Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=530https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2965Company of Heroes Gamelog Part II GAMEPLAY: After successfully completing the tutorial missions, I moved into the single player campaign which was played through the allied side. Once done playing with the first two levels I got some insight as to how the RTS focuses on quick battle and shifting frontlines. The gameplay in Company of Heroes is all about frontline combat, and forces you to quickly explore the map. You typically start out with a headquarters and a squad of engineers, who can build structures and setup defenses. Maps are divided up into territories that all have a resource point in them, and the resources you'll need are manpower, munitions, and fuel. Infantry may capture neutral or enemy resource points, causing them to indefinitely contribute a flow of the given resource to your military efforts while also increasing the total number of units you can have in your army. Although all of these steps seem pretty remedial and easy going, to perfect the skills to build up a diverse army and hold off the repeated attacks from the German soldiers and tanks, it challenged me immensely and will challenge many veteran gamers. I liked the very historic battles and cut scenes that provided a very lifelike progression of events. The very first level/battle was the invasion of Normandy beaches and then shifts kind of backwards to the night before when Airborne troops are dropped behind enemy lines.(Although I havent finished the game, after this review I plan on going back to the single player to finish the campaign mode and hopefully try out the multiplayer game mode) Most of the missions are excellent and include objectives beyond the typical seek and destroy you find in so many RTS titles. Some missions will ask to capture and hold a road for a convoy while others charge with setting defenses against a German counterattack. Others still assign the duty of crushing lines of retreating Axis forces. Often times missions will begin with smaller objectives such as the capture of a forward base after which a mid-mission briefing will set up the action for the remainder of the level. Company of Heroes gameplay was addicting and fast paced and acted much more like a FPS rather than a slower RTS game. I can't wait to finish the game and perfect my attacking/defending/gathering skills in multiplayer mode. DESIGN: COH is one of the RTS games that have raised the bar for the genre. In terms of visuals and audio, COH is second to none. This advanced technical aspect of the game provides for a realistic and engulfing RTS that needs to be ported to other games in the futre.The truly amazing visuals in Company of Heroes demand a top-of-the-line system and a cutting-edge graphics card to get the most out of them. On more-modest systems, you can strip away a lot of the detail to improve the game's performance, but seeing the game in all its glory is truly a sight to behold especially its various types of explosions that fill the screen with fire, smoke, and debris.The detail that went into everything on the battlefield is extreme especially when taking the massive destruction into account. Another design aspect to the game which made the gameplay even more realistic was the game camera that was used to view the battlefield. The default camera perspective is optimal for gameplay, but you can zoom right in to clearly see each individual soldier and his gear, or how a tank, turning a tight corner through a city street, might take a chunk right out of the side of a building. This level of visual fidelity far exceeds what's previously been done in a strategy game. But it's not just for show, since the graphics' realism helps make the gameplay itself more engrossing and intuitive. Some of the scenes that were zoomed in actually looked more like scenes from a Saving Private Ryan than a real time strategy that I had to be controlling. Just these distinct features in an RTS makes it stand out more than other RTS games. Only other games in the future with DX10 and an amazing game developer like Relic will replicate the stunning visuals and audio that came with COH.Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:48:33 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2965&iddiary=5583https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2965Summary: Company of Heroes (CoH) is a real-time strategy (RTS) computer game developed for Microsoft Windows by Relic Entertainment. The game takes place in the Epic World War II battle theater and focuses on the Allies' invasion of German-occupied Normandy in 1944, specifically on close-quarters skirmishes between infantry and armor. Gamers will experience the journey of the brave soldiers of Able Company in a single-player campaign that begins with the invasion of Normandy through their fight across Europe. GAMEPLAY: Because of the games dynamic gameplay and intricate micromanagement of soldiers and vehicles, 40 minutes of playing only let me get through all of the various tutorial missions. The missions are classified by what types of abilities they teach you and were very helpful to introduce me to the specific rules and style of gameplay that COH requires. Company of Heroes trades a wide breadth of content for an extremely detailed look at WWII-era ground combat, and its action is so fast paced that it's best for veteran RTS focused gamers rather than the occasional Age of Empires player. Also, the gameplay and resource gathering was vastly different than other RTS. The tutorials taught me some of the basic resource gathering techniques, as well as some of the specific ways to move and control my army. Instead of simply grabbing generic resource points and constructing power generators,farms etc. players will capture points (to raise their population cap and rate that manpower pours in), gather ammunition, and boost fuel supplies. Those three resources are what keep an army functioning. The three resources can have pretty different applications: