SimCity

Name: SimCity
Developer: Will Wright
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1989
Stephen's Rating: 7/10

Basic Plot

There was no plot. You play an eye in the sky who has complete control to develop a city and maintain it.

Gameplay

The game involves creating and managing a city. In essence SimCity is a top down strategy game a little like Civilization in some ways, but less focused on units and politics and entirely based on the infrastructure of your city.

The game included free form city building mode, and also a set of scenarios. Each scenario involved completing a certain objective within a particular time frame. The general gameplay involved:

• Zoning land as either residential, industrial, or commercial.
• Creating buildings.
• Setting a tax rate.
• Creating a power grid.
• Creating public transport options (and many others).

It culminated in a careful balance between attracting more people to your city, but also keeping them happy and keeping the economy flowing.

There are a whole lot of extra mechanics which add flavour to the game including crime rate and natural disasters (including Godzilla).

Positives

This was a deeply satisfying game to play. The sense of interconnectedness was a joy to experience. The freedom you had to customise your own unique city was also a real bonus.

Negatives

Without reading up this is a very hard game to play. You have the freedom to create any city you choose by 9 times out of 10 your people will end up hating you, and Godzilla will end up rampaging through your city destroying everything in his path.

Memorable Moments

None, but this is one of those games which defined a whole genre of simulation games to come.

Age of Empires

Name: Age of Empires
Developer: Ensemble Studios
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1997
Stephen's Rating: 5/10

Basic Plot

There was no plot other than a series of empires battling each other.

Gameplay

Age of Empires is a real time strategy game. The game involves picking an ancient empire and battling against others in a contest to destroy each other's civilization.

During the game you could research better and more powerful technology. This was defined by reaching new "ages" as you played. These ages included the:

• Stone Age
• Tool Age
• Bronze Age
• Iron Age

Players started with a handful of workers and ascended to control an Iron Age empire and destroy their opponents. There were 12 empires to choose from and these were divided into four architectural groups, but ultimately each empire had similar units.

Resources were gathered to fund your empire and these included stone, wood, gold, and food. You spend your resources researching new technology, building soldiers to engage your enemy, and also structures and buildings which could help either by providing defence (walls, towers) or technology/economy.

The game included four single player campaigns which set the player several challenges to complete, as well as "Random" battles against AI opponents. There was also extensive multiplayer support for battling your friends.

The game came with a Scenario Builder, and players around the world created maps and scenarios to share.

Positives

The use of "ages" was unique and interesting. I can see where the game was trying to go; treading the line between Civilization and Warcraft. It was a fairly well balanced and epic real time strategy.

Negatives

One of the major pitfalls of the game is the lack of variety between the empires you choose to play as. Unlike Warcraft or Starcraft or even Command and Conquer the empire choice you made was largely meaningless and you had the same selection of units to pick from (perhaps with some minor changes).

I found the game less precise and satisfying than other games in the same genre.

Memorable Moments

None. I played a lot more of Age of Mythology.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Name: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Developer: Blizzard
Platform: PC
Release Year: 2010
Stephen's Rating: 7/10

Let me start by saying two things. Firstly, I only played World of Warcraft after Cataclysm had been released so I have no experience of any of the previous incarnations of the game, or any of the expansions that came after. Secondly, I only played this game for 3 months. I clocked a lot of game time during that fateful period in my life, but my experience is still limited.

Basic Plot

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was the third expansion to the original World of Warcraft game.

The entire story is based around the world created in the Warcraft series of real time strategy games. The story follows the two factions of Alliance and Horde and their battle with each other as well as other outside forces which threaten the world.

The primary story introduced in the Cataclysm expansion is the return of the evil dragon aspect Darkwing the Destroyer. He has returned, healed and angry, and his return smashes apart the world causing large scale changes all over (thus the name Cataclysm). This meant that areas of the map that players previously knew well had changed. Whole areas that were once desert may have been flooded by the ocean, huge chasms opened up over the land, etc.

I'm not going to go deeper into the story but it is hugely detailed and goes back a long way.

Gameplay

World of Warcraft is the quintessential massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). More people play WoW than any other online game, and nothing else seems to be able to take a hold in the industry because of its very existence.

