looks so good on the PC and filter them down to Console use; only to port that downgrade to the PC version. Bad, just bad.


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A Game you can be sure will get played through to the end

Mass Effect 2 or Mass Effect 2 Collector's Edition

Mass Effect 2: Soldier Class

Christine Norman Lead game designer for Mass Effect 2 talks about the Soldier Class

PC Games - E3 2010 - Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 - and Cerberus

I'm in the process of finishing my 2nd play through as an Infiltrator and Cerberus is a pretty shady operation. As shady as any of the other companies/corporation/organizations in the game. Seeing how the side quest missions add up.

There is an interesting point in the game where you are asked to hand over the files on Cerberus. You have the option to decline or hand them over for a significant pay day. It will be interesting to see how this decision is handled in ME2. If you sold the info, is the organization compromised? And if so, what are the ramifications in game.

Since it appears you'll be playing a part with Cerberus this time out, I wonder how the whole good vs. evil scale will be achieved. There appears to be an emphasis on a dim and dark underscore and since Cerberus isn't a moral guided operation, will it be a measure of lesser of two, three, four evils to make decisions on?


Mass Effect 2 - What a way to start (Spoiler Alert)

The link here will explain how the game deals with transition of players from the original Mass Effect

Hands On: Mass Effect 2, The Ultimate Do-Over

Dr. Pepper DLC Promotion Detailed

Here's the details provided for the Dr. Pepper DLC promotions
 

• In Mass Effect 2, there are three unique pieces of armor: two helmets and a visor.
• In Battlefield: Bad Company 2 four kit upgrades allow you to become a unique Special Activities soldier, with new camouflage and a modified weapon. Kit upgrades also contain new awards and an additional achievement.
• In Battlefield Heroes, there are four sets of unique character clothing, and consumers get a pair of outfits per download, one for each side.
• In Spore, a dozen Cyborg-themed body parts - such as eyes, heads and arms - can be redeemed and used in the Spore Creature Creator. These parts allow players to mix robot and organic creature body parts to design their own Cyborg creatures. The exclusive Cyborg parts will be usable by all owners of the Spore PC game and anyone who downloads the free Spore Creature Creator Trial Edition

Half Life 2 Gets a Reworked with Engine Update

Half Life 2 gets an engine Upgrade to the Orange Box Standards
See the side by side video Old vs. New - Very Nice

Most Underrated Game of 2009

Shadow Complex - Digital Download available on XBox live

The side scrolling game play not the game play style I'm fond of these days, Shadow Complex delivers. If you've never heard of it or forgot about - you should look into it. A very immersive game at a very nice price.

Borderlands Patch - PC update

Patch 1.20 released
Borderlands PC 1.20 PATCH here

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Latest Trailer

One of 2010's most awaited games. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 looks to give Modern Warfare 2 a run for its money. Destructible environments ala Frostbite engine in teh first game was amazing. Should be over the top in BFBC 2

Using Steam - 1st Simple Tip - Transfer files

At some point you may for some reason or another want/need to move your gigabytes of Steam games from one PC to lets say, maybe a New faster PC. The last thing you should consider is to re-download all those games again.

Fortunately for you, your Steam folders are self contained. Meaning, you can literally copy and paste from one PC to another. The program and games will all transfer over.

Now there are a number of ways to transfer files between two or more PC’s. Your best bet would be to utilize a home network or wireless network. Being that just a few Steam games add up to allot of gigabytes, multiple flash drives or DVD’s could be a long arduous process.

Before we get too far into this - make sure you know your Steam account username and password. Without those, you really won’t get too far.

Once you get a complete transfer, you’ll need to follow these easy steps.

1. Click to access your Steam directory. You should see a variety of folders and files.
2. Find the Clientregistry.blob
3. delete it
4. in that same directory is your Steam.exe . Double Click on it to launch it.
5. This will create a new Clientregistry.blob file that will acknowledge your files new location and games on the drive.
6. Once the Clientregistry.blob is finished, you should get the username and password prompt. Fill them in.
7. You should get all the titles you own listed.
8. You’ll note that if you had games listed as Favorites, they will need to be assigned again.
9. You’ll also notice that most of the games will be listed as Download Paused. By Right clicking on them you can change them to Resume Updating.

You should be up and running.

On occasion Steam may request that it be reinstalled. It will update itself and relaunch.

Also there is the rare occasion where after you log in you get errors. Or even if you do log in, games are not listed that you own.