manpower is used in all unit and building construction, fuel is necessary to raise structures and purchase new vehicles, and ammunition is generally used to equip units with special weapons or activate special abilities on individual units like grenades or command tree abilities like air strikes. This focus on just capturing different strategic points shifts the focus from Macrolevel resource gathering and base building, to on-the-fly micromanagement of soldiers controlling, capturing and invading different points on the map. Because I'm used to LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth I and II, and the Age of Empire games, this was a huge learning curve for me. Instead of being a defensive player gathering resources and building defenses, then unleashing my growing and perfected army, I had to pro actively confront the enemy at control points around the campaign maps to gather resources and then spend the resources at my headquarters to build, accurate to history, tanks, soldiers, and vehicles for the allied forces. Although this was somewhat tedious to control each group of soldiers and vehicles constantly without any break to just gather resources, one of the great things about Company of Heroes is that, in spite of its somewhat glamorized portrayal of World War II, the game looks and behaves realistically. The sorts of tactical maneuvers that are central to the gameplay feel intuitive in practice. For example, you'll naturally want to avoid making your infantry rush a machine gun nest head-on, especially since the withering fire from a German MG42 will force your squad to drop prone, pinned down. After the tutorial I learned that pinned down soldiers were utterly ineffective and needed to get behind cover before acutally putting up a fight to the attacking forces. I did like this realism and the small details that went into the game making it much more believeable than other RTS's of the WWII genre.Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:35:39 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2965&iddiary=5581https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2634GAMELOG 4 PART 2 GAMEPLAY: The more I got into playing the one player campaign mode, the more I became bored with playing the CPU. The single player campaign has little or no storyline and you are basically playing to unlock the characters and levels at different intervals throughout the game.I wished the number of stages and characters was a little higher. Including the hidden classic stage, there are a total of nine different fighting environments. Nintendo owns such a wealth of characters that even a handful more locations and stages would have added much more depth to the single player game aspect of Super Smash Brothers.Although the game features unique (and sometimes tough) bonus stages for each of the 12 characters as well as a few group battles against multiple enemies, the opponents' order of appearance never changes. Playing through the game with different characters turns into a routine act to unlock hidden stuff. Although all the single player made me very good at the different button combinations for the players attacks, the single player aspect was monotonous and never truly appealed as a dynamic fighting game. However, in contrast to the single player mode, the multiplayer aspect of this game is, of course, the game's main selling point. Thanks to the fixed viewpoint, Nintendo managed to create kicking four-player brawls that never seem to get old. Players either fight in a set time limit or until they get a certain number of "kills" and can even divide up in teams. Once you figure out the moves and the play controls, Smash Bros. quickly turns into one of the most addictive two-, three- and four-player N64 games out there. I was completely immersed in the game, much more than any other fighting game I'd ever experienced. The multiplayer was a fun introduction into the super smash brothers melee and brawl games. Which are the multiplayer hits of the current generation Wii and Gamecube. However this multiplayer part of the game introduced social multiplayer gaming to the console world. DESIGN: There are many innovative aspects to this game. The biggest and most influential aspect is the ability to have 4 players play together in a fluid and graphically rich environment with characters everyone knows relatively well. This dynamic is very social and paved the way for other bigger multiplayer games such as Rock Band, DDR, Melee, Brawl among others. Also, the differnce in this game as oppossed to other fighter games is the 3D environment in which the characters play in, however, the fighting itself is 2D. Although the graphics aren't up to Today's standards, this 3D/2D blend creates a unique look that defined the whole 3 Super Smash Brothers sequels. The overall tone of the gameworld is very upbeat and happy. The background music all reflects the different environments and the characters from their distinct games. For example, the background music for the Pokemon level is the pokemon theme music and so on. Also, even though the game is labeled a "fighting" game, the characters are hardly considered violent and lethal. Most of the attacks are very animated and unrealistic so I highly doubt kids will try to use mario's fireballs against other kids at school. Additionally, animations of the characters are very complex for the time. They are smooth and allow for a good progression of the game without and lagging on the audio and visuals.Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:32:14 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2634&iddiary=5003https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2634GAMELOG 4 SUMMARY: If you took all the top-notch old-school Nintendo characters and tossed them all into one game, the result would be Super Smash Bros. A fighter that is easy enough for anyone to pick up, yet it has enough multiplayer appeal to stay interesting for a long time. What the single player lacks in length and storyline, the multiplayer more than makes up for. GAMEPLAY: Super Smash Brothers simply put, is a revolutionary fighting game that turns the fighting genre on it's head. There aren't dozens upon dozens of button combos to memorize to fight the other character ,but on the contrary there are quite limited fighting options. The game was very easy to pick up and start playing right away. Although the character selection screen was of some interest to me. It displays all of the 8 characters and you pick up a colored marker corresponding to your player number and then place the marker on the character you want to play in the game. I thought this was somewhat dynamic from other fighting games where you scroll through player pages to pick your character. The characters are, of course, what makes this game interesting. All of the 8 characters that are provided come from previous Nintendo made games and include such heros as Picachu, Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong. Obviously these characters are in the game because of Nintendo's licensing rights but it would have been nice to seem a bigger variety of characters to choose from other game developers. However the in-game fighting turned out to be quite simple and addicting given the limited number of in-game characters. The learning curve was a little steep but nothing compared to other Mortal Combat or Street Fighter games. Most of the pain I dished out was from the A and B buttons while the analog stick control the characters movements. The game's object is pretty simple. Each stage hangs in the middle of nowhere, and you must knock all the other characters off the level to win. But it's not as easy to knock the fighters off as you might think: The characters can double jump, and several have attacks that can also be used to shoot upward. Although this proved frustrating at times, the game is simple enough to be enjoyed by the masses and yet still provide a fun challenge for more mature gamers. What I liked, beyond the knocking other Nintendo characters into the cosmos, was the damage system. As you dish out punches and finishing hits, the victim's corresponding percentage on the bottom of the screen increases(showing the percentage of damage). As you may assume, the more damage you inflict on fighters, the easier it is to send them flying.Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:39:26 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2634&iddiary=5002https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2430GAMELOG ENTRY 2 GAMEPLAY: After the first opening cutscenes and first few levels, I can thoroghly say that I'm addicted to Crytek's first person shooter. This FPS stands out from every other FPS by offering the futuristic "Nano-Suit" which is theoretically designed for the Special Ops soldiers of the year 2020. This brought an interesting and fun dynamic to an otherwise exciting and beautiful shooter. The Nano-Suits abilitiys play into every aspect of your gameplay. The super-strength, super-speed, increased armor, and cloaking options on your nano-suit dictate how you attack the North Korean encampments/soldiers and (SPOILER) eventually how you attack the alien race that invades the island. In addition this FPS allows for instant, on the fly, customization of the weapons that your soldier is currently wielding. You are allowed to carry an assortment of rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers and items such as C-4 and almost every one of the guns in the game is fully customizable from the in game menu. Take for example a simple M-16 assault rifle. It could be plain with iron sights, or you can add things such as flashlights, dart-shooter, reflex sights, zoom scopes, and even laser sights. All of these additions to every gun provides for a diverse armory at your disposal. The gameplay itself is very NON-linear. Once you drop down onto the island, yes you are given an objective, however the way you approach and complete your objective is completely up to you. This open gameplay and fully customized options will leave the gamer only wanting more. This is why this game has great replay value. Every level can be played multiple times with varying ways of how to get past or kill enemies and eventually complete your objective. DESIGN: First off, this game has some of the best artistic rendering I've ever seen. From the tropical island where the soldiers first start off, to the inards of the alien ship with zero gravity, this game has a distinct look about it that hardly can be compared to any other first person shooter. The game creates conflict between the NV soldiers overtaking the island and the US forces trying to claim back its archaeological dig site. However, deeper into the game, the human enemies find a common foe with the Alien Race and its emerging danger that is present over the island. The cutscenes were fluid and visually stunning. I was able to control my player at times during some cutscenes but for the most part they are pretty rigid with direction. The cutscenes though, tend to progress the game pretty well by telling the basic storyline and thus giving the player a pretty exciting and intruiging storyline. The only downside to the cutscenes and storyline was the final sequence which reminded me vaguely of Halo 2. It was completely left off hanging in which all I could say was "I WANT MORE!" The game ends so abruptly that the player feels they at least need a sequel for the entire story to play out.