The game starts by creating your character. Probably the biggest decision is which faction you want to join. For me it was a no brainer, my friends all played Horde so I went Horde. The faction you choose severely impacts the social aspect of the game. Once you pick a faction, you are unable to communicate with members of the opposing faction in game. The only time you'll see them is usually when they are trying to kill you in a PvP arena or just out in the open world. Each faction had several races to choose from. During the time of cataclysm it was:

Horde

• Orc
• Tauren
• Troll
• Blood Elf
• Goblin
• Forsaken (Undead)

Alliance

• Human
• Night Elf
• Gnome
• Worgen
• Dwarf
• Dranei

Races have benefits and drawbacks, and not every race can choose every character class. I was a Tauren.

Choosing your character before entering the game world.

Then you got to choose your character class. Your class defined your abilities and what armour you could wear and in terms of combat within the game was the most important decision. The classes were:

• Druid - The character class I chose. The druid is the most adaptable class and can fulfil all the major class roles including melee dps, ranged dps, healer, and tank. However, this comes at the cost of power, and a druid often lags behind other character classes in terms of how effective they are at their job. This isn't entirely true (especially for the restoration druid), but there were certainly less abilities to go around. The three skill trees were feral (shapechanging), restoration (healing), and balance (caster dps).
• Hunter - A ranged dps character who uses bows and tamed animal companions to fight. The hunter caught a lot of flak when I played with the term "huntard" used often. The three skill trees were beast mastery, survival, and markmanship.
• Mage - A specialist ranged dps class who uses elemental spells to inflict damage from afar. I originally started a mage but found it a difficult class to solo and quest with. The three skill trees were arcane, frost, and fire.
• Paladin - Another multi-purpose character class the Paladin was excellent at filling either the tank, melee dps, or even healer role. The skill trees were holy, protection, and retribution.
• Priest - The priest is the ultimate healer class and can specialize in either a protective healer or a straight healer. They can also become a powerful ranged dps with the shadow tree. The skill trees were shadow, discipline, and holy.
• Rogue - A melee dps character often used in PvP. The rogue could use stealth and did massive damage using backstabs. The skill trees were assassination, combat, and subtlety.
• Shaman - This class could either specialise as a melee dps, ranged dps, or healer and was very common in the game. The skill trees were elemental, enhancement, and restoration.
• Warlock - Another ranged dps spell similar to the mage. The warlock could specialise in the destruction, affliction, or demonology trees.
• Warrior - The standard melee warrior who could specialise as a tank or melee dps. The warrior had the arms, fury, and protection trees.
• Death Knight - Introduced in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, the Death Knight started at a high level and was suited to either a melee DPS or tanking role. The skill trees were blood, frost, and unholy.

Once you pick a character class you have the arduous task of finding a name which is unique (no two names can be the same on a server) and doesn't sound idiotic, and then you can start the game.

It pans out mostly as a top down third person RPG game. The game involves some major elements:

• Questing involves talking to NPC characters, and then completing some task. This usually involves collecting something, or killing something. Quests are generally very similar and repetitive. I completed over 1500 quests by the time I got to level 85.
• Dungeons are another way of gaining experience and were crucial to finding decent pre-raid gear. They involve teaming up with four other players to tackle a dungeon. Dungeons can be played very early in the game (level 10?) and you can theoretically skip all questing and level up doing them instead.
• PvP instances were another way to gain experience but rely on you actually winning your arena in order to gain experience fast. They involve large teams of Horde and Alliance players battling each other and capturing points on a small instance map. There was specific PvP gear which was only good against other players that could be obtained.
• Crafting and trade was another important part of the game. Every player could pick two skills to level up in such as leatherworking, blacksmithing, enchantment, alchemy etc. They could also pick up generic skills such as healing. The tradehouse on each server is huge and people are constantly buying and selling their goods.
• Raiding was similar to doing a dungeon, but you had to find your own party to join one (at the time, now you can). Raids are exceptionally hard instances which require prior knowledge of the boss fights and smooth team work. The best gear can be obtained in raids. There are two types; 10 man and 25 man. Raiding is generally only completed by players who are already at the level cap and at the time it was almost exclusively done by guilds who would ask for people who wanted to join from time to time to make up the numbers.

 A boss fight during a raid.

Starting players tend to complete quests. This is a good way to gain experience and some basic gear, and if it is your first time it reveals stories throughout the lands which add to the game experience. Once you start, it just doesn't stop. There is always a new quest to complete, a dungeon to do, an auction you are holding at the tradehouse. The gameplay opens out to a free-for-all of whatever interests you.