To remedy most of these issues, deleting your ClientRegistry.blob should get things up and running again.

Crytek Crysis Single Player Demo Review

Graphically: Solid A Step Above

Well it's out and barely a few hours old and I put some time into this long awaited FPS game for the PC.

Having enjoyed Far Cry on a number of levels visual, level design and game play) I was trying to minimize my expectations for Crysis. Partly because of the developers focus on the game engine for the past two years.

Taking on the enemy in the brush does elicit the shrub, branch and tree cutting we've seen in all the demos. Although I was able to take note, I was spending time scrambling to stay alive in the process.

Gameplay: Fun but Predictable

Unlike Far Cry you start out as part of a team. This doesn't really play into an NPC group as you soon find yourself going solo with the occasional team rendezvous.

Your "super powers" enabled by your suit never feel over empowering so there's a balance of tactical planning involved in knowing when and when not to use them. The tone is set by your squad leader at the start. Much as in Far Cry your stealth is key in staying alive which isn't a bad thing as you can flank enemies and decide to whether raise raise some hell. Getting the upper hand on the enemy and dispatching in creative ways is what Crysis looks to bring to the table.

In this way game play in this demo is in the tried and true mode of stealth or Guns- O -Blazin that has existed in previous FPS titles. Getting too aggressive with the enemy will get you pretty messed up and as your squad leader is ever so careful to remind you - the enemy will call in those reinforcements.

The game (DEMO) has its quirks. Being that you're a super soldier, the enemy at times can spot you at great distance. Getting peppered from off the coast by a gunboat I could barely see was one instance. Meanwhile the enemy at 5 paces didn't alert to fire in the brush where I was in a prone position. This is a demo and not the full game, but this is syndrome that happens in many FPS games and it happens in Crysis.

Some Welcome Addition and Some Omisions

OK I know this is not a sequel to Far Cry, but many of the ideas and objectives remain the same. Some ideas are new and another returns sans full implementation.

The quick key to alter your suit attributes is ideal in this game and is very easy to trigger. It has just the right amount of options without getting overwhelming in a tight situation. It's clear in this demo and how you decide to ultimately play the game that you will be jumping between modes often to accomplish your objectives.

Although it doesn't get contrived in the demo, I'm hoping it doesn't turn into a puzzle affair in the final release. Cloak - 20 steps - Super jump next 2 steps - Max Armor next yard - Cloak next yard etc. There's a difference in knowing when to use and being forced to use. Why this concern? Where Far Cry started out as an open ended adventure with multiple ways to approach or evade the enemy, the last levels ultimately turned into an on rails shooter

On the omision's side its a little more subtle. The zoomed binocular view in Far Cry to enable an audio feed of enemies at great distances. The things enemies were saying was often worth a good laugh and added a level of humor and even tactical advantage when enemies were aware of your presence. This is all gone and the binoculars are more straight forward. Your HUD now gives colored symbols to ascertain enemy awareness of your presence.

System Specs: 3 GHz Core 2Duo - 3 Gigs RAM ATI x1950

The game defaults to Medium settings at 1024x768 on my rig. The visuals aren't stellar by screen shot standards but hold their own against other fps titles out there. That being said I did experiment with increasing the resolution, and various settings above med only to get noticeably slower frame rates. So noticeable, its clear that the demos Crytek ran with were most likely run on Quad Cores like those mentioned in the Intel ad at the start of the demo. This is a bit of a let down as I know few people who game at 1280x1024 let alone 1024x768 which is where single core users may well be relegated to.

It's worth noting that STALKER held some promise with its real time effects and was able to maintain smother frame rates at higher resolutions than Crysis, but it's not entirely fair to compare the two engines. Crysis does offer vast levels of details in close areas where as STALKER was more open spaces.

Where is High End PC Gaming Heading?

It remains to be see how well Crysis does in sales. Crysis has a steep system requirement for PC gaming and PC gaming isn't what it used to be. Although Crytek is firm in their belief (now) in the high end PC market I'm sure they will be anxious to watch their financial returns.

Far Cry ended up becoming a PC benchmark favorite and a year after its release was bundles with hardware to showcase video competence. It's not hard to imagine that one or two years out that Crysis will be a benchmark favorite, but that isn't really what a game is meant to be.

Just like Epic, Id, and now Valve, the console market is exceedingly hard to ignore. High end PC gaming has always been niche and is suspect in supporting the financial requirements for next gen developers. PC gamings future for now is a majority of console game ports.

