Monday, May 26, 2008
AtomHex Review
AtomHex, developed and published by MarkInc.
The Good: Unique gameplay, chaotic pace and action packed, neat theme, stackable bonuses, achievements, flexible price
The Not So Good: Odd control scheme, very challenging, only one game mode
What say you? It’s definitely different and potentially addictive, but this action game has a steep learning curve thanks to its overly complicated controls and high difficulty: 5/8
MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So when Mark Incitti created an almost exact replica of Geometry Wars, he was kindly asked to remove it immediately or face legal action. Awww...how nice! What is a good programmer to do? Well, slightly repackage the game and change it enough not to get sued! Here is AtomHex, an enhanced third cousin (once removed) of Geometry Wars featuring lots of shooting at lots of enemies. Will the frantic action translate well on the PC?
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
AtomHex doesn’t feature ultra-realistic 3-D graphics, but it does excel in presenting a nice theme. The minimalist design helps to create a Tron-like environment of bright, neon graphics set against a stark background and the result is a distinctive look; they remind me a lot of Immortal Defense. AtomHex is pleasing on the eyes and the generally chaotic nature of the gameplay is helped by the relatively simplistic graphics, as the player is never confused by what is being shown on-screen (at least any more than they are supposed to be). The basic nature of the graphics also means that AtomHex will run on a variety of computer systems. The sound in AtomHex is similar: basic but nice. The effects for each enemy are characteristic enough to know what deadly foe is being spawned, and the music fits the theme well. Overall, I was pleased with what AtomHex brings to the table in terms of presentation.
ET AL.
Probably the first thing you’ll notice about AtomHex is that it lets you name your own price (William Shatner would be so proud): you can pay between $5 and $20 for the game. While this method would not work well with games by larger publishers, giving users an option to show their level of enjoyment and allow for different amounts of budgetary allotment is nice. As for the features, AtomHex only has one game mode (shoot stuff) and lacks multiplayer, but it does have sixty achievements to earn (that don’t unlock anything) and online scoreboards once you get good enough at the game. As for the controls, well, I hate the controls. OK, “hate” is a strong word…I “loathe” the controls and “wish” they would “rot in Hell.” AtomHex is designed for a dual analogue gamepad, where one pad moves and the other shoots, but I dislike this method very much (can you tell?). I want an arcade shooter to have controls similar to that of Asteroids: move and shoot forward. That’s all. I don’t need two axes, one for moving and one for shooting: that’s too much thinking that gets in the way of frantic gameplay. You can use the mouse, but aiming is too inaccurate since only allows you to shoot at increments of every 30 degrees or so instead of any angle, and using the keyboard is just asking for trouble. Who came up with this unintuitive control scheme not designed for the PC? Oh, right. I don’t mind having this method as an option, but a more straightforward and intuitive control scheme (left and right arrows to turn, forward and backward to move, spacebar to shoot forward) is a feature I would like to have.
So what exactly are you shooting at? Well, there are these atoms and hexes (as you might have guessed from the game name). When one atom bonds with one hex, it starts spitting out slow-moving pods that can kill you. The more hexes, the worse the enemies: bugs that eat hexes, triangles that follow your ship, squares that shoot in four parallel directions, and things that split into five little things. If you survive to the point where six hexes are bound to an atom, you get to enter subatomic mode, which is actually easier than the base game: it involves rotating wheels of color that must be destroyed. The thing that complicates AtomHex is color: you can only destroy things that are the same color you are. The only way to change colors is to destroy the shield of a solitary hex and then collect it. This means while you are shooting red hexes, yellow ones may be gathering up strength. It’s a neat dynamic that involves a bit more thinking that simply holding down the fire button.
Every time you collect a hex, you will get some sort of powerup. These are usually score multipliers that can be stacked (a 2x and a 5x make a 10x), so you’ll want to collect hexes in quick succession in order to maximize your score. You may also gain interesting weapons like freeze bombs, triple shots, or spreading shots. The bonuses will also come towards you, so you don’t have to go all over the map in order to collect them all. AtomHex is a pretty addictive game that takes a lot of practice. In addition to the learning curve imposed by the unintuitive controls, the game’s fast pace makes death a common occurrence. Easy difficulty slows things down a bit and limits the number of colors, but it’s still pretty intense. If you are used to a game that uses this control scheme, then AtomHex’s unique chaotic gameplay will be more instinctive and ultimately more enjoyable.
IN CLOSING
AtomHex is one of those games that is addictive, but has a couple of limitations that make you want to stop playing for a short while. I just can’t get over the controls: I hate them. I’m curious if other people will have the same level of disgust that I do or if I’m just in the minority as most everyone is used to a dual analogue arcade shooter scheme. The more I played AtomHex, the less annoying the controls got, but I still don’t like them. It’s too bad, because the rest of the game is quite fun. The color matching system adds some strategic depth, and while AtomHex only comes with one game mode, trying to earn all of the achievements and earning a high score will keep people coming back. The innovative behaviors of the enemies and the progressively more difficult foes also keep the action varied and fresh. If you can get past the controls, then AtomHex delivers some intense and exciting arcade shooter action that’s unique and enjoyable.
The Good: Unique gameplay, chaotic pace and action packed, neat theme, stackable bonuses, achievements, flexible price
The Not So Good: Odd control scheme, very challenging, only one game mode
What say you? It’s definitely different and potentially addictive, but this action game has a steep learning curve thanks to its overly complicated controls and high difficulty: 5/8
MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So when Mark Incitti created an almost exact replica of Geometry Wars, he was kindly asked to remove it immediately or face legal action. Awww...how nice! What is a good programmer to do? Well, slightly repackage the game and change it enough not to get sued! Here is AtomHex, an enhanced third cousin (once removed) of Geometry Wars featuring lots of shooting at lots of enemies. Will the frantic action translate well on the PC?
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
AtomHex doesn’t feature ultra-realistic 3-D graphics, but it does excel in presenting a nice theme. The minimalist design helps to create a Tron-like environment of bright, neon graphics set against a stark background and the result is a distinctive look; they remind me a lot of Immortal Defense. AtomHex is pleasing on the eyes and the generally chaotic nature of the gameplay is helped by the relatively simplistic graphics, as the player is never confused by what is being shown on-screen (at least any more than they are supposed to be). The basic nature of the graphics also means that AtomHex will run on a variety of computer systems. The sound in AtomHex is similar: basic but nice. The effects for each enemy are characteristic enough to know what deadly foe is being spawned, and the music fits the theme well. Overall, I was pleased with what AtomHex brings to the table in terms of presentation.
ET AL.
Probably the first thing you’ll notice about AtomHex is that it lets you name your own price (William Shatner would be so proud): you can pay between $5 and $20 for the game. While this method would not work well with games by larger publishers, giving users an option to show their level of enjoyment and allow for different amounts of budgetary allotment is nice. As for the features, AtomHex only has one game mode (shoot stuff) and lacks multiplayer, but it does have sixty achievements to earn (that don’t unlock anything) and online scoreboards once you get good enough at the game. As for the controls, well, I hate the controls. OK, “hate” is a strong word…I “loathe” the controls and “wish” they would “rot in Hell.” AtomHex is designed for a dual analogue gamepad, where one pad moves and the other shoots, but I dislike this method very much (can you tell?). I want an arcade shooter to have controls similar to that of Asteroids: move and shoot forward. That’s all. I don’t need two axes, one for moving and one for shooting: that’s too much thinking that gets in the way of frantic gameplay. You can use the mouse, but aiming is too inaccurate since only allows you to shoot at increments of every 30 degrees or so instead of any angle, and using the keyboard is just asking for trouble. Who came up with this unintuitive control scheme not designed for the PC? Oh, right. I don’t mind having this method as an option, but a more straightforward and intuitive control scheme (left and right arrows to turn, forward and backward to move, spacebar to shoot forward) is a feature I would like to have.
