February 2006

Proof that gaming is good for you

February 12, 2006

News / by Chris Rasco Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Moderation is the key, but apparently playing video games is almost as good for you as is being bilingual. At least when it comes to thwarting cognitive loss much later in life that seems to be the case. A report should be out next week that emphasizes the advantages gamers have over non-gamers in certain scenarios. One of those cases being the fact that gamers aren’t tricked quite as easily when it comes to confusing mental tests. Score one for the gamers.

[url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060209.wxbrains09/BNStory/Science/home]Globe and Mail[/url]

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

February 12, 2006

PC / Reviews / by Wayne Phinney Make a comment! / Tweet it!

First, let my start off by saying that [i]Vice City[/i] is what [i]GTA3[/i] for the PC should have been. This game is a blast. There are so many good points. For those of you who have played [i]GTA3[/i], you’d be surprised that [i]Vice City[/i] actually feels like a new game and not just an upgrade. This game has an actual storyline that really pulls you into it. Then add in that it runs better than [i]GTA3[/i] because of better programming, and that’s enough to prompt someone to buy it right then. Did I mention that the game runs nice and smooth? I had it at double the resolution of [i]GTA3[/i] and it ran twice as well.

I think a big improvement this time around was that there were various new vehicles. There were many more boats this time around. They also had choppers, small planes, and of course bikes. You just can’t beat the bikes. I can’t think of the number of hours I wasted doing tricks on bikes, and I thought it was cool as hell that I could pull off that move Tom Cruise did in MI2. You know, the whole stop while pivoting and shooting at the same time. Of course it’s no easy task, but it is possible. The choppers fly nicely as well, although it’s a little tough with the keyboard and mouse. I actually think that a joystick would have helped in the case of choppers, but with everything else I prefer the keyboard and mouse. Speaking of new things, there’s a plethora of weapons to choose from. There are different classes and you can have one weapon of each class at the same time. Some of these weapons are sweet, and others are oldies but goodies. Either way, they are great. This reminds me… another great new thing is the two, that’s right, two talk radio stations. After my 30 hours of game time before I beat it, those two stations were just about all I listened to and I’m still not tired of them.

Of course, every game has its downsides. For instance, the FBI seems slower and stupider than in the prior incarnation of GTA. The regular street cops bust me quite often when I have a one star rating. One just comes around the car, I’m not paying attention, and I’m busted. Also, on the fastest bike, if you get on it while a cop is right there, it’s near impossible to speed off without him busting you. Rather annoying. Then take the city itself for instance. Most of it looks the same making it a little harder to learn the layout of the place. Along with that, it’s incredibly flat. Now, I know this is based in Florida and all which is flat, but really, there is such a lack of any sort of hills it gets rather boring in that respect.

Even with those negatives, there still are plenty of positives, and I can’t get over the upgrades in this game. Of course, one of my favorite changes is that you can blow out tires of your vehicle or others. This is far more realistic and makes getting away with a high wanted level rather tough. It’s really bad if you’re on a bike and your tires get flattened. Pure insanity.

Still, this game is quite fun, even after logging over 100 hours into [i]GTA3[/i] before owning [i]Vice City[/i]. I played through and after about 30 hours beat [i]Vice City[/i] with a 60% completion rating. Not too bad really. There are so many things you can do like in [i]GTA3[/i] when it comes to roaming around and just having fun, but there is a very solid storyline as well that [i]GTA3[/i] was completely lacking. The storyline in [i]Vice City[/i] is what really kept me going. I wanted to see what was going to happen next, and the voice acting I loved because of that. I especially loved that Tommy Vercetti talked in this game. Nothing wrong with the quiet badass thing, but it’s just nice to have the main character have… well… more character.

Overall, even though this is essentially just an upgrade to another game, it played very well, added a lot of new things that we didn’t have before, and really held its own. I think for sheer fun factor this game has earned a high rating, but it’s still not a perfect game, so it certainly will not receive a perfect score. Still, I give it a respectable score. This game was a blast, and I really think the only thing that can make the next game in this franchise as great as this one would be multiplayer. We can only hope.

Playing XIII on the PC

February 12, 2006

News / by Wayne Phinney Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Ok… this is why I hardly ever play PC games anymore, and really makes me question why I spent so much to have a powerful system. I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to complete Ubi Soft’s XIII, but was unable to due to a plethora of problems. The first major problem is that the saves didn’t take. I could save mid-level, go back to it later, and I’d be lucky if I was still in the same level. On top of that, my quicksave never worked either. I could quicksave all day long, and if I died, back to the beginning of the level for me.