Demo Showcases a Good Game not the Greatest

The Crysis demo is a good solid game but not the best FPS game I've played. Visuals and hardware requirements aside there is not allot more that hasn't been brought to the table in other FPS games.

It should be interesting to see what the full game brings to the table.

First Person Nirvana

There is No Better Time to Enjoy First Person Shooters (FPS)

The last two months have seen a steady supply of FPS style games enter the market.

PC gaming was once the dominant domain for this game design type...no longer. The consoles have come of age and are now featuring the same level of detail in HD LCD or Plasma screens.

Some if not most of the games are using the tried and true formulas, but there are one or two with a unique approach. Next is a short list of games or demos out now that are worth looking into.

Team Fortress 2 (Console and PC)

Team Fortress 2 is an instant classic. This much delayed game has almost joined Duke Nukem Forever on most vaporware lists.

What's amazing about this title is that fact that Valve has included this game as well as other key titles in one box. The Orange Box (PC) has TF2, Half-Life 2, Half-Life2 Episode 1 and 2 as well as Portal. Half of these are more than worth the price of admission. Consoles get less (Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal) but its a still a solid deal.

Now TF2 is an online multi-player title. This is not a story driven title like the other titles mentioned. What's important to note is that TF2 takes game play and visual concepts to a whole new level. The game is the first PC FPS that looks and plays like a Warner Brothers cartoon on roids. The individual taunts are a must see. It's clear the development team did their animation homework.

The character classes are artistically rendered and animated. What's more important is that Valve took the time to balance each character with a unique group of weapons. One thing that gets old in online FPS games is that a certain class ends up dominating online play. Valve has taken the time to not only balance characters but to score each for what they do best. Of course kills are there, but assists are there as well. Medics are no longer the sacrificial lamb. Matched with the Heavy, the two are a very potent force. A very welcome change.

There is no Team Death Match or Death Match here, but TF2 is the first FPS that is above that formula. Interesting enough - it is about TEAM. In most if not all matches I've played online, the team that works together, gets the most wins.

If you're in the market for one, two, or three games for the price of one, it's hard if not impossible to pass up on the Orange Box.


Bioshock (Console and PC)

Bioshock is more original than most as its not cut from the same formula that most FPS titles are produced from. This is one title that actually tells a deeper story that unfolds as the player journeys through the ornate detailed levels.

The writing and voice acting in Bioshock are top notch. Coupled with the open ended combat in which weapons are customized, it doesn't take long before you are taken deep by the plot line. An added benefit is the fact that modifications and their effects will not be the same for two different players. Everyone will make different choices here, and be sure to experience and dispatch enemies differently.

There is also the twist in which you are faced with a moral dilemma. The story branches according to your decisions in how you deal with the Little Sisters. The game is not heavy handed here as it does not judge one way or the other. It simply allows the player to justify and
pursue the path that suits them.

So if you are looking for atmosphere and deep story line this title is one you should look into as it's heads above the rest from many other FPS titles.

Medal of Honor: Airborne (Console and PC )

This is a game that helps bring back the MOH franchise to some form of respectability.
Since the half baked MOH Pacific Assault was unleashed on unsuspecting gamers, no one expected to see the MOH franchise recover. Not so.

With MOH:A, EA manages to actually reinvent the fun of the original series while adding a creative open ended combat style.

Unlike other FPS titles, MOH:A actually lets you decide where you'll take the fight. Each level starts you dropping in chutes with your comrades and you guide yourself to a number of zones behind or withing enemy lines. This feature definitely is a huge step away from the "fighting on rails" detraction most often associated with FPS games.

While the rest of the game is more or less formula, the ability to fight on your terms adds a strategic value that makes this title one to look into.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii )

Of all the games, this is one that needs to be played to appreciate what Nintendo has done with interactivity. This game is a key example of what the Wii controllers can do to reinvent the FPS genre.

As you can imagine, the reticle on screen is controlled by your hand movement. You are hold the weapon in your hand as opposed to pulling on a joystick. It is a seamless experience of hand motion and on screen action.

There are a number of uses of hand motions that mimic real world actions and the game never feels contrived in its use of these motions. Inserting key (push forward), Turn key (rotate wrist). It's amazing how intuitive and straight forward these actions become.