So what exactly are you shooting at? Well, there are these atoms and hexes (as you might have guessed from the game name). When one atom bonds with one hex, it starts spitting out slow-moving pods that can kill you. The more hexes, the worse the enemies: bugs that eat hexes, triangles that follow your ship, squares that shoot in four parallel directions, and things that split into five little things. If you survive to the point where six hexes are bound to an atom, you get to enter subatomic mode, which is actually easier than the base game: it involves rotating wheels of color that must be destroyed. The thing that complicates AtomHex is color: you can only destroy things that are the same color you are. The only way to change colors is to destroy the shield of a solitary hex and then collect it. This means while you are shooting red hexes, yellow ones may be gathering up strength. It’s a neat dynamic that involves a bit more thinking that simply holding down the fire button.
Every time you collect a hex, you will get some sort of powerup. These are usually score multipliers that can be stacked (a 2x and a 5x make a 10x), so you’ll want to collect hexes in quick succession in order to maximize your score. You may also gain interesting weapons like freeze bombs, triple shots, or spreading shots. The bonuses will also come towards you, so you don’t have to go all over the map in order to collect them all. AtomHex is a pretty addictive game that takes a lot of practice. In addition to the learning curve imposed by the unintuitive controls, the game’s fast pace makes death a common occurrence. Easy difficulty slows things down a bit and limits the number of colors, but it’s still pretty intense. If you are used to a game that uses this control scheme, then AtomHex’s unique chaotic gameplay will be more instinctive and ultimately more enjoyable.
IN CLOSING
AtomHex is one of those games that is addictive, but has a couple of limitations that make you want to stop playing for a short while. I just can’t get over the controls: I hate them. I’m curious if other people will have the same level of disgust that I do or if I’m just in the minority as most everyone is used to a dual analogue arcade shooter scheme. The more I played AtomHex, the less annoying the controls got, but I still don’t like them. It’s too bad, because the rest of the game is quite fun. The color matching system adds some strategic depth, and while AtomHex only comes with one game mode, trying to earn all of the achievements and earning a high score will keep people coming back. The innovative behaviors of the enemies and the progressively more difficult foes also keep the action varied and fresh. If you can get past the controls, then AtomHex delivers some intense and exciting arcade shooter action that’s unique and enjoyable.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! Review
Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent!, developed and published by My Game Company.
The Good: Simple controls appropriate for a range of skill levels, non-violent gameplay for all ages
The Not So Good: No unique features, very limited weaponry and gadgets, can be quite difficult, dying returns you to the start of the level and the game doesn’t prompt to load a saved game, no in-level autosaves
What say you? This family-friendly platform game lacks innovation: 5/8
MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION
Platform games have been around for quite a while: historians estimate the genre started in 145 A.D. with Super Ptolemy Brothers. From there, faster computers have produced better graphics and 3-D worlds in which to jump around and avoid enemies. While the genre is certainly more popular on those dreaded consoles, the PC has seen its fair share of platform games, and Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is next in line. Taking a spy’s viewpoint, Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! follows a secret agent named Dirk Dashing (coincidence? I think not!) in his crusade against E.V.I.L. in snowy southern Germany. Will Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! advance the genre forward with new and exciting features?
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
The graphics of Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! are simple at best. While the backgrounds are nicely detailed, the character models are sparsely animated and look like 2-D sprites floating against the background. Special effects are few: only some gas from grenades and some weapons flying through the air. Some of the buildings are somewhat detailed, but the environments in each setting become repetitive. You can have a 2-D game that still looks good, so the lack of distinctive flair in Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is disappointing. As for the sound, it is limited as well. The game does have some good spy theme music (however it does loop quite often), but the effects are meager and Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! never feels like you are in a semi-realistic environment rather than playing a game. More could have been done with the presentation of Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent!.
ET AL.
Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is a very conventional platform game. The story is a classic spying cliché: get diamonds back from an evil organization. The game has a forced sense of humor that is funny on occasion; I think the developers were trying to hard in naming the organizations (G.O.O.D. and E.V.I.L.) and the levels (Snow Pain, Snow Gain and Forgive Me, It’s Not My Vault, to name a few). The game comes with a good number of levels (30) that will keep you busy for at least a day or two, if you play straight through. The controls are simple enough where anyone can play Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent!: you can use they keyboard or a gamepad to move, jump, enter buildings, and throw grenades using only the arrow keys, spacebar, and control. Also appropriate for all ages is the low level of violence: grenades simply put enemies to sleep rather than causing bloody, fragmented death. Most of the levels have you disposing of enemies, jumping on platforms, flipping switches, and moving the occasional crate to access certain locations: very standard stuff. Dirk Dashing (Secret Agent) also has a PDA that displays mission objectives and in-game scores; this is better than cluttering up the screen with a permanent HUD.
The main problem with Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is the lack of unique features. First, Dirk is only equipped with two weapons: grenades and (later) a grenade launcher. Where are all of the cool spy weapons and gadgets? You do have some temporary power-ups like x-ray specs and shoes with springs, but these are given at very deliberate times (usually right before you need them). This really limits your strategic options and makes playing rather boring: all you need to do is lob grenades at people and move on down the level. There are a couple of alternative methods of stunning enemies without using up your ammunition that essentially entails causing them to run into things (they don’t stop moving immediately if you jump), but this is still not a substitute for more varied gameplay. Getting cash during the game (by picking up coins, bills, rings, and credit cards) has no point: you can’t purchase or otherwise unlock new weapons, and getting a high score means nothing other than simply having a high score. You can collect 100 apples for an extra life, though.
The other problem with Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is the lack of checkpoints: dying sends you back to the very beginning of the level. On top of this, the game does not automatically save your progress, so you have to constantly exit to the main menu and go through the save process every couple of minutes. The game also does not prompt you to load a saved game if you lose a life. At least the enemies are still sleeping when you restart through the level, otherwise you might be caught in an endless loop. The AI, I think at least partially by design, is very dumb: they move towards you in a straight line and shoot if they are equipped with a weapon. Despite this, I found Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! to actually be quite difficult, since the enemies have weapons you could only dream of. You have to be very careful, moving to the exact distance where you can see them but they haven’t been triggered to shoot at you, and then lob a grenade. This repetitive gameplay is not exciting or original, which makes playing Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! a drag.
IN CLOSING
Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is too conventional. While the game is certainly fitting for a diverse audience, the gameplay is bland enough where most people will get bored after the first couple of levels. Part of being a secret agent is having cool toys to play with, but Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! really limits your strategic choices due to the inadequate weapons at your disposal. Add in very elementary AI and the lack of checkpoints, and there isn’t anything new or better that Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! offers in the platform genre. At this point in computer gaming, you need to have some sort of hook that draws new players in, and Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! certainly lacks that. People who enjoy simplistic platform games (and others who aren’t as picky as I am) will find straightforward gameplay geared towards a wide audience, but most of us can avoid this featureless title.