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:44:07 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2430&iddiary=4613https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2430GAMELOG ENTRY 1 SUMMARY: Crysis is a First Person Shooter revolving around the Alien Invasion theme. You play as a United States Spec. Ops. Soldier code named Nomad and are briefed about how an archaeological dig site in a remote pacific island has been overrun with North Vietnamese Soldiers. Besides the insane graphics that Crysis puts out, it is a fantastic shooter with impressive and smart AI, a relatively good, although short, storyline and a lot of replay value, Crytek has a huge winner on its hands. GAMEPLAY: My first impression of crysis was utter shock. I read the system requirements and it absolutely blew my mind. Just by looking at the specs required for the game I knew that so many people wouldn't be able to play Crysis at the potential that Crytek intended it to be played. I luckily have a pretty hefty system and was able to play the game with all graphical options set to "HIGH" and antialiasing set to "2x". Although I was able to play the game and enjoy the stunning graphics of crysis, so many other computer gamers are either going to have to play this game on very low settings or be forced to upgrade their existing hardware, if they want to play the game it was truly meant to be played. However, beyond the almost unbelievable system requirements, Crysis' visuals were stunning. The first scene showed the elite spec. ops group dropping into the tropical island and everything from the airplane flying through the clouds to the soldiers that were in the drop bay with me, felt photo-realistic. The facial expressions distinctly stood out as graphics that would rival Half-Life 2. Also I noticed that the games sound was above par. The airplane flying over the island produced a very low bass that shook my dorm floor and the voice acting of my fellow soldiers were something that Crytek did not skimp out on.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:22:58 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2430&iddiary=4604https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2091GAMEPLAY: After playing a little longer on the Wii with my friends it was apparent to me that some of the sports are a lot easier/fun to play than others. Tennis was particularly fun for me and my friends as we were all standing up in our room feverishly swinging our arms with a little twist to hit the ball. I liked the serving as well, it was just like I was serving a real tennis ball! These positives also come with some drawbacks because I felt limited to the amount of control I had over my player and the tennis game. Yes, I was able to control how hard I swung and the timing over when to swing but other than that, I had no control on moving my player at all. I felt disabled when I would swing just at the right time but my player would be clammoring across the court just to hit the ball out of bounds. This small detail frustrated me but I still had an amazing time playing tennis. Boxing however was a joke. I was so excited to get into the Wii-Boxing ring with my roommate and have a duel that would prove who was the boxing Champion of the room. But when we started playing we found that the Wiimote (and nunchuck attatchment) weren't nearly sensitive enough to our actions to display the punches and uppercuts that my roommate and I were hoping to put against the other. I again found myself limited and barely able to knock out my opponent because my arms were obviously doing a punching motion however my Mii character onscreen didn't move. It was frustrating. But the other games were extremely enjoyable to play. I particularly liked golf and bowling. Although golf had a little bit steeper of a learning curve, It was enjoyable to go through 18 holes with my roommate. I had a pleasant time with the Wii and Wii sports. Ultimately the game was very fun to play and provided hours worth of fun multiplayer sport games. I was dissappointed with the graphics of the game but I think Nintendo wanted to purposefully use this game as a showcase for the Wiimote and its motion sensitive controls rather than focus on graphics. DESIGN: Wii sports has one of the most innovative gameplay features of any game Ive played. This game truly is interactive with the gamer and thats what made up for its subpar graphics and depth. This game's design appeals to a broad array of people who are gamers and non gamers alike. It brings a sense of social interaction to the game as well. Something I haven't seen since maybe Mario Party or Super Smash Bros. on the N64. The reward structure was at the same level with any other sports game. YOU WIN. Nothing special there. I would definitely change the user control over their players in Tennis especially. If there was someway to control your player with the D-pad as well as timing the perfect hit, there would be an entire new element to gameplay for gamers who maybe want a little bit more of a challenge. However, the game's tone is quite happy for the most part with cheerful music in playing quietly in the background and the the character animation isn't threating at all. However it makes the game more cartoon-ish which, although isn't PS3 graphics, still is pleasing to the eye for the users. Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:40:17 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2091&iddiary=4101https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2091Summary: Wii Sports is a fun filled family game that uses the motion sensitive wii-motes to interact with the Wii in order to play 5 sport games: Tennis, bowling, boxing, baseball and golf. Gameplay: The pick-up-and-play dynamic of Wii sports appeals to kids and grandparents alike.I found i was able to pick up the Wiimote and was easily able to control the menu options just by pointing at the TV. I liked the sensitivity of the wiimote and is much better than comparable motion sensitive controls like the Sony Sixaxis. Although I was disappointed with the overall graphics of Wii sports, I was generally impressed with the create-your-own character ability. All of my friends including myself were able to make new characters with pretty much any physical feature we wanted. I liked this option as it gave me a little bit of personal feeling to the game. I was able to play with MY character that I designed and was hoping he would become the next tiger woods, barry bonds Andy Roddick all-in-one. After trying out all 5 of the sport games I came to the conclusion that I liked Tennis, bowling, golf, baseball and tennis (Ranging from best to worst). Another aspect of the Wii Sports games is that the game is very active and forces the participants to move and stand up for the entire game. Along with that is the fact that this game is a SOCIAL game. I played by myself and got bored within half an hour. However, with my friends the game, and the sports, became much more competitive and fun to me as I played tennis and bowled with them. Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:17:47 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2091&iddiary=4092https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1653GAMEPLAY: Call of Duty 4's eye candy type graphics, its (straight out of the news) storyline and immersive AI in both the enemies and your other soldiers, it allowed me to become fully engulfed in the world of Sgt. Paul Jackson of the USMC and "soap" MacTavish of the British SAS. The perspective changed from the British to the USMC fluidly and the storyline progressed through the use of cut-scences and conversations in-game. With an hour more of gameplay i realized though that the game is very straight forward with its levels and dynamics of the game. The first person shooter has some interesting guns to use but unlike a crysis type game, you start off with one weapon and are unable to do anything except with that gun. You can however pick up ammo and guns from downed enemies which allows for some variation in your arsenal. Also, the more realistic melee move for all of Call of Duty is the knife stab which provides for a one hit KO while in the midst of enemies in close range. Although these are rarely used in the combat levels, it is quite humiliating and fast in the multiplayer mode. Like the Halo 3 rifle melee it is a fun addition to remind the gamer that COD 4 is still a game. DESIGN: The levels variety of settings from a middle eastern town, to a stealthly sniper mission, to ambushing a cargo ship in the bearing straight always keeps the gamer on his toes not expecting what type of setting to be fighting in. I particularly enjoyed the USMC perspective in the middle east which looked stunningly like movie clips out of such movies like Black Hawk Down. However one mission in particular was unlike anything I'd ever played. About halfway through the campaign mode, I with my superior capt. price were dropped by helicopter in an unknown Russian location and my objective was to infiltrate to a certain position and take a .50 caliber sniper rifle and assassinate the russian leader of the terrorist movement. This is one of the most dynamic levels I have ever experienced in all First person shooters. The adventure to get to the designated position was an experience in and of itself. However the actual sniper shot required is extremely realistic unprecedented compared to other sniper levels. The shot takes into account temperature, wind, and the coreoulis effect. Definitely one of the most exciting and abstract levels of Call of Duty 4 and definitely the whole FPS genre.Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:31:20 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1653&iddiary=3394https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1653SUMMARY: Call of Duty 4 is Activision's latest first person shooter in the Call of Duty series. The game is different from past Call of Duty's because the setting is now the current time period with updated game play, weapons and an entirely different plot compared to the traditional World War II shooter. The game consists of an intriguing plot in campaign mode that is told from 3 different perspectives. Additionally there are different multi player games to play online ranging from Free-for-All to a capture the flag type game. GAMEPLAY: After playing this game for an hour or so, it allowed me to get by the training mission as well as the first two missions. Although the training is somewhat slow compared to the rest of the game, it does allow players to become faster at doing medial tasks (such as throwing grenades). Also it allowed me to become familiar with all of the controls for the PC version. The layout of the training level overall felt very realistic consisting of staged rooms, a shooting range and an obstacle course complete with pop-up wooden soldiers to train for the real thing. The training mission was just as I would expect it to be, if I were an SAS agent for Britain. With fluidity, the A.I. soldiers you play with brief you from the training for the mission into the real first mission of the game. The first mission consisted of me (Soap Mctavish) infiltrating a cargo ship in the bearing strait with my superiors (Capt. Price) and other soldiers. The lack of DX10 support in this game is hardly noticeable because of Call of Duty's stunning visuals in the very first misson, you'll really think you're on the chopper with rain around you and Capt. Price smoking his cigar before deployment. The rain and wind effects in the game are second to none. With the weather dynmaic affecting the cargo ship, I sometimes found it difficult to aim with the iron sights on the boat because of the constant rocking back and forth. Although this was bothersome throughout the level, it added a level of detail I've yet to see in any other WWII shooter or even any current day shooter. Veterans of the FPS genre will feel right at home with the constant action provided in Call of Duty. The "run-n-gun" type of play that some amateurs may have, will prove ineffective very quickly. The AI bots playing the security soldiers on the cargo ship are some of the best i've seen. At harder difficulties the AI adapts to the way that you run around in the mission and they try to flank you constantly always popping out from behind corners. For the hardened FPS players, the hardest difficulty might pose some problems and delay in the game actually causing the player to look for cover and prevent from being blown away by the precise throws of the AI bots.Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:16:22 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1653&iddiary=3376