The only thing that I was lost on was the games use of jumping puzzles. This is something not in line with the interactive controllers. Right or wrong, the franchise and the platform (Nintendo) has a long history of gaming in which jumping is key. Being a FPS player since Wolfenstein 3D, the idea of jumping like a Mario Brother felt way out of place.

Beyond that detraction, the game delivers in interaction and visuals that do not disappoint. If Jumping solutions are an essential part in your gaming experience, then Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a game you should look into.


Unreal Tournament 3 (Console and PC Demo)

One of the most hotly anticipated FPS games for 2007 is the long awaited Unreal Tournament 3.
This is one of a few titles that can trace its follow up success based on solid game releases in the past. This does not even cover the fact that the UT3 engine has been licensed by numerous game developers because of its solid pedigree.

Because the game has only recently been released in a limited demo, it's still a little early to call it, but what can be seen so far is solid game play reminiscent of the original UT title from 1999. Epic has really done justice to the franchise by bringing back the play style that launched the title to success.

Visually the demo is too early to call. Although it is clear that there is a graphics and geometry increase, the demo's download size contributes to the lower resolution textures. So game play is the call on this one. This is a demo that is more than worth the download to get a glimpse as to what to expect when the full game is released.

Fear Combat : Time Played

Less is More - Or Less is Less = An OK Game

Ok I put better then 12 hours into Team Death Match (TDM) since the release of FEAR: Combat. I'll note that despite my take the number of servers and players has increased quite a bit. With that my feelings from my initial review are about the same if a bit lessened. The game is pure action, and that in my view is a part of its waning appeal. After a week the l33t skills of hopping like a rabbit and getting multiple "Unarmed Attack" kills has settled in.

There is no real reward for taking a knee and iron sighting your target. That really just makes you a clay pidgeon. I'll note that today I resited from doing so and simply ran and gunned my way through corridors throwing greneades and mines to good effect. I also saw a great many (what had to be new players) crouching and aiming then getting mowed down like blades of grass by hopping oponents. Not a pretty picture.

Bad Level Design

I thought it would take a while to get used to FEARs level design. Primarily corridors with very few areas for open space fighting. Well I have to say I didn't. Most levels while looking nice are a mish mash of winding corridors that run into each other.

Because of this a majority of action takes place in tight quarters with grenades, rockets, and gunfire going off taking out 3 to 4 people indescrimently. If there's a saving grace about these levels its that it commits players to work together, but that's about as strategic as it gets. There are generaly 3 to 4 men groups running in packs that run into one another.

There is one level I like better then most and that is the Cafeteria. This one actually does create skirmish points and choke points where teams try to advance on one another. I've been in some real great heated battles here as this level keeps teams trying to take the perrimeter while others dare to take the central corridor. Alas, that is the only level that feels strategic.

Achilles Heal

The smallest of details detracts from the overall possibilities of this game and that is the armor and health power ups. I can get into the action side of this game as I can get into Counter Strike: Source, but the Armor power ups steal away the whole ballance of weaponary in this game. I really like the fact that you have to stay on your toes to avoid getting shot. You spawn into the game with regular armor and 100% health. It takes a minimal amount of rounds from most any weapon to take you down.

Unfortunately the Armor power ups reduce the weapon ballance to such a degree that skiled/veteran players know exactly where these are and will always run through less advanced players. Of course the ensuing "You XXXXXXX Cheat" or "Haxor" remarks fly.

Limited Time

FEAR:Combat is fun but its long term appeal is limited. having gone to the official forums, it looks like the mod teams are having their own issues designing new levels. Without much a of a Mod or Map making following, even this Free download doesn't look to last very long on my hard drive.

FEAR: Combat - Full Free MP Download

Download - Install - And Play

Sierra and Monolith have made the complete multiplayer portion of FEAR Combat available for free.
http://www.joinfear.com/

Here's what you get in the complete (1.8 gigabytes)download

F.E.A.R. Combat features:
- 10 Multiplayer Game modes.
- 19 Multiplayer Maps.
- 12 different weapons.
- Punkbuster support for anti cheat support.
- The capability to download user generated content.

OK - How Does This Play?

In a nutshell - FEAR Combat is fun. Or can be fun.

FEAR is not a pretentious FPS simulation by any stretch of the imagination. A may look like Rainbow 6, but is far from it. Anyone looking for realism had better look elsewhere.