The Good: Simple controls appropriate for a range of skill levels, non-violent gameplay for all ages
The Not So Good: No unique features, very limited weaponry and gadgets, can be quite difficult, dying returns you to the start of the level and the game doesn’t prompt to load a saved game, no in-level autosaves
What say you? This family-friendly platform game lacks innovation: 5/8
MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION
Platform games have been around for quite a while: historians estimate the genre started in 145 A.D. with Super Ptolemy Brothers. From there, faster computers have produced better graphics and 3-D worlds in which to jump around and avoid enemies. While the genre is certainly more popular on those dreaded consoles, the PC has seen its fair share of platform games, and Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is next in line. Taking a spy’s viewpoint, Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! follows a secret agent named Dirk Dashing (coincidence? I think not!) in his crusade against E.V.I.L. in snowy southern Germany. Will Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! advance the genre forward with new and exciting features?
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
The graphics of Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! are simple at best. While the backgrounds are nicely detailed, the character models are sparsely animated and look like 2-D sprites floating against the background. Special effects are few: only some gas from grenades and some weapons flying through the air. Some of the buildings are somewhat detailed, but the environments in each setting become repetitive. You can have a 2-D game that still looks good, so the lack of distinctive flair in Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is disappointing. As for the sound, it is limited as well. The game does have some good spy theme music (however it does loop quite often), but the effects are meager and Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! never feels like you are in a semi-realistic environment rather than playing a game. More could have been done with the presentation of Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent!.
ET AL.
Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is a very conventional platform game. The story is a classic spying cliché: get diamonds back from an evil organization. The game has a forced sense of humor that is funny on occasion; I think the developers were trying to hard in naming the organizations (G.O.O.D. and E.V.I.L.) and the levels (Snow Pain, Snow Gain and Forgive Me, It’s Not My Vault, to name a few). The game comes with a good number of levels (30) that will keep you busy for at least a day or two, if you play straight through. The controls are simple enough where anyone can play Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent!: you can use they keyboard or a gamepad to move, jump, enter buildings, and throw grenades using only the arrow keys, spacebar, and control. Also appropriate for all ages is the low level of violence: grenades simply put enemies to sleep rather than causing bloody, fragmented death. Most of the levels have you disposing of enemies, jumping on platforms, flipping switches, and moving the occasional crate to access certain locations: very standard stuff. Dirk Dashing (Secret Agent) also has a PDA that displays mission objectives and in-game scores; this is better than cluttering up the screen with a permanent HUD.
The main problem with Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is the lack of unique features. First, Dirk is only equipped with two weapons: grenades and (later) a grenade launcher. Where are all of the cool spy weapons and gadgets? You do have some temporary power-ups like x-ray specs and shoes with springs, but these are given at very deliberate times (usually right before you need them). This really limits your strategic options and makes playing rather boring: all you need to do is lob grenades at people and move on down the level. There are a couple of alternative methods of stunning enemies without using up your ammunition that essentially entails causing them to run into things (they don’t stop moving immediately if you jump), but this is still not a substitute for more varied gameplay. Getting cash during the game (by picking up coins, bills, rings, and credit cards) has no point: you can’t purchase or otherwise unlock new weapons, and getting a high score means nothing other than simply having a high score. You can collect 100 apples for an extra life, though.
The other problem with Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is the lack of checkpoints: dying sends you back to the very beginning of the level. On top of this, the game does not automatically save your progress, so you have to constantly exit to the main menu and go through the save process every couple of minutes. The game also does not prompt you to load a saved game if you lose a life. At least the enemies are still sleeping when you restart through the level, otherwise you might be caught in an endless loop. The AI, I think at least partially by design, is very dumb: they move towards you in a straight line and shoot if they are equipped with a weapon. Despite this, I found Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! to actually be quite difficult, since the enemies have weapons you could only dream of. You have to be very careful, moving to the exact distance where you can see them but they haven’t been triggered to shoot at you, and then lob a grenade. This repetitive gameplay is not exciting or original, which makes playing Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! a drag.
IN CLOSING
Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! is too conventional. While the game is certainly fitting for a diverse audience, the gameplay is bland enough where most people will get bored after the first couple of levels. Part of being a secret agent is having cool toys to play with, but Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! really limits your strategic choices due to the inadequate weapons at your disposal. Add in very elementary AI and the lack of checkpoints, and there isn’t anything new or better that Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! offers in the platform genre. At this point in computer gaming, you need to have some sort of hook that draws new players in, and Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent! certainly lacks that. People who enjoy simplistic platform games (and others who aren’t as picky as I am) will find straightforward gameplay geared towards a wide audience, but most of us can avoid this featureless title.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Airport Mania: First Flight Review
Airport Mania: First Flight, developed by South Winds Games and published by Reflexive Entertainment.
The Good: Nicely balanced chaos, can queue multiple actions, customizable airport upgrades that impact gameplay
The Not So Good: Gets repetitive, can’t skip levels
What say you? The click management genre takes to the skies with good results: 6/8
MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION
Click management games, where you use the mouse to direct a character to perform specific tasks, are fairly popular. Most of the titles in the genre revolve around food service or a similar small business. Airport Mania: First Flight takes the click management game into the world of aviation, a place historically dominated by flight simulators or realistic air traffic control reproductions. Will this new setting spice up the gameplay?
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
The animated feel of Airport Mania: First Flight shines through in the presentation. Though the graphics are relatively simplistic, as the game is rendered in 2-D and it looks like it could have been put together over a long weekend using Paint. But you don’t have to worry about any 3-D artifacts, camera angles, or confusing overlays, or high system requirements. The planes are nicely modeled: Airport Mania: First Flight is the only game that features both male and female aircraft. The various buildings around your airport are easily identifiable and large icons are displayed to show each plane’s next appropriate destination. So even though I would not call the graphics “impressive” or “groundbreaking,” they won’t destroy your computer and they don’t get in the way of the gameplay. The sound is cute: each airport has its own jaunty instrumental theme and the plane reactions are satisfyingly adorable. As far as click management games go, you could do worse than the graphics and sound of Airport Mania: First Flight.
ET AL.
Airport Mania: First Flight puts you in the role of airport manager, an abstraction of an air traffic controller, where you direct planes to land, unload and load passengers, fuel up, and get repairs. There are a lot of levels in the game, and each stage has you continually improving a single airfield. The levels unlock in a set order, so you unfortunately can’t skip ahead to the more difficult scenarios if you get bored early on. Also, the amount of new elements introduced in the game is very low: almost every structure you will need is given to you in the first stage. This means you won’t want to see what unlocks next since you’ve seen everything by the first handful of levels. There are a number of rewards to earn along the way that can be earned by keeping planes happy or using runways in quick succession. The rewards aren’t enough motivation to keep you playing, but they are a thoughtful feature.