This wouldn’t have been quite so bad. It just would have meant that I needed to get my skills up, but the game itself crashed a few times, and since my saves only took about 50% of the time, I’d have to re-do a large portion of the level and re-watch a cutscene that I had already seen (they were unskippable).

This is highly disappointing, and I expected better than this from Ubi Soft. I’ve had the game sitting on the shelf for a year, and I finally go to play it, really start to enjoy it, and I encounter all of these problems.

I am not a happy panda. I should have gotten it for the Xbox instead.

Look at the bright side though… it will be 3-5 years before I feel any desire to upgrade my PC again. I suppose that’s a plus.

Battlefield 1942

February 12, 2006

PC / Reviews / by Chris Massey Make a comment! / Tweet it!

WWII games are one of the fastest growing types of gaming. Starting out with [i]Medal of Honor[/i], they’ve really raised the bar, especally for a war that’s somewhere around 60 years old. While [i]Medal of Honor[/i] may have started the whole WWII genre, [i]Battlefield 1942[/i] is probably the first to bring a quality WWII title online. [i]Battlefield[/i]’s greatest strength would be the game’s multiplayer online setup. In fact, multiplayer in [i]Battlefield[/i] would probably be the only reason to play the game, seeing as how there is virtually no single-player present in the game. Sure, there is a campain mode, but it’s basically just a dumbed down version of multiplayer, played aganst bots over real people. To really enjoy this game, you’ve gotta get online, and when you do, you’ll thank god for your broadband service. By the way, before I go on, I’d like to mention that this game is virtually unplayable on a 56K modem, (believe me, I’ve tried it…) so you’d better scrounge up the money for broadband.

The most fascinating thing about [i]Battlefield[/i] is the ability to interact with virtually anything on the play field. Planes, tanks, flak cannons, even the infamous jeep, or as most call it, a speeding bomb on wheels. The developers really did a nice job balancing every unit out. For example, while tanks are monsters that can tear through enemy forces, one shot of a bazooka to the rear, and it’ll blow. Even the common soldier with a Thompson can take down an aircraft within one clip, providing he aims at the sweet spot.

While [i]Battlefield[/i] is a masterpeice, it does have it’s flaws. It’s biggest would probably be the fact that you’ll need one hell of a computer to run it on. Expect to have a fairly decent graphics card. The ATI Radeon 8500 works decent enough. Above all, be sure to have well over 256 megs of RAM. This game sucks the RAM right out of your system. I suggest a 512 RAM minimum for best results, although 256 will work.

Another fault would be not in the game itself, but with the other many online players. I can’t begin to tell how many games I’ve gone into, only to find at least half of my team standing mindlessly on an airfield, waiting for another plane to respawn, only to have everyone race for it. Once some reaches it, other players, bent on rage, shoot the living hell out of the plane. Other faults include that for a game based on teamwork, there is actually very little teamwork going on. People often attack in scattered clusters of men, never really organizing a battleplan or anything. Many don’t even try to capture the flags on the field, which is the main focus of the game.

All in all, [i]Battlefield 1942[/i] is a great game, with very few flaws. When you get into a game with great teamwork going on, it’s a great online experience.

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

February 12, 2006

Game Boy Advance / Reviews / by Chris Massey Make a comment! / Tweet it!

[i]Advance Wars[/i] was a killer app for the Game Boy Advance back in 2001. Sadly enough, it didn’t receive much attention from many people, and became what is well known throughout the gaming community as a sleeper hit. [i]Advance Wars[/i] is back for a second run though in [i]Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising[/i]. The second installment contains all of the things that made the first one great, including a wide assortment of units, easy to use interface, and complex challenges in the war room and campaign. Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a sequel if they didn’t add something new into the mix. [i]Advance Wars 2[/i] delivers, and hard at that.

[i]Advance Wars 2[/i] contains all of the game modes included into the previous game, including the war room, battle maps, and the design room. The campaign returns as well, and is probably the most significant update from [i]Advance Wars[/i]. In [i]Advance Wars[/i], you would play through the entire campaign as Andy, Sami, or Max, Commanding Officers in the Orange Star Army. There were other C.O.s like Eagle and Kanbei, but they could only be accessed after unlocking, and then only be used in the other battle modes. This time around, you play through four different campaigns, each one being under the four armies in the game. This allows the player to play under every army and C.O. at one point in the campaign (save for the enemy C.O.s and a few unlockables), and makes the campaign much more enjoyable this time around with a wider range of C.O.s to play as.