What FEAR does offer is a straight forward "gun and run" fun. That's right - Gun and Run. That's right - There's little penalty for being at full sprint or strafing and firing of multiple rounds. This is more like Counter Strike on Steroids. There are conventional weapons and then there are sci-fi weapons like the Plasma gun which will remind many of the Quake 2 Rail gun. The Penetrator is more like a souped up Nail gun that shoots steel bolts that pin the target to nearby walls like poster art.

Although I was not able to figure out how, there are hand or better foot to head combat moves that I received more than once. Pretty lethal in close quarters.

Although my mind is more into crouching and iron site my target, it tends to leave you vulnerable to a strafing combatant that's firing and can lob a grenade. Its better to keep your mind open to bolt/strafe and grenade an area with your team mates.
Yes, team mates. One of the shining graces that makes FEAR stand out is its encouragement of team play.

Team Combat

Fear excels in allowing the player to review where his team mates are and what condition they are in. Well - when they are alive and dead. You see floating icons on the screen. These are the positions of your team relative to you. When you men go down you will see Skull and Crossbone icon giving you the warning to proceed with caution.

So FEAR may be less realistic but it offers very useful simple icons to aid in team play. To be sure, there were plenty of times I faced large groups of combatants. Its hard to argue the effectiveness of this icon system to weed out fractured units and lone gunmen. The barrage of bullets sparking and splintering wood along with grenade shockwaves are enough to make you fall back and find some others. You can easily give a command and pinpoint the enemy position which will show a red marker on all your teams screen.

Looks Good and Looks Can Kill

FEAR is for the most part balanced. An action game with unique multiple weaponry and varied game modes, and it doesn't skimp in the visual department. Now here is where FEAR might strike fear into potential players. It as pretty high system requirements. Not as steep as the single player demo but High none the less. I tested the MP on a OC'd AMD @ 2.2 with 1 Gig of 3200 Ram - Radeon 9800 XT and Audigy 2. I was able to get smooth play in 800x600 with medium settings. Using an AMD64 FX53 Radeon X800PRO Audigy 2 ZS with settings just above my OC'd unit.

So if your running anything under 2.0 GHz and a lower range video card you may need to forego many of the nice effects FEAR MP offers. I know I didn't even consider buying FEAR after playing the SP demo simply because it brought my highest end system to its knees.

It was a bold move by Sierra in deciding to offer MP for free. A game I and others had otherwise written off. I am sure there are thousands of first time players like myself that are impressed with this offering. Now many may consider buying the full game now to give the SP a run.


MP Maps

In closing I thought I'd comment on the MP maps. Better put, the TDM maps as I played more TDM than anything else. The maps look nice but may be more winding than is necessary. You really have to play the maps allot to get your bearings. Most are indoors with multiple levels. Getting to where your guys are can get tricky. This uneeded complexity in corridors minimizes skirmish or choke points that can make TDM so much fun. Only one or two maps are designed to bring on a focused firefight on multiple levels.

It's up to the modders and mappers to build complimentary maps that highlight FEARs strategic team potential. With this free offering, theres a real good chance that will happen now.


I give the FEAR Free download a solid 4 of 5 stars

What's Wrong ID and the FPS

Back to the Future Past


As a gamer for more years than are worth going into say that I remember downloading the official release of DOOM 1 via my 9600 Baud modem from a popular BBS.

Like many people who were taken by Doom into all day/all night stints glued to their CRT's, I had more than a casual interest in DOOM 3. I like many others had found our first immersive gaming with the original, so the anticipation was very high.

Without going into a long drawn out hi and low story, Doom 3 was a new low water mark for a title released from Carmack and company. Aside from being pitch dark this iteration lacked all the suspense and induced head peering of the original. Subtle as those points were, they were all but gone in Doom 3. With the exception of a few real horror moments, the game brought nothing new to the table.

FPS gaming has matured to a new level and ID seems to have invested in visuals. These high visuals and technical achievement which ultimately detracted from the game.

With the maturation of FPS tiles came new gaming conventions. Most of which Doom 3 sidelined. The game was much too linear and in the end too predictable. The annoyances of having beastlies pop out from hidden doors behind the player became too much.


Did Something Right and No one Noticed

OK - so enough with that. Doom 3 was a let down. But why? I'll make this next observation quicker. Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The single player in RTCW was not much more advanced than its previous offering but its Multiplayer had definitely matured. I was amazed at the effort. Class based MP that was actually fun and balanced. Then BAM - A month later Electronic Arts released Medal of Honor. A simpler Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Objective based WWII FPS. For whatever reason, the RTCW servers drained. Its not that ID didn't do a great job, in fact I can't really explain the desertion. Some have claimed it was out of their expertise and should have stuck to the formula that made the company a splash in the first place.