So here’s what you do: each plane needs to land, go to a gate, and then take off. Some planes will also need repairs and fuel before loading new passengers. Orders are given by simply clicking on the plane and then the object (runway, gate, parking spot) you want it to use. This relative simplicity makes Airport Mania: First Flight easy to comprehend for all skill levels and makes the game approachable as a whole. You can queue half of the actions up in advance (before or after passenger unloading), which makes running a functional airport easier. The game will even send planes directly to a gate if it opens after you have given a landing pad order. Airport Mania: First Flight will not show the queue for planes that are not directly selected, however, so you can lose track of how many orders you have given to existing planes when the action gets hectic. Airport Mania: First Flight offers up just the right amount of controlled chaos: the first levels aren’t terribly difficult and ease you into the game, which the closing stages require a lot of managing skills. Each plane is rated according to the income you’ll receive, the number of passengers, loading and unloading speed, and their patience. Your job is to make sure all of their required tasks are completed before they get mad and fly away. You can earn score bonuses for having the same colored airplane use the same gate in a row, in addition to landing or taking-off planes on the same runway in quick succession. You will have to make key decisions on which color bonuses to sacrifice in the interest of getting all of the planes unloaded and flying again. Each individual level passes by quickly enough that Airport Mania: First Flight doesn’t drag.
The feature that keeps Airport Mania: First Flight from being just another run-of-the-mill click management game is the upgrades you can purchase. Unlike a lot of games in the genre, Airport Mania: First Flight does not predetermine which upgrades become available, so you can tailor your improvements to your gameplay style. Keep a lot of planes in the air? Get in-flight movies to keep passengers happy. Like to earn a lot of color bonuses? Purchase new gates. The most useful upgrade is the radar, which tells you the next four colors that will appear; this is great for deciding which gate color bonuses to keep and which to switch to a new color. You can also get more efficient gates, additional parking spaces, and new planes that can bring in more cash. I like to have freedom in my strategic decisions, so allowing the user to determine which upgrades to get next is a wonderful feature.
IN CLOSING
If you like click management games, then you can’t go wrong with Airport Mania: First Flight. The controls are straightforward, the actions are intuitive, and the game balance is well done. I do wish there were more objects available later in the game as the levels tend to become repetitive after a while, but the pace is quick enough where you won’t notice too much. Airport Mania: First Flight might not have the best graphics, but it does have an inviting theme. I really like the upgrades that can be added in any order: they not only impact the gameplay, but letting the user choose which ones to get makes the entire experience better. Being able to queue actions is great, and the fact that the game is smart enough to remove unnecessary queue orders when a gate opens up is fantastic. Airport Mania: First Flight will not win over anyone who doesn’t like this type of game, but it is surely good at what it does.
The Good: Nicely balanced chaos, can queue multiple actions, customizable airport upgrades that impact gameplay
The Not So Good: Gets repetitive, can’t skip levels
What say you? The click management genre takes to the skies with good results: 6/8
MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION
Click management games, where you use the mouse to direct a character to perform specific tasks, are fairly popular. Most of the titles in the genre revolve around food service or a similar small business. Airport Mania: First Flight takes the click management game into the world of aviation, a place historically dominated by flight simulators or realistic air traffic control reproductions. Will this new setting spice up the gameplay?
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
The animated feel of Airport Mania: First Flight shines through in the presentation. Though the graphics are relatively simplistic, as the game is rendered in 2-D and it looks like it could have been put together over a long weekend using Paint. But you don’t have to worry about any 3-D artifacts, camera angles, or confusing overlays, or high system requirements. The planes are nicely modeled: Airport Mania: First Flight is the only game that features both male and female aircraft. The various buildings around your airport are easily identifiable and large icons are displayed to show each plane’s next appropriate destination. So even though I would not call the graphics “impressive” or “groundbreaking,” they won’t destroy your computer and they don’t get in the way of the gameplay. The sound is cute: each airport has its own jaunty instrumental theme and the plane reactions are satisfyingly adorable. As far as click management games go, you could do worse than the graphics and sound of Airport Mania: First Flight.
ET AL.
Airport Mania: First Flight puts you in the role of airport manager, an abstraction of an air traffic controller, where you direct planes to land, unload and load passengers, fuel up, and get repairs. There are a lot of levels in the game, and each stage has you continually improving a single airfield. The levels unlock in a set order, so you unfortunately can’t skip ahead to the more difficult scenarios if you get bored early on. Also, the amount of new elements introduced in the game is very low: almost every structure you will need is given to you in the first stage. This means you won’t want to see what unlocks next since you’ve seen everything by the first handful of levels. There are a number of rewards to earn along the way that can be earned by keeping planes happy or using runways in quick succession. The rewards aren’t enough motivation to keep you playing, but they are a thoughtful feature.
So here’s what you do: each plane needs to land, go to a gate, and then take off. Some planes will also need repairs and fuel before loading new passengers. Orders are given by simply clicking on the plane and then the object (runway, gate, parking spot) you want it to use. This relative simplicity makes Airport Mania: First Flight easy to comprehend for all skill levels and makes the game approachable as a whole. You can queue half of the actions up in advance (before or after passenger unloading), which makes running a functional airport easier. The game will even send planes directly to a gate if it opens after you have given a landing pad order. Airport Mania: First Flight will not show the queue for planes that are not directly selected, however, so you can lose track of how many orders you have given to existing planes when the action gets hectic. Airport Mania: First Flight offers up just the right amount of controlled chaos: the first levels aren’t terribly difficult and ease you into the game, which the closing stages require a lot of managing skills. Each plane is rated according to the income you’ll receive, the number of passengers, loading and unloading speed, and their patience. Your job is to make sure all of their required tasks are completed before they get mad and fly away. You can earn score bonuses for having the same colored airplane use the same gate in a row, in addition to landing or taking-off planes on the same runway in quick succession. You will have to make key decisions on which color bonuses to sacrifice in the interest of getting all of the planes unloaded and flying again. Each individual level passes by quickly enough that Airport Mania: First Flight doesn’t drag.
The feature that keeps Airport Mania: First Flight from being just another run-of-the-mill click management game is the upgrades you can purchase. Unlike a lot of games in the genre, Airport Mania: First Flight does not predetermine which upgrades become available, so you can tailor your improvements to your gameplay style. Keep a lot of planes in the air? Get in-flight movies to keep passengers happy. Like to earn a lot of color bonuses? Purchase new gates. The most useful upgrade is the radar, which tells you the next four colors that will appear; this is great for deciding which gate color bonuses to keep and which to switch to a new color. You can also get more efficient gates, additional parking spaces, and new planes that can bring in more cash. I like to have freedom in my strategic decisions, so allowing the user to determine which upgrades to get next is a wonderful feature.
IN CLOSING
If you like click management games, then you can’t go wrong with Airport Mania: First Flight. The controls are straightforward, the actions are intuitive, and the game balance is well done. I do wish there were more objects available later in the game as the levels tend to become repetitive after a while, but the pace is quick enough where you won’t notice too much. Airport Mania: First Flight might not have the best graphics, but it does have an inviting theme. I really like the upgrades that can be added in any order: they not only impact the gameplay, but letting the user choose which ones to get makes the entire experience better. Being able to queue actions is great, and the fact that the game is smart enough to remove unnecessary queue orders when a gate opens up is fantastic. Airport Mania: First Flight will not win over anyone who doesn’t like this type of game, but it is surely good at what it does.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor Review
Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor, developed and published by Stardock Entertainment.
