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Oct 15th, 2012 at 21:31:07 - Halo Anniversary (360) |
Halo Anniversary is the first game to be developed by 343 Industries. The game is essentially the same as Halo Combat Evolved, except for a few changes implemented by 343i. The game engine was replaced in campaign by the Saber3d engine from Saber Interactive and the Halo Reach engine was used for the multiplayer. The game also included online multiplayer. A neat feature in this game is the ability for players to easily jump from the old classic graphics of Halo CE to the new and improved ones by the click of a button. Activating the different graphics is seamless, and it even can help the player in playing the game. For instance, if the player is facing Elites with energy swords, the new graphics make it hard for the player to see the floating swords, but in classic graphic mode, the swords are easily seen. This game plays just like Halo CE, the core game mechanics were never changed. The game still boasts its dynamic AI that always makes the game different through each play through. It is still like the game that popularized FPS’s on consoles. The game makes use of weapon management and health packs. As players fight their way across Halo’s vast terrain, they must decide which kinds of weapons to take with them, long range or short range? UNSC or Convenant? Players also have to find health packs throughout the world to replenish the health of the Master Chief. In addition to new graphics, 343i added achievements and terminals to the game. The terminals give additional information about the Halo universe through supplementary cinematics. The addition of online multiplayer only gave players new maps to play on; it really did nothing for the game over all. Halo Anniversary is a game for the avid Halo fan that has always wanted to see what the first game would look like with better graphics. The game is still just as fantastic as it was back in 2001 when it was first released.
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Oct 1st, 2012 at 23:35:36 - Mario Kart 64 (N64) |
This week, I decided to play an older game, but one of my favorites; Mariokart 64. This game is a racing game for the Nintendo 64 game console. In the game, there are four different kinds of game modes, Grand Prix, Time Trials, Versus, and Battle. The Grand Prix is the single player racing mode where the player plays against NPCs on a variety of different tracks. The Time Trial is where the player can practice racing on the tracks before racing NPCs in the Grand Prix, or human opponents in Versus. The Battle mode allows the player to fight other players instead of racing them.
In the Grand Prix, the player races against NPCs through a wide variety of tracks. On each of the tracks, the player not only has to look out for the NPCs, but also different obstacles on the track itself. On one track, MooMoo Farm, the track is filled with holes that have little animals that pop out of the holes. If the player hits one of the animals, the player will spin out of control and lose time and ground.
This game has an Agon type of play to it because of the Versus mode that pits human players against one another. This is the game mode I played the most. In both the Grand Prix and the Versus modes, the player not only has to control the car, but they also are able to attack other players using a variety of different weapons that are randomly selected for the player if they run over floating cubes on the tracks. These weapons can be shells that have different abilities, bananas that make other cars slip, and stars that can knock players out of the way if hit. The cubes also give the players power-ups such as temporary invincibility and increased speed.
In the Battle mode, each player is given three balloons. The objective is to protect your balloons while trying to hit the other player’s balloons off with shells. The last player with a balloon left is the winner.
The game has been around since 1997, but it is still an enduring classic that has filled many hours with fun gaming.
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Sep 17th, 2012 at 23:09:36 - Age of Empires II (PC) |
Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings is an old PC real time strategy game made by Ensemble Studios back in 1999. I played this game a lot as a child. So this week I decided it was time to brush off the dust and play it once more. After a very long hour of configuring my computer to allow it to run, I was able to get it working somewhat decently. The graphics were messed up in the process, but every other component of the game made it through fine. This RTS is a combination of military strategy and resource management. In this game, the player becomes one of 13 historic civilizations set during the Middle Ages. The object of the game is to conquer the enemy civilization. There is a verity of ways to destroy the enemy. In the classic game mode, the player has to completely destroy the enemy, such as killing all of the villagers, military units, and buildings until the enemy resigns. The player can also win by collecting all of the relics, which are holy objects that only monks can collect and give the player gold. The third way to win in a classic game is to build a wonder, which is usually a large, hard to make church that then must survive a set number of years. There are several of game types, one of which is called Regicide, where the player has to kill the enemy kill while protecting their own. After a while, playing the same game type over and over gets old. The different game types adds variety to the normal game type.
AoE also has a campaign that allows players to play through historic battles and events. In one of the campaign chapters, the player is Saladin who has to defend the Holy Land from the attacking Christian Crusaders. The different chapters of the campaign don’t have an overarching storyline, the chapters are just different settings with different goals and enemies.
The best part of AoE is the multiplayer. Human players can play against each other online or through a computer to computer connection. I have spent many hours playing against other players online. It adds such a different approach to how you play the game. Computer opponents usually have set approaches of attacking the player, but by adding human players, there is such an element of surprise. The multiplayer gives every player an even footing, unlike other games where players earn different abilities and perks based on past performances.
AoE has a sandbox element where players can create their own maps with their own rules. Players can even edit existing scenarios to add, or subtract certain parts of that game. The map editor allows player to create all aspects of the game’s map, from the amount of units and buildings for each side, to even the landscape of the game. Any combination is possible.
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Sep 10th, 2012 at 22:16:36 - DayZ (PC) |
This week seemed to be a zombie killing kind of week. And one of the most popular zombie games out right now is DayZ. Now this game is really a mod for another game called ArmA 2. This mod is a realistic zombie survival game. And this game deserves the description of realistic. The player starts out with a bandage, a box of painkillers, and their wits. The whole objective of the game is to survive. Survival in this game consists of more than just not dying from zombies; the player has to keep track of their body temperature, blood levels, hunger and most importantly, water intake. But as if zombies and health care are not enough to look out for, other players are also usually out to kill all they see, the dead or living. This game also offers a very frustrating game mechanic; if the player dies, all of their gear, all that they spent hours if not days collecting, is gone once they die. No check points, no saved games. This threat of ultimate death adds so much tension to an already challenging game.
Since DayZ is still considered in Alpha stage, it is full of bugs. While sometimes this can help the player out (imagine reentering a server after a tough battle to find all of your health stats full), it can also bore ill (such as deleting vital supplies from your inventory). Most glitches are far and few between, but the possibility of a bug happening during an important moment hangs over the players head.
One of the most frustrating parts of the game is the awkward controls. This is mostly due to the game being a mod in a game with awkward controls. One main problem is the fact to even use all the controls, the player has to have a NUM pad on their keyboard. If the player does not, they can’t enter a third person mode that allows better views around the player in game. Another problem is the way the player can crouch or go prone. This game uses w, a, s, d to move around, the keys z, x, and c allow the player to go prone, crouch, and stand. While navigating from zombies, the placement of these actions makes it hard to navigate successfully.
One really awesome feature is how a player can start a character on one server, quit and leave that server, find another, and have their character load in the same spot, same gear, as if on the last server. This allows players to leave certain servers that are full of bandits (human players who hunt down fellow human players for their gear).
The most striking feature about this game is how it is only in Alpha, and yet it is utterly fantastic. Sure it is full of bugs and other issues, but even despite all of that, it holds its own against other zombie games. The finished game, when it comes out, should be awesome.
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KTGOMASON117 has been with GameLog for 12 years, 3 months, and 1 day |
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