The Last Hurrah

ID's real last hurrah was Quake 3 and some might argue that even Quake 3 came short of the mark in many ways. People were divided between Q1, Q2, and now Q3 game play. There were three camps of favorites all of which detracted from the last offering.

Then came Unreal which wowed players with its storyline and ultimately Unreal Tournament was released. It was everything that Quake series wasn't. Not only did it build on the existing FPS MP mechanics, it offered unique and most importantly fun new MP game types. This made Quake 3 Deathmatch look like a Wooly Mammoth in a tar pit.

I remember firing up Q3 sometime in 1998 after playing my share of UT. I was almost aghast at the limited feel of it. How could I play this - I shut it down and uninstalled it.


Quake 4 - More an Aftershock?

I don't know what ID and Raven were thinking but this is really a mix of things not to do. I knew the Quake following was fragmented. That Quake players had and were playing UT games. Somehow somewhere someone said lets make Q4 MP play like Q3 MP.

I recently purchased Q4 and fired up the game up for online play. There was that weird tear in gut. That smirk on face that would probably look like it was brought on by pain. Aghast at what looked like regressive game play. It felt like 1998 all over again.

Greener Pastures Ahead?

ID has the chance to redeem itself again. Quake Wars: Enemy Territory looks to be a winner. More in the lines of an improved RTCW. COuld they pull it off - or will the vaunted company that unleashed the FPS game phenomenon on the world be dealt another blow. DICE/Electronic Arts are working on a very similar themed title. Battlefield 2142. Both titles have similar release schedules. This could be deal breaker for the gurus at ID.

Valve's Source Engine: What Went Wrong?

This month a year ago Half-Life 2 was made available over steam. Gamers were chomping at the bit dieing to get to play this highly publicized follow up to the ground breaking 1997 Half-Life title. Even though there was a botched release plan of one year due to a hacker leaking an early build, the gaming public pre-ordered in droves. I know I manage to get 8 licenses over Steam just to play over a LAN.

Somewhere between the aborted release and the final Steam release there were bad signs. The leak had shown that the Source engine AI was not anywhere as intelligent as the showing at E3 2003 had illustrated. Then there were the numerous bugs within the game itself. Despite its admirable "low spec" requirements, the Source Engine displayed some serious problems in its sound properties. The game offered sound stutters and glitchy 3D performance. That's not to say that the visuals in this game did not live up to expectations. They did. Everything from the water to the lighting in the Source Engine gets top notches. Even though there are games that match it, few offer so much on lesser hardware.

Valve even added an unexpected last minute surprise. They announced and released a Half-Life 2 Deathmatch component. So players were getting quite a bit for their money and even use the Source SDK to push their experience toward gaming Nirvana.

That Monkey Wrench Sound

As mentioned earlier, there was a profound problem that affected quite a few users. It didn't take much time before people using the Source Engines in game utilities to see how much the sound element was taxing their systems. For whatever reason, it appears that Valve had forsaken using audio hardware in favor of software rendering. Simply put, that means that despite the Source Engines ingenious use of 3D accelerators, the audio factor more than consumes enough CPU cycles to render multiplayer game play annoying.

It started with Half-Life Deathmatch and it's carried over with the release of Day of Defeat: Source. It's clear at this stage that Valve cannot engineer a solution to the problems. With three distinct titles under one engine displaying the same performance, one doesn't have to speculate why no other developer (except Troika) has optioned to license the Source Engine. Also of note are the different Mods that were scheduled to port to the engine before HL2's release. Many have since abandoned it.

With the release of Day of Defeat: Source, the changes that Valve made to game play to bandage the engine are clear. The problems were already apparent in Counterstrike: Source. There are clearly hit registration accompanied by poor Net code issues. In a firefight, people simply can't hit a target standing five feet in front of them. So with the audio demanding such high resources, Valve opted to include an unrealistic "Cone of Fire" to automatic weapons. This cone is designed to arbitrarily set your shots wide of the target. One can only imagine this was designed in to offset the complaints of poor hit registration already confounding players in CS:S. Needless to say, DOD:S is suffering the same backlash CS:S has fallen to. Fewer people playing the new release in favor of the older less buggy version. Although there is talk of much needed fixes to the DOD:S, those game play fixes simply can't address the core engine problems and make them disappear.