The Good: Unique technology trees and buildings for each race, four game editors, automated custom ship design, more detailed graphics with better performance, insanely large galaxies, new campaign, improved AI, new music, a bunch of smaller stuff
The Not So Good: AI hates people going for an ascension victory too much
What say you? The swan song for Galactic Civilizations II is an excellent, feature-filled expansion that delivers more than most full-priced sequels: 8/8
MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION
Turn-based strategy games have a small, dedicated, rabid following on the PC. This goes for a number of other genres (racing and flight simulators, to name a few) as well, so while they might not have the sales figures that the carbon-copied, rehashed console games designed for 10-year-olds do, they are still popular if you ask the right people. A good example of a company that caters to this crowd is Stardock Entertainment. Their recently-released real-time strategy game Sins of a Solar Empire has overshadowed their strategy series that was first, Galactic Civilizations. The second and final expansion has been released for the sequel, titled Twilight of the Arnor, and it hopes to further enhance an excellent turn-based 4X experience. Does Twilight of the Arnor prove to be a fine twilight for Galactic Civilizations II?
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor makes some slight improvements to the overall presentation. First, the default ship designs have been overhauled and include more detailed textures and animated parts for a more immersive feel. The game actually performs slightly better as the developers have altered the way textures are stored so the game uses less memory than before, so it has that going for it. Battles also have better weapon effects for more space-based destruction. I play from the zoomed-out icon view for the most part so I didn’t notice the enhancements for the most part, but people who like their strategy up close and person will be pleased with the upgrades made here. The sound has also been enhanced with some new songs that fit the game well; more variety is always better. You can’t ask for much more improvement in the graphics and sound of an expansion pack than what Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor delivers.
ET AL.
Since Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor is an expansion pack, this review will focus on the improvements made since the last time. First off, we get a new campaign. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of campaigns (the fact that Sins of a Solar Empire lacked one didn’t phase me) and the one contained in Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor is similar to the ones in past versions of the game: a series of skirmish levels with non-random galaxies and some text story to tie the mission together. It’s not the most intriguing campaign seen in a strategy game, but the additional content is nice. I like the fact that the campaign starts out relatively easy as the game does not assume you have completed the previous two campaigns. New to the series is the suite of editors that allow you to change pretty much everything in the game. Although some level of customization was present before (in the form of custom races), Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor lets you make your own maps, scenarios, technology trees, and planetary improvements. You can imagine that it won’t be long before mods that mirror notable science fiction series start to appear. Letting the user completely customize their gaming experience is great for longevity and the editors are a find addition. You can also use the new extremely large galaxy size “immense” (possible because of the performance increases) and play others in tournaments through the metaverse (the online scoreboard).
The biggest addition made in Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor is the unique technology trees. Before, the various civilizations were different only in morality (good versus evil) and color: everybody had the same ships, buildings, and research paths. While this made it easy to new players to transition from one race to another, the game tended to get repetitive after a while as the same strategy would work for all races. Now, every race (all twelve of them) has a drastically different technology tree that mirrors their overall theme. For example, the evil Drengin have an emphasis on weapons while the Thalan has a drastically reduced tech tree because they came from the future and thus know a lot already. Each race does share a lot of the basic techs, but you will find plenty of unique technologies for every civilization to take advantage of. This helps the game immensely as each side has a unique strategy. Included with these technology trees is unique buildings for each race, from the basic structures that are available when you start to more powerful versions further down the line. This addition is very awesome and well-done, providing twelve different ways of approaching the same game.
In addition to the standard array of victory conditions (research, alliance, influence) from previous games, Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor adds ascension. Here, you need to place starbases (using constructors) on several ascension crystals scattered around the map. Once you place one starbase, you are 1,000 turns away from victory and each additional ascension crystal cuts the time remaining in half. This is the worst aspect of Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor. You will probably reach one of the other victory conditions first (I almost always get an alliance victory first…I guess I am friendly) and all the ascension victory does is get everyone mad at you. Even if you are 800 turns away from victory, all of the AI players will hate you and relationships will deteriorate quickly. The AI puts way too much importance on an ascension victory, to the point where capturing two crystals is suicide. I don’t mind the other players ganging up on someone when 100 turns are left before the end, but the instant you have the most crystals (no matter how many turns are left), you had better be ready to take on everyone else as an enemy.
The ship designer is a big part of Galactic Civilizations II, as you need to incorporate newly-researched items into your designs to make your fleet as effective as possible. But wouldn’t it be nice if the computer did it for you automatically? Twilight of the Arnor does! Computer-designed ships are automatically created using the best weapons available, and they do a pretty good job incorporated the latest developments, even using incremental upgrades along the way. The computer designs don’t serve up the best variety (I’d like an all-offense, all-defense, and average design) and basic ships (freighters, colony ships, constructors) are never improved, but they are a good starting point for beginners. Speaking of ships, Twilight of the Arnor also includes the “terror star,” a slow-moving spherical monstrosity capable of destroying an entire system (I wonder where they got that idea from). Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor has smarter AI (yeah, like the computer opponents needed to become even more difficult) that will make you weep. Also, the budgetary requirements for colony improvements and ship maintenance have been drastically increased, making it much more difficult for smaller empires to afford a large military and lots of buildings. If you are preparing for a fight, you had better have a robust economy that can afford the increased ship count. Since you can very easily out-produce your income with ships, I’ve had to be much more careful with my money in Twilight of the Arnor than with previous versions, where balancing the budget or earning a hefty monthly profit was relatively easy. This means that small empires won’t get completely steamrolled and spies (they disable buildings) are even more important.
IN CLOSING
Simply put, if you have any version of Galactic Civilizations II (and even if you don’t), you need Twilight of the Arnor. The additions made here are far beyond what we see in most expansion packs, and the amount of content is more like a sequel. The unique technology trees alone would justify purchasing this game, as they add varied strategies for each race and increase replay value dramatically. But there is even more new content in Twilight of the Arnor: more detailed graphics and additional music, even better AI, and new game editors, just to name a few. There is really only one thing I hate (the ascension victory condition) and that’s because the AI overreacts to the side closest to victory, even if they are hundreds of turns away. But since you can turn ascension victory off, this is really a non-issue. The turn-based nature of Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor lets you experience the game at your own pace and the experience never drags since you can quickly skip through the boring parts, something that can’t be said for the first half-hour of Sins of a Solar Empire. As a whole, I like Galactic Civilizations II more, and it’s the best 4X strategy game available. If you have the original Dread Lords or the first expansion Dark Avatar, then Twilight of the Arnor is definitely worth it. If you are new to the franchise and enjoy 4X games like the aforementioned Sins of a Solar Empire but want more varied options, then getting the entire collection for $60 is a bargain considering the amount of replay value and content contained herein. Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor puts all of those repetitive sports franchises to shame with the amount of new, meaningful improvements it has. More than just a handful of new maps and a couple of new units, this is how expansion packs should be.