The story unfolds after Sturm ([i]dvance Wars[/i] veterans will remember him from the final battle in [i]Advance Wars[/i]), cuts his losses from his first defeat and rebuilds his army (the Black Hole Army), complete with four new Commanding Officers. Together with his army, they begin to invade the four continents of Wars World, including Orange Star, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, and Green Earth territories. Through the campaign, you progress through each continent, and as you defeat the Black Hole Armies in one country, you will move to the next. You are also able to choose from many different missions at a time, which improves from the progressive line of missions [i]Advance Wars[/i] made you go through.

[i]Advance Wars 2[/i] adds in a good number of new C.O.s to choose from. You still have Andy the mechanical wizard; Eagle the aerial ace, and all the other C.O.s from the previous [i]Advance Wars[/i]. In fact, some of them like Kanbei have received a different look. In addition to the already hefty 11 C.O.s, the game adds in eight new C.O.s, like Sensei, the expert on copters, and Colin, whose units cost much less than usual. Each new C.O. fits into the game well, and their powers each balance out well with the existing C.O.s. Another new feature is an updated C.O. Power system. In addition to the normal C.O. Power, which many might remember being special powers individual C.O.s could use once their meter charged, you can now use Super Powers, which take longer to build up than normal C.O. Powers, but have a much more devastating effect. Meanwhile, some C.O.s have been downgraded a bit, the most apparent being Eagle, whose C.O. Power has been upgraded to a Super Power and replaced with a less devastating power.

One might think that in addition to new C.O.s, the game would add in some new units to play around with. The truth is though, there is only one new unit in the entire game; the Neotank, which is essentially a heavy tank. Some may be turned off by the fact that there are no new units, but in reality, the original units from [i]Advance Wars[/i] were so balanced that there isn’t much room to add anything else. While there are no new units, there are plenty of new spots on the battlefield. One such is a pipe, which is impossible to penetrate and can only be passed by breaking the pipe’s seam. Other things include missiles which target and damage units in its radius, and then in campaign mode, there are different defensive units to get past like cannons, lasers, and black cannons. Everything from [i]Advance Wars[/i] returns to the battlefield as well, including forest and mountains that give units defense, and the various bases that allow you to deploy air, sea, and land units.

Some of the various game modes have been spiced up a bit, but for the most part, they remain the same. The challenging war room returns, with new maps as well as old ones introduced in [i]Advance Wars[/i]. The design maps mode also returns, but this time, you have the option to color the various C.O.s to your liking as well. Each C.O. has eight different color schemes, so it’s not fully customizable, but it’s a nice feature to spice up your favorite C.O. [i]Advance Wars 2[/i] still has all the great multiplayer options the first one had, including the single game link up, and the “pass the GBA” while assigning the different players to the same GBA.

The graphics are similar to the ones seen in [i]Advance Wars[/i]. In fact, most of the graphics and backgrounds are recycled from [i]Advance Wars[/i]. As in the old [i]Advance Wars[/i], each army has a different look to their units, and all the previous countries have their look from the previous installment. The Black Hole army has a new units style, which seems to be a futuristic look, and adds to the variety in the art style of the game. As mentioned earlier, some of the C.O.s have gotten a complete overhaul in the looks department, but in reality, all the units have been redrawn. Most of the poses are strikingly similar to the ones from [i]Advance Wars[/i], although some have gotten a few changes to them. One thing that is disappointing about the graphics in [i]Advance Wars 2[/i] is that, when in combat, the avatars no longer show expression when their units lose or win a battle. Still, the graphics are quaint and fit the style of the game very well.

Overall, [i]Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising[/i] feels very much like [i]Advance Wars[/i], although that’s not necessarily a bad thing. People expecting a huge overhaul from the first may be disappointed, but [i]Advance Wars 2[/i] is a worthy sequel to one of the GBA’s best games. It’s additions like the new C.O.s, the vamped up campaign mode, and the various new maps and challenges that make this game great. Even though there are probably some who feel it may be a little cheap since it is almost the same game as [i]Advance Wars[/i], most owners of the original will definitely want to pick this up.

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