Just like Halo made great strides in proving that FPS games could work on a console, Battle for Middle-Earth II opens new and console-shaped doors for the RTS genre, almost exclusively the realm of PC gaming. Games like Starcraft or Dawn of War are simply too complex and fast-paced, some gamers say, to be played with a standard gamepad.
Those gamers are dead wrong. Battle for Middle Earth II is simple enough to pick up and play after only a cursory glance at the control scheme, but it also provides the sort of depth that genre fans crave. Far from being a kiddie version of a PC game, Battle simply streamlines the controls down to their quick, intuitive essence.
In the game, players can select one of two single-player campaigns (one Good, the other Evil) that chronicle the larger War of the Ring, a conflict largely unaffected by the Fellowhip’s journey. In addition, players can go online with up to 3 friends in five different game modes. Progressing through each mission and completing special bonus objectives will unlock achievements (the game has 35 total, spread liberally between single and multiplayer), as well as new heroes to lead the multiplayer armies, each of which has its own tree of customizable powers to help turn the tide of war. The game is fast-paced and has a forgiving learning curve, never seeming A
Well, for once we have some impressive games that I can’t make too much fun of. Let’s have a look, shall we?
[b]Chromehounds – Xbox 360[/b]
Giant robots with lots of guns, smashing everything in their path? With Live 16 player support and huge war modes? More please.
[b]Prey – Xbox 360, PC[/b]
Feedback from the demos has been very positive. It looks like 3d Realms has managed to take the beauty of the Doom 3 engine and their own talent and create a fairly unique FPS that mixes it up with some good gimmicks. Supposedly this one even runs bearably on the 360. Now if they could only finish Duke Nukem Forever…
[b]Painkiller: Hell Wars – Xbox[/b]
Painkiller is really a great game. A basic high energy run and gun game, but a great one nonetheless. Let’s hope this new Xbox version manages to keep up the fun of the original.
Hey, I’m keeping it short this week. If you like robots and FPS games, it’s a good week for you.
Apparently Starfox DS will support rumble, 4-player internet play, and 8 player ad-hoc play. Should be sweet.
I used to love Starfox 64 dogfights, as simple as they were.
[url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/06/star-fox-ds-details-surface/]Star Fox DS details surface[/url] (Joystiq)
So Nintendo apparently sent our president a DS Lite and a copy of Brain Age for his birthday. The jokes for this one just write themselves.
At least somebody cool has a birthday today.
Me. (My mom says I’m cool.)
[url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/05/nintendo-sends-president-bush-ds-lite-brain-age-for-b-day/]Nintendo sends President Bush DS Lite, Brain Age for b-day[/url]
Some folks in the Arstechnica forums have done direct screenshot comparisons of the 360 and PC versions of Prey (using some fairly high end PC hardware). The 360 fares a whole lot better than I expected. Sure the PC has a few better features like anisotropic filtering, but the Xbox 360 version is getting fairly close. Add in that you can sit on your couch and play it on your huge TV, and it looks like the choice between 360 and PC versions of some games just got tougher (unless you find that playing FPS games with a controller is pain in the rear, like I do).
[url=http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2006/7/5/4528]Direct comparison of Prey’s graphics on the PC and 360[/url] (Arstechnica)