The Good: Unique technology trees and buildings for each race, four game editors, automated custom ship design, more detailed graphics with better performance, insanely large galaxies, new campaign, improved AI, new music, a bunch of smaller stuff
The Not So Good: AI hates people going for an ascension victory too much
What say you? The swan song for Galactic Civilizations II is an excellent, feature-filled expansion that delivers more than most full-priced sequels: 8/8
MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION
Turn-based strategy games have a small, dedicated, rabid following on the PC. This goes for a number of other genres (racing and flight simulators, to name a few) as well, so while they might not have the sales figures that the carbon-copied, rehashed console games designed for 10-year-olds do, they are still popular if you ask the right people. A good example of a company that caters to this crowd is Stardock Entertainment. Their recently-released real-time strategy game Sins of a Solar Empire has overshadowed their strategy series that was first, Galactic Civilizations. The second and final expansion has been released for the sequel, titled Twilight of the Arnor, and it hopes to further enhance an excellent turn-based 4X experience. Does Twilight of the Arnor prove to be a fine twilight for Galactic Civilizations II?
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor makes some slight improvements to the overall presentation. First, the default ship designs have been overhauled and include more detailed textures and animated parts for a more immersive feel. The game actually performs slightly better as the developers have altered the way textures are stored so the game uses less memory than before, so it has that going for it. Battles also have better weapon effects for more space-based destruction. I play from the zoomed-out icon view for the most part so I didn’t notice the enhancements for the most part, but people who like their strategy up close and person will be pleased with the upgrades made here. The sound has also been enhanced with some new songs that fit the game well; more variety is always better. You can’t ask for much more improvement in the graphics and sound of an expansion pack than what Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor delivers.
ET AL.
Since Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor is an expansion pack, this review will focus on the improvements made since the last time. First off, we get a new campaign. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of campaigns (the fact that Sins of a Solar Empire lacked one didn’t phase me) and the one contained in Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor is similar to the ones in past versions of the game: a series of skirmish levels with non-random galaxies and some text story to tie the mission together. It’s not the most intriguing campaign seen in a strategy game, but the additional content is nice. I like the fact that the campaign starts out relatively easy as the game does not assume you have completed the previous two campaigns. New to the series is the suite of editors that allow you to change pretty much everything in the game. Although some level of customization was present before (in the form of custom races), Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor lets you make your own maps, scenarios, technology trees, and planetary improvements. You can imagine that it won’t be long before mods that mirror notable science fiction series start to appear. Letting the user completely customize their gaming experience is great for longevity and the editors are a find addition. You can also use the new extremely large galaxy size “immense” (possible because of the performance increases) and play others in tournaments through the metaverse (the online scoreboard).
The biggest addition made in Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor is the unique technology trees. Before, the various civilizations were different only in morality (good versus evil) and color: everybody had the same ships, buildings, and research paths. While this made it easy to new players to transition from one race to another, the game tended to get repetitive after a while as the same strategy would work for all races. Now, every race (all twelve of them) has a drastically different technology tree that mirrors their overall theme. For example, the evil Drengin have an emphasis on weapons while the Thalan has a drastically reduced tech tree because they came from the future and thus know a lot already. Each race does share a lot of the basic techs, but you will find plenty of unique technologies for every civilization to take advantage of. This helps the game immensely as each side has a unique strategy. Included with these technology trees is unique buildings for each race, from the basic structures that are available when you start to more powerful versions further down the line. This addition is very awesome and well-done, providing twelve different ways of approaching the same game.
In addition to the standard array of victory conditions (research, alliance, influence) from previous games, Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor adds ascension. Here, you need to place starbases (using constructors) on several ascension crystals scattered around the map. Once you place one starbase, you are 1,000 turns away from victory and each additional ascension crystal cuts the time remaining in half. This is the worst aspect of Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor. You will probably reach one of the other victory conditions first (I almost always get an alliance victory first…I guess I am friendly) and all the ascension victory does is get everyone mad at you. Even if you are 800 turns away from victory, all of the AI players will hate you and relationships will deteriorate quickly. The AI puts way too much importance on an ascension victory, to the point where capturing two crystals is suicide. I don’t mind the other players ganging up on someone when 100 turns are left before the end, but the instant you have the most crystals (no matter how many turns are left), you had better be ready to take on everyone else as an enemy.
The ship designer is a big part of Galactic Civilizations II, as you need to incorporate newly-researched items into your designs to make your fleet as effective as possible. But wouldn’t it be nice if the computer did it for you automatically? Twilight of the Arnor does! Computer-designed ships are automatically created using the best weapons available, and they do a pretty good job incorporated the latest developments, even using incremental upgrades along the way. The computer designs don’t serve up the best variety (I’d like an all-offense, all-defense, and average design) and basic ships (freighters, colony ships, constructors) are never improved, but they are a good starting point for beginners. Speaking of ships, Twilight of the Arnor also includes the “terror star,” a slow-moving spherical monstrosity capable of destroying an entire system (I wonder where they got that idea from). Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor has smarter AI (yeah, like the computer opponents needed to become even more difficult) that will make you weep. Also, the budgetary requirements for colony improvements and ship maintenance have been drastically increased, making it much more difficult for smaller empires to afford a large military and lots of buildings. If you are preparing for a fight, you had better have a robust economy that can afford the increased ship count. Since you can very easily out-produce your income with ships, I’ve had to be much more careful with my money in Twilight of the Arnor than with previous versions, where balancing the budget or earning a hefty monthly profit was relatively easy. This means that small empires won’t get completely steamrolled and spies (they disable buildings) are even more important.
IN CLOSING
Simply put, if you have any version of Galactic Civilizations II (and even if you don’t), you need Twilight of the Arnor. The additions made here are far beyond what we see in most expansion packs, and the amount of content is more like a sequel. The unique technology trees alone would justify purchasing this game, as they add varied strategies for each race and increase replay value dramatically. But there is even more new content in Twilight of the Arnor: more detailed graphics and additional music, even better AI, and new game editors, just to name a few. There is really only one thing I hate (the ascension victory condition) and that’s because the AI overreacts to the side closest to victory, even if they are hundreds of turns away. But since you can turn ascension victory off, this is really a non-issue. The turn-based nature of Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor lets you experience the game at your own pace and the experience never drags since you can quickly skip through the boring parts, something that can’t be said for the first half-hour of Sins of a Solar Empire. As a whole, I like Galactic Civilizations II more, and it’s the best 4X strategy game available. If you have the original Dread Lords or the first expansion Dark Avatar, then Twilight of the Arnor is definitely worth it. If you are new to the franchise and enjoy 4X games like the aforementioned Sins of a Solar Empire but want more varied options, then getting the entire collection for $60 is a bargain considering the amount of replay value and content contained herein. Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor puts all of those repetitive sports franchises to shame with the amount of new, meaningful improvements it has. More than just a handful of new maps and a couple of new units, this is how expansion packs should be.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Turok Review
Turok, developed by Propaganda Games and Aspyr Studios and published by Touchstone.
The Good: Action-packed, interesting two-weapon system, strategic deathmatch rules, cooperative multiplayer, decent production values, dinosaurs
The Not So Good: Impossibly difficult bosses, repetitive objectives, linear level design, dumb AI, no multiplayer server browser makes finding games difficult, long load times, can’t load previous checkpoints and saved games, technical issues
What say you? The series returns with some innovative elements and shows that killing dinosaurs can still be fun…some of the time: 5/8
MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION
Even though they went extinct 65 million years ago, dinosaurs are still very popular. They have been depicted in movies like Jurassic Park and TV shows like Larry King Live. What’s even better than simply watching dinosaurs roam the Earth is shooting them in the face, and that’s the premise of Turok, a remake of a classic first person shooter. Although the game is obviously not completely original, the addition of big, scary dinosaurs to the enemies list is intriguing, and we haven’t seen a Turok game in six years. Will the gameplay prove to be compelling after all these years?