Pretty is Not Enough

There are a myriad of reasons why games succeed or fail, but ultimately game play is at the core of any successful series. Although the Source Engine can offer some unprecedented visuals on low end hardware, its overall technology hobbles the game play of some potentially excellent games. In the end graphics and now the inclusion of HDRI are not enough to save this troubled engine. One can only guess if Valve is already hammering out Half-Life 3 with an completely retooled Source Engine. Somehow I imagine there will be more gamers with a "Wait and See" as opposed to lining up to pre-order.

Brothers In Arms: Short Review

Gearbox is a very capable game developer and with the recent release of Brothers in Arms (BIA) there are signs they are still creatively coding entertainment.

Key phrase here is "there are signs". This is not to say that BIA is a awful. It's saying that Gearbox was able to produce a somewhat decent PC offering of a Console port. Yes, Console port. Again a publisher has opted to shovel one development over to the PC. The game does have plenty of eye candy but those blinders quickly start to fall off as the player goes through the single player levels. There are far fewer expanses of land to roam than the marketing campaign would have you believe. The biggest immersion killer during a fire fight comes in the form of invisible walls. I can see for another 20 yards but the designers felt that an unseen barrier was the best way to indicate I couldn't take cover over there.

It's clear that the same multiplayer design conventions that went into SW:Battlefront went into BIA. Again, one game play mode packed with unusual net code and hit box issues. I am not entirely sure who makes and then signs off on these final decisions but they can't be frequent PC game players and have a clear conscience about unfinished products like these.

Is this Realism?

There are plenty of people who like BIA as it is. Some are people who have actually served in the armed forces. They feel that given the era and the control limitations in BIA that this offers a well rounded feel for warfare. Who am I to argue or debate with them? That being written, I find it problematic not being able to hit a target 15 feet away standing up behind a barrier. Round after round hitting an invisible barrier that emits white puffs telling me he really is well protected.

BIA does make an attempt to promote squad team work by forcing/allowing the player to position them into tactical positions. The only problem with that idea is that the soldiers aren't always on their toes about the danger. It feels like walking five unleashed pups down a busy five lane freeway. They keep wandering out into harms way seemingly oblivious to the danger.

As a whole BIA offers a change of pace for WWII FPS titles but in the end falls well short of its potential. The limited 1vs1 and 2vs2 multiplayer further pushes this title toward the uninstall bin after single player is completed.

When Game Developers Go Bad

To start, I'll nail the hot issue at hand.

Question: When is a PC Game a straight Console port?

Answer: When basic PC Gaming conventions are omitted because console systems either don't require them or the fact that PC console hardware is limited.

There is growing rift between PC game players and Console players and it's not between the players. It's between the PC game players and game developers.

Star Wars:Battlefront is a prime example of a title that was fused together as a console title then repackaged as a PC title. There is no denying the initial rush the title wore upon launching into the first mission. Unfortunately it only took a few hours to realize that the gameplay and game world felt small. The full scope of the matter became clear when trying to play multiplayer. For one there was only Conquest as an option for multiplayer. There was also a complete unfinished or badly implemented multiplayer component that offered a spartan game browser at best.

In all the game felt rushed and unfinished to meet the release of the latest Star Wars DVD compilation.


Psychofred Lets the Public Have It

Ok, let the drama begin.
Now comes the announcement of Star Wars: Battlefront 2. This is not a new engine nor are there major innovations over SW:BF1. This is what the PC community would call an expansion pack. For console gamers, it's a whole new game.

Recently on Gametoast.com, one of the games developers from Pandemic put his foot down on what he considered an issue out of the developers hands. His long worded position would not have been so bad had it not sounded so condescending. Reading the rant it is more or less a ramble of excuses with digs aimed at the PC gaming public.

You can read his post here. Psychofred responds

Like it or not the Console port to PC business is only gaining strength. More and more game developers are seeing the benefits of dedicated hardware. Unfortunately accepting that means knowing that the PC version will be hobbled by console hardware constraints.

We have entered a new age in Shovelware.

I'll cover more on this subject in the days ahead.

