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Mar 5th, 2008 at 03:41:15 - Warcraft III -- Frozen Throne (PC) |
Gamelog entry #2
Gameplay
I especially liked the storyline that the game possesses. The game possesses a campaign mode, where the player experiences the continuation of the previous storylines of the Warcraft world. The story was rather exciting and engaging, ranging from night elves hunting a demon bent on destroying a large portion of the world to a story of mistrust and betrayal. Being a fan of the Warcraft world’s story, I especially loved the campaign feature that the game offered.
I enjoyed the social interaction that I had while playing this game. I had a small LAN party with two to three other friends, and we basically played melee maps (default setting where you pit against each other or computer allies and enemies) and a number of custom games (games with maps modified by a fan of the game). The social interaction created through us playing with each made the game even more enjoyable.
My experience while playing the game flowed due to the campaign and difficulty structure that the game provides. Initially, the campaign maps are rather easy. However, the difficulties of the maps are constantly on the rise. This allowed me to essentially “adapt” to the campaign’s increasing difficulty. For example, on one of the early maps in the campaign, the player, along with the enemy, is only given access to a number of limited upgrades and units. This ultimately simplifies gameplay as strong tiers of units are not accessible by either the player or the enemy. The storyline of the campaign also flows. One event followed another, and I was able to absorb and understand the storyline that the game possesses as I played through the campaign.
Design
The hero system that the game possesses is quite innovative. Unlike other RTS games out there that I know of, the heroes in the game are not simply stronger versions of a particular unit. They are unique in almost every way. Heroes in the game possess their own unique type of armor and attack, and on top of that, every hero has the ability to level up through experience points that one obtains from defeating enemies from combat. The hero has unique base stat attributes, and when a hero levels up, their stats increases, and the hero will be able to learn a new ability, or make a previously learned ability stronger. There are also items that heroes can purchase, equip, and sell with a number of effects, ranging from boosting the hero’s armor to a staff that allows the hero to use abilities that are ordinarily unavailable to them.
The level designs are extremely varied. The scenario maps often possess unique objectives. One map might tell the player to destroy an enemy base while another map might tell the player to assault and close demonic gates. The only common objective that maps possess is the destruction of enemies. However, even in that sense, the ultimate goal of the maps is almost always varied.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Mar 5th, 2008 at 18:31:45.
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Mar 5th, 2008 at 01:21:51 - Warcraft III -- Frozen Throne (PC) |
Gamelog entry #1
Summary
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is a real time strategy game where players control one of the four playable races, utilizing resources and managing a number of gameplay elements such as the organization and control of troops, in an effort to overcome challenges presented to them, which mainly exists in the form of defeating computer opponents in a default setting.
Gameplay
I especially liked the simplicity of the game and the additional artificial intelligence of units along with additional controls that players get in the game. Unlike a number of RTS games out there, such as the Age of Empire series, Warcraft III is extremely simple to play. The tech structure that the game possesses is extremely clear; you can tell exactly what you need in order to create or upgrade something. Units and buildings are also quite limited in numbers, which contributes to the game’s low learning curve.
Warcraft III’s units are programmed to be rather “smart”, which in essence gives a player more control of the game. You can “queue” up your worker’s tasks and his overall actions. You can tell a peasant to initially walk in a zig-zag line to a patch of tree, harvest the tree once he arrives there, and create a farm building after he has successfully finished harvesting wood. Units in the game have a large “vision”, which allows them to notice enemy units around them from quite a far distance and react accordingly. A large number of abilities in the game can also be set to “auto-cast”, a function where units will use abilities by themselves appropriately. If you were to set a priest to auto-cast his inner fire spell, which boosts a friendly unit’s armor and gives additional attack power, then the ability will automatically be used by the priest when the player is actively fighting an opponent.
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Feb 21st, 2008 at 02:18:24 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
Gamelog #2
GAMEPLAY
After playing Wii Sports some more, I was still very interested in it. The game isn’t merely a simple simulation of real life sports – there are a number of additional modes that players can partake in, such as a fitness test ( where you play a series of games in order to have your fitness age calculated by a number of factors such as performance, speed, and balance), a challenge mode ( where players strive to beat a particularly hard goal), a single player mode with increasing difficulty, a basic training mode, and a multiplayer mode. The different types of modes made the game even more fun. You don’t have to simply play a normal, standard simulated sport match against your opponents, but you can also alter fundamental aspects of the game itself to create a new, interesting situation.
Another aspect of Wii Sports that I very much enjoyed are the characters that you can model after yourself. In the game, the characters engaged in sports can be modeled to represent you. You can alter almost everything – hair, eye, lines on the face, height, body weight, skin tone, and basically almost everything you can think of to make a character that looks almost just look you in real life. This gives you a “personal” attachment with the character because, well, it’s you out there in the baseball field or the bowling lane!
Design
Space within the game is extremely limited, despite a large sense of your surroundings. In a tennis match, the player can see the whole tennis court along with a number of spectators. However, the player only has one actual method of action to interact with the game – swinging the tennis racket. The player cannot actually move; movement in a Wii Sports tennis match is handled by the system itself, and not the player. In a bowling match, the player can see his bowling lane along with a few surrounding lanes. However, the player also can never physically move his or her location in the game; the player is confined to simply throwing the bowling ball.
The game awards rewards in a number of ways, most of forms that I did like. As the player increases his or her points earned, the size of the crowd cheering for the player increases, when applicable. As a beginner tennis player, you might only have one or two people cheering for you from the stands. When a player eventually becomes a “pro” through gaining a large amount of points, the size of the crowd increases tremendously – a player might have over twenty people cheering for them on the stands.
If a player demonstrates mastery of sports when playing the fitness test, the game will reward the player by giving them a low fitness age, somewhere in the range of the 20s. If a player plays poorly on the fitness tests, the game might give them an old fitness age, perhaps 50 years old.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Feb 21st, 2008 at 03:25:02.
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Feb 21st, 2008 at 01:47:34 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
Gamelog entry #1
Summary
Wii Sports is composed of a collection of five sport simulations, which are bowling, golf, boxing, tennis, and baseball. The Wii remote is used by the players to imitate real life key movements in the five sports, such as the act of swinging a tennis racket, or the act of swinging a baseball bat against an incoming ball.
Gameplay
The game was quite fun and refreshing particularly due to its extremely low learning curve and the possible social structures that can be composed as a result of playing the game. I have never personally bowled in my whole life, which means that I don’t have an idea as to how you’re supposed to properly “bowl” a bowling ball, other than the act of simply swinging your arm from watching bowling events in a number of media or publications. When I played the bowling games in Wii Sports, I was partially successful – I even managed to get a couple of strikes! From the perspective of someone who couldn’t even be considered a beginner in bowling, due to my absolute lack of knowledge in regards to the sport itself, I was quite thrilled by this, particularly if I landed a couple of strikes in a row. I have imagined myself failing miserably on my first attempt at bowling in real life, but that problem does not exist at all in the game of Wii Sports. The act, or at least an imitation, of the bowling sport, without the knowledge needed to play it. What a spectacular concept!
I also particularly liked the social interactions that resulted from the game. I played this game with a couple of my friends, and I really enjoyed how we interacted with each other. Challenges were made in form of the highest possible points accumulated in a particular set of game, or we would play against each other in teams in a game of simulated tennis. The game essentially possesses elements of games in real life not only in regards to the simulation of the sport itself, but also in the interaction and enjoyment that one can derive from a friendly match or competition.
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