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
The graphics of Turok is a mixed bag. The characters (both human and animal) have good textures and detailed models, though there are some animation problems and models tend to “float” over the terrain. The environments have a jungle feel, which tends to get repetitive after a while and becomes obstructive (probably on purpose) on occasion, preventing a clear view of your enemies. The environments are not quite as detailed as you would like, especially the outdoor areas, with very blocky terrain and clearly linear paths. It’s a bit odd to see detailed characters walking through blocky and rather bland terrain. The environments are also very static, with hardly any movement that isn’t directly tied to character interaction; I guess it’s not so windy in dinosaur world. The blur effect that occurs when you are stunned gets annoying, but disposing of dinosaurs using melee combat techniques is pleasingly violent. Performance is not what I would like to see: stuttering at seemingly random intervals is common. The sound fares much better: decent voice acting (and every line of dialogue is voiced) and appropriate weapon effects accompany the generic background music. It should also be noted that Turok takes up a whopping 15 GB of hard drive space, and load times are especially long. While there are a couple of highlights in the presentation, overall the graphics and sound of Turok come up a bit short.
ET AL.
You can play Turok in two modes: the single player story campaign and online. The campaign is fairly lengthy and, while it starts out pretty good, the story tends to get forgettable near the end. But I don’t really pay much attention to the story: I just want to shoot stuff. The console roots of the game crop up in that you can only have one saved game and the game can automatically do it for you. Unfortunately, if you are badly injured and the game saves your progress, then you are screwed and caught in an infinite loop of death. I think that if a game takes of 15 GB of hard drive space, we can have an unlimited number of saved games. Over time, the objectives of Turok become quite repetitive: the game lacks many alternative missions other than shooting things. While having almost constant action may be a good thing on occasion, it does get monotonous after a while as you’ll be constantly swarmed with various enemies. I should also mention a bug I have experienced: having my analogue gamepad plugged in makes my view constantly rotate, even though the gamepad is calibrated and works fine with all my other games. I e-mailed tech support and they said there is no way of disabling it from within the game, so I have to unplug my gamepad every time I want to play Turok. Annoying.
The multiplayer of Turok can be interesting, but it’s too bad it’s so difficult to find a game. In a disturbing trend of recently released console ports, Turok does not list every available game on one screen. Instead, you have to pick a game type (small free-for-all, large free-for-all, small team-based, large team-based, co-op) and then search. The quick join option will just place you in a random game type that you might not have wanted to join. The Club also suffered from this problem. Listen up, developers: just put every game on one page and let me pick. Is that too much to ask? I don’t want to spend minutes searching through every category looking for others to play against. Once you actually join a game, you’ll find the deathmatch games come with a kill limit (usually 15) but also a death limit (usually 10). This makes deathmatch more interesting, as you can’t simply run around, guns blazing and still win as you’ll rack up too many deaths. I thought this was a pretty cool standard option. The team-based games consist of capture the flag, assault capture the flag, and war games, although I have no idea how these play because I never found anyone playing the team-based game modes. I did have a chance to check out cooperative multiplayer, and it was pretty fun. There are only three specially designed levels for co-op (there are seven for the other modes), but they are fun and require some teamwork (there might be two consoles that must be hacked simultaneously). Your team is limited in the number of respawns you can have, so a well-coordinated team will be successful. I do like some of the aspects of Turok’s multiplayer, but it’s not reason enough to get the game.
Another thing I enjoy about Turok is the weapons. Turok is equipped is fairly standard weapons: a knife, bow, handgun, sub-machine gun, shotgun, mini-gun, rocket propelled grenade, pulse rifle, sniper rifle, grenade launcher, and flame thrower. But you can wield small two weapons at one time, which is very satisfying. Firing a sub-machine gun and a shotgun simultaneously is a joy not found in many other first person shooters. You can only carry two weapons at a time (other than the knife and bow), so making appropriate choices is important. This goes for multiplayer as well, so Turok rewards players with better weapon strategy more than players who have stuck around more and collected all of the weapons. The heads-up display is also minimal: the ammunition counter is located on the gun as a blinking light when you need to reload. That’s a nice touch. The bow is also extremely deadly at far distances and getting headshots is good fun. You can also use stealth attacks with the knife: sneak up behind any enemy (human or dinosaur) and the game will indicate you can use your knife. Then, a pre-canned violent animation will play and Turok can move on to his next victim. While this is a nice change of pace, it does get dull after a while.
Alas, the core gameplay of Turok falls short of being completely entertaining. The game comes with rag-doll physics, which results in some unintended comedic effects like kicking around deceased dinosaurs when you walk near them. Speaking of the dinosaurs, the AI is not very good. I realize that dinosaurs are (supposedly) dumb animals, but the creatures are heavily scripted and will attack you or your partner first if the game was programmed that way. The humans are not much better: they will stop and shoot without seeking cover (unless the developers put them there) and seem a bit too accurate for the weapons they are carrying, hitting Turok more often than not. This is partially due to the fact that everyone in the game can take an extremely large amount of damage before dying, for better or for worse, so they better hit you every time. The potentially interesting dynamic of turning the dinosaurs on your enemies is only used in very specific (and very obvious) circumstances, which is too bad. A lot of the multiplayer maps are completely devoid of dinosaurs (or place them in obscure locations), which makes Turok play more like a conventional first person shooter rather than taking advantage of its unique setting. Turok as a whole is very linear and the developers want you to play the game their way. Defeating bosses can be very frustrating as you try to figure out the arbitrarily specific method of taking them down. The game drops very subtle hints (or sometimes no hints at all) along the way; it’s a good thing they sent me a walkthrough with the game or else I’d be stuck several times over. You will also need to use archaic button-mashing counters when dinosaurs attack you; I though this gameplay mechanic was extinct but it, like the dinosaurs, has returned. Turok takes what could have been a compelling theme and doesn’t take full advantage of it, resulting in a run-of-the-mill first person shooter.
IN CLOSING
Shooting dinosaurs: what could go wrong? Well, the PC version of Turok is a couple of key points short of being a notable title. There are definitely some things to like: the dual-wielding weapons, using dinosaurs against your enemy, tweaked deathmatch rules, and some of the visuals and sound effects. Sadly, Turok is also accompanied by extremely linear level design, very difficult bosses, controller issues, one saved game per user, generally stupid AI, and long load times. Turok also lacks a multiplayer browser, which makes experiencing the decent cooperative and deathmatch online modes more difficult than it should be. It’s a bit disappointing that Turok isn’t more polished because the premise is very intriguing. Unless you really want to kill some dinosaurs, Turok doesn’t offer enough of a complete experience to warrant its purchase.