Rich Cabrera

Map Making Tutorials Update

Update for Half-Life 2 Deathmatch and COD: United Offensive

In my initial post for Half-Life 2 tutorial pages I left the Snarkpit out because the page had been down for quite some time. It looks like the site is up and running again and you can check it out here http://www.snarkpit.com/

Also for those interested in COD: United Offensive map making, the tools for that can be downloaded at the following locations.

www.digitalworks.8m.com

http://www.3dgamers.com

http://www.gamershell.com


RC

Other Blogs
http://pcentertainment.blogspot.com/

http://scifitwist.blogspot.com/

http://cgeffects.blogspot.com/

Websites
http://digitalworks.8m.com

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Hammer

There will be No Half-Life 2 Deathmatch

Just before the 2004 holidays Valve released Half-Life 2 Death Match.

What was unusual about this move is that there was to be no Half-Life 2 Deathmatch.
Valve had stated for quite some time that Counterstrike: Source would be Half-Life 2’s multiplayer component. So why the about face? Who knows, but it most definitely changed my view on my HL2 purchase.

Half-Life 2 Deathmatch (HL2:DM) is what Counterstrike: Source (CS:S) should have been. Or at least should have been. CS:S is plagued with technical problems that detract from the overall game play. In HL2:DM the physics game play is superior in every way and hitting enemy targets simply works the way it should.

What separates HL2:DM from other multiplayer games on the market is the Gravity gun. The Source engine uses Havok 2 physics engine to great effect making the Gravity gun fun if not hilarious to use. In an age where games offer ever more expansive fire power, the Gravity gun lets you heave large objects to crush those gun wielding opponents.

For the most part game play is very balanced but there are only two official maps released to play on. That can wear out even the most ardent fan rather quickly.


Make Your Own Half-Life 2 Deathmatch Maps

With Half-Life 2 you get tools in the form of a Software Development Kit (SDK).

What this does it allows game players to design and build playable maps and levels the Source engine games. Valve supplies with the level editor called Hammer you need to download via a Steam which is Valves proprietary Internet delivery system.

Note my previous review of Steam. It is a necessary component of all Half-Life 2 content. If you are willing and able to deal with the technical requirements, more power to you.

So I took the opportunity to try my hand at level design for HL2:DM. I’ll note the Hammer layout is pretty basic and almost devoid of useful information. You are probably better served by visiting a variety of tutorial sites to get an understanding of all the modeling tools and functions. It will save you allot of time and frustration and in the end help you to create trouble free maps.

After a week and a half of tutorials and experimentation I was able to produce my first Beta map. After another week of tweaking I released my final map. It’s a map we play here regularl at the offices.

Download Half-Life 2 Deathmatch Tower Map Here

Hammer Tutorial Sites

http://www.migandi.org.uk/tutorials/half-life2-editing-hammer-tutorials.htm

http://collective.valve-erc.com/

RC

Steaming Valve in Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2

Valve Software’s Half-Life 2 is a sequel to the critically acclaimed and highly successful Half-Life game released for the PC in 1999. At the games core was the aging Quake 1 engine technology, which says allot about Valves ingenuity. Despite its aging game engine Valve managed to produce a very immersive game that offered a strong story line. (As far as PC games are concerned).

Six years later in November 2004 Valve released the long awaited Half-Life 2. This time the game boasts its own cutting edge engine called the Source engine. By January Vivendi (Valves publisher) had stated that they had sold 1.7 Million units in stores. It’s clear that Valve has another hit game in the making but other factors may hamper that success.

Getting Steamed

Anyone who has purchased Half-Life 2 knows exactly what Steam is. It’s Valves proprietary and some would argue buggy Internet software delivery system.

When you buy Half-Life 2 in stores or online, you are required to authenticate your copy via Steam. A broad band connection is most definitely required because once you authenticate your copy Steam will update your files with large downloads. More importantly you can not play Half-Life 2 if you are disconnected, this even after a recent update purportedly allowing you to do so. There are work-a-rounds but none are guaranteed to work.

There are pros and cons to Steam, and here are some points to consider before making your purchase.

• Are you familiar with online forums where you can get technical answers from other users?
• Are you familiar or comfortable editing files in installation directories?
• Are you aware of the differences between dial-up and broad band and which one you have?

The length at which Steam has burned more than a few of its customers relates to End Users License Agreement (EULA). Many are complaining that this agreement is illegal. This has resulted in potential legal problems for Valve. Already the German consumer association VZBV has sent a cease and desist order to both Vivendi and Valve.

Just visiting Valves forums can be a testament to the furor that technical problems customers face on a regular basis. Visit the Steam Forums

In a follow up I will give review on Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch and Counterstrike Source purchased through Steam.



RC