The Good: Action-packed, interesting two-weapon system, strategic deathmatch rules, cooperative multiplayer, decent production values, dinosaurs
The Not So Good: Impossibly difficult bosses, repetitive objectives, linear level design, dumb AI, no multiplayer server browser makes finding games difficult, long load times, can’t load previous checkpoints and saved games, technical issues
What say you? The series returns with some innovative elements and shows that killing dinosaurs can still be fun…some of the time: 5/8
MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION
Even though they went extinct 65 million years ago, dinosaurs are still very popular. They have been depicted in movies like Jurassic Park and TV shows like Larry King Live. What’s even better than simply watching dinosaurs roam the Earth is shooting them in the face, and that’s the premise of Turok, a remake of a classic first person shooter. Although the game is obviously not completely original, the addition of big, scary dinosaurs to the enemies list is intriguing, and we haven’t seen a Turok game in six years. Will the gameplay prove to be compelling after all these years?
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
The graphics of Turok is a mixed bag. The characters (both human and animal) have good textures and detailed models, though there are some animation problems and models tend to “float” over the terrain. The environments have a jungle feel, which tends to get repetitive after a while and becomes obstructive (probably on purpose) on occasion, preventing a clear view of your enemies. The environments are not quite as detailed as you would like, especially the outdoor areas, with very blocky terrain and clearly linear paths. It’s a bit odd to see detailed characters walking through blocky and rather bland terrain. The environments are also very static, with hardly any movement that isn’t directly tied to character interaction; I guess it’s not so windy in dinosaur world. The blur effect that occurs when you are stunned gets annoying, but disposing of dinosaurs using melee combat techniques is pleasingly violent. Performance is not what I would like to see: stuttering at seemingly random intervals is common. The sound fares much better: decent voice acting (and every line of dialogue is voiced) and appropriate weapon effects accompany the generic background music. It should also be noted that Turok takes up a whopping 15 GB of hard drive space, and load times are especially long. While there are a couple of highlights in the presentation, overall the graphics and sound of Turok come up a bit short.
ET AL.
You can play Turok in two modes: the single player story campaign and online. The campaign is fairly lengthy and, while it starts out pretty good, the story tends to get forgettable near the end. But I don’t really pay much attention to the story: I just want to shoot stuff. The console roots of the game crop up in that you can only have one saved game and the game can automatically do it for you. Unfortunately, if you are badly injured and the game saves your progress, then you are screwed and caught in an infinite loop of death. I think that if a game takes of 15 GB of hard drive space, we can have an unlimited number of saved games. Over time, the objectives of Turok become quite repetitive: the game lacks many alternative missions other than shooting things. While having almost constant action may be a good thing on occasion, it does get monotonous after a while as you’ll be constantly swarmed with various enemies. I should also mention a bug I have experienced: having my analogue gamepad plugged in makes my view constantly rotate, even though the gamepad is calibrated and works fine with all my other games. I e-mailed tech support and they said there is no way of disabling it from within the game, so I have to unplug my gamepad every time I want to play Turok. Annoying.
The multiplayer of Turok can be interesting, but it’s too bad it’s so difficult to find a game. In a disturbing trend of recently released console ports, Turok does not list every available game on one screen. Instead, you have to pick a game type (small free-for-all, large free-for-all, small team-based, large team-based, co-op) and then search. The quick join option will just place you in a random game type that you might not have wanted to join. The Club also suffered from this problem. Listen up, developers: just put every game on one page and let me pick. Is that too much to ask? I don’t want to spend minutes searching through every category looking for others to play against. Once you actually join a game, you’ll find the deathmatch games come with a kill limit (usually 15) but also a death limit (usually 10). This makes deathmatch more interesting, as you can’t simply run around, guns blazing and still win as you’ll rack up too many deaths. I thought this was a pretty cool standard option. The team-based games consist of capture the flag, assault capture the flag, and war games, although I have no idea how these play because I never found anyone playing the team-based game modes. I did have a chance to check out cooperative multiplayer, and it was pretty fun. There are only three specially designed levels for co-op (there are seven for the other modes), but they are fun and require some teamwork (there might be two consoles that must be hacked simultaneously). Your team is limited in the number of respawns you can have, so a well-coordinated team will be successful. I do like some of the aspects of Turok’s multiplayer, but it’s not reason enough to get the game.
Another thing I enjoy about Turok is the weapons. Turok is equipped is fairly standard weapons: a knife, bow, handgun, sub-machine gun, shotgun, mini-gun, rocket propelled grenade, pulse rifle, sniper rifle, grenade launcher, and flame thrower. But you can wield small two weapons at one time, which is very satisfying. Firing a sub-machine gun and a shotgun simultaneously is a joy not found in many other first person shooters. You can only carry two weapons at a time (other than the knife and bow), so making appropriate choices is important. This goes for multiplayer as well, so Turok rewards players with better weapon strategy more than players who have stuck around more and collected all of the weapons. The heads-up display is also minimal: the ammunition counter is located on the gun as a blinking light when you need to reload. That’s a nice touch. The bow is also extremely deadly at far distances and getting headshots is good fun. You can also use stealth attacks with the knife: sneak up behind any enemy (human or dinosaur) and the game will indicate you can use your knife. Then, a pre-canned violent animation will play and Turok can move on to his next victim. While this is a nice change of pace, it does get dull after a while.
Alas, the core gameplay of Turok falls short of being completely entertaining. The game comes with rag-doll physics, which results in some unintended comedic effects like kicking around deceased dinosaurs when you walk near them. Speaking of the dinosaurs, the AI is not very good. I realize that dinosaurs are (supposedly) dumb animals, but the creatures are heavily scripted and will attack you or your partner first if the game was programmed that way. The humans are not much better: they will stop and shoot without seeking cover (unless the developers put them there) and seem a bit too accurate for the weapons they are carrying, hitting Turok more often than not. This is partially due to the fact that everyone in the game can take an extremely large amount of damage before dying, for better or for worse, so they better hit you every time. The potentially interesting dynamic of turning the dinosaurs on your enemies is only used in very specific (and very obvious) circumstances, which is too bad. A lot of the multiplayer maps are completely devoid of dinosaurs (or place them in obscure locations), which makes Turok play more like a conventional first person shooter rather than taking advantage of its unique setting. Turok as a whole is very linear and the developers want you to play the game their way. Defeating bosses can be very frustrating as you try to figure out the arbitrarily specific method of taking them down. The game drops very subtle hints (or sometimes no hints at all) along the way; it’s a good thing they sent me a walkthrough with the game or else I’d be stuck several times over. You will also need to use archaic button-mashing counters when dinosaurs attack you; I though this gameplay mechanic was extinct but it, like the dinosaurs, has returned. Turok takes what could have been a compelling theme and doesn’t take full advantage of it, resulting in a run-of-the-mill first person shooter.
IN CLOSING
Shooting dinosaurs: what could go wrong? Well, the PC version of Turok is a couple of key points short of being a notable title. There are definitely some things to like: the dual-wielding weapons, using dinosaurs against your enemy, tweaked deathmatch rules, and some of the visuals and sound effects. Sadly, Turok is also accompanied by extremely linear level design, very difficult bosses, controller issues, one saved game per user, generally stupid AI, and long load times. Turok also lacks a multiplayer browser, which makes experiencing the decent cooperative and deathmatch online modes more difficult than it should be. It’s a bit disappointing that Turok isn’t more polished because the premise is very intriguing. Unless you really want to kill some dinosaurs, Turok doesn’t offer enough of a complete experience to warrant its purchase.