Dungeons and Raids sometimes had specific mechanics for the boss fights. For example; one boss might stop now and again and glow white and the whole party might need to get close to him to avoid a lightning attack. Going into a dungeon or raid blind is tough, and usually you need to check online and watch a video of other people completing it or read a guide.

One of the big things about the game is travel. When you start, you are a slow little turtle. It takes forever to get anywhere by foot, but you can pay to travel by windrider. At level 20 you can get your first mount which travels somewhat faster. At 40 you can get an advanced mount. At 60 you can buy a flying mount, and I think at 80 or 85 you could get a faster flying mount. You also had to get extra skills and pay in-game currency to be able to fly in all the different zones. Druids had a nice bonus of have a travel form (chetah) as well as flying form and advanced flying form to get around. They also had an aquatic form to swim faster and breathe underwater.

Cataclysm Specific Gameplay

One nice new feature was the dungeon finder. This allowed you to queue up in the dungeon finder and get put together with four other players from across multiple servers to complete a dungeon. Each time you queued you flagged if you were going to play dps, healer, or tank. Each party consisted of three dps, and one tank and one healer. Apparently the new expansion as a Raid Finder as well which is a cool new feature.

There were a lot of other changes. I know that it became easier to level up since the original game as it used to take an extraordinary time to get to level 60 but it only took me a month or two.

General gameplay.

Positives

For one thing, there just isn't any other game that has the player base that World of Warcraft does. As a result it has the richest player community in the world. There are always people to play with any time of the day or not, and there is a huge amount of material out there to help you become a master at your character.

The world itself is massive. When you combine all the outdoor areas of Kalimdor, Azeroth, Northrend, and Outland... it's epic.

The game is challenging. The complexity of the economy system and the tradehouse is great.

The aesthetics of the whole world are immersive. It is easy to get lost in the game and never come back...

Negatives

The game is too repetitive. Quests are always the same - go there and kill 6 of these, or collect 8 of those. You do 1500 or more of those just getting to level cap. That's not considering if you create more than one character. Once you get to level cap you end up doing the same 5-6 dungeons over and over again trying to get better gear. Once you get that, you end up doing the same Raids over and over again hoping for better gear.

The game quickly becomes a chore rather than a fun thing to play. The game always dangles the next apple in front of your mouth wherever you go. Whether it be the next level, or the next item you need to improve your item rating, it becomes a vicious cycle of doing things to get better, so that you can do more things to get better... and it quickly becomes pointless.

A lot of the old content is lacking love. I quested all through Kalimdor and found a lot of great questing areas, but a lot of the outdoor events and other quests which were the thing to do back in the day when it was new content were no logner functioning, or required more people to be around to work. The focus for most players became the same few areas that had the daily quests.

The skill system is horribly linear. When you pick to be a "healer druid" you take the restoration tree, and there is literally a set of ideal skills you should choose to be the best you can at healing. There is no wiggle room, no creativity, it feels pre-set. Take this in comparison to Diablo II where you could combine skills from different trees to create truly unexpected characters. World of Warcraft instead encourages you to pick one tree and stick to it.

Memorable Moments

When I was low level, maybe 20ish, I went on a little adventure from Orgrimmar and just wandered south in search of new areas to explore. It sort of gave me sense of the enormity of the world. I really enjoyed that adventure that took me a couple of days, walking around Ragefire Chasm into Alliance territory. Luckily as a feral druid I could use stealth to get through those areas, but it was quite exciting. I remember coming across a very high level (probably level capped) Worgen sitting by a lake fishing. He was there, moved around a bit, but didn't even flinch at the sight of me. That trip was great and I got to a whole new set of flight paths to areas which were about the right level for me to explore. I continued South over the next few weeks and ended up at Un Goro Crater which was just before I headed to Outland at level 58.

I played a Tauren feral druid as my main (and pretty much only) character. I maxed out leatherworking and skinning, and focused on the feral cat dps build. I got to level 85 after 3 months of heavy playing until I finally realised what a monumental waste of time it was and how it had become a chore, more than something fun to play. I joined a NZ based guild, did a few dungeons with them, did my first and only raid which was intense, and then gave it up.

Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast

Game: Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast
Developer: BioWare
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1999
Stephen's Rating: 5/10

Basic Plot

Tales of the Sword Coast didn't add any new critical/major arcs to the original game. Instead it added some additional areas to explore and conquer and some minor quests to complete, as well as raising the level cap.

Gameplay

The gameplay was identical to the original game. The expansion added four new areas:

• Ulgoth's Beard (small town)
• Ice Island
• Werewolf Island
• Durlag's Tower

Overall the expansion is said to add 30-40 hours of gameplay to the original game.

Positives

It gave you an opportunity to further advance your character before exporting and importing into Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.

Negatives

It didn't really add anything magical that enhanced the original game other than adding some more content.

Memorable Moments

None.

The Seven Cities of Gold

Game: The Seven Cities of Gold
Developer: Ozark Softscape
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1993 for the PC version (original game in 1984)
Stephen's Rating: 5/10

Basic Plot

Each game you played was a mission to explore and conquer the New World. You played the captain of an exploration ship, with the goal of obtaining exotic resources and setting up villages and forts in foreign lands (the Americas).

Exploring the ocean.

Gameplay

The game started with your mission being presented to you. The gameplay then involved several modes; searching the oceans for new lands, wandering continents and islands looking for resources or native villages, and then entering villages and dealing with the local people.

Each mode had its own viewing perspective for the player. I can't remember much else other than that. There was a mechanic for combat, there was also the ability to trade Spanish goods with the natives to try and forge peace or get local goods. The game tried to simulate the Spanish exploration era.

The start of the game, getting your mission.

Positives

It was a pretty unique gaming experience, and I liked how epic it was. Every time I read the manual I got with my EA Compilation CD I would read about this game, get excited, and attempt to play it again.

Negatives

It was way too hard. Every game I played I would find a village, and then the natives would kill me shortly afterwards. It was possibly due to the fact I was 9 years old, but still. Frustrating.

Jill of the Jungle

Game: Jill of the Jungle
Developer: Epic MegaGames
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1992
Stephen's Rating: 5/10

Basic Plot

None that I am aware of other than being a badass Amazon woman slaying monsters in the jungle.

Gameplay

Jill of the Jungle was a side-scrolling platform action game. You played the role of Jill, an Amazon warrior. You progressed through the game using various weapons and enhancements and collecting keys in order to progress to the next level.

Like the Commander Keen games there was an over-level which was used to access the actual playable levels in the game.

Positives

I found this game quite fun to play. The look and feel, along with the sound effects and the flow of the game were quite satisfying at the time.

Negatives

This game wasn't anything particularly special, and I barely remember playing it. It was very similar to a lot of games at the time including Commander Keen and Duke Nukem.

Memorable Moments

I only played the shareware version of this game.

Bolo

Game: Bolo
Developer: Stuart Cheshire & Various (ports)
Platform: Mac and PC
Release Year: 1987
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

Basic Plot

None that I am aware of.

Gameplay

Bolo is a multiplayer tank combat game which I used to play in the computer labs at my high school. We played it on some old Apple computers with black and green screens.

The game included network LAN multiplayer game support. Each player controlled a tank and could defeat and take over pillboxes which were like automated turrets which could take out opponent players. They could be picked up and moved around to strategic locations.

You looked down on your tank and could move it around, and shoot at enemies. Tanks were tough and could take several hits before being destroyed and were also destroyed by moving in to deep water.

Tanks had two main forms of attack; a cannon which fired directly at enemies, and mines which were dropped on the ground. Mines, while visible to the player who dropped them, were invisible to other players until they moved very close to them. Ammo was scattered around the map.

The objective was to hold all of the "bases" on the map.

Positives

This was an early and really simple way to have mass multiplayer. It was chaotic and fun, I have fond memories.

Negatives

I wish I'd had more time to get to know this game. Because we played it in the few minutes before or after class, I barely got to scratch the surface.

Memorable Moments

I remember getting pwned by pillboxes.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

Game: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Developer: Blizzard
Platform: PC
Release Year: 2010
Stephen's Rating: 10/10

Let me start by saying that without a doubt, StarCraft II is the best video game ever created (to date). There are games with better stories, better visuals, better music, sometimes even better mechanics, but when you look at the whole package nothing even comes to close.

Basic Plot

The Wings of Liberty campaign follows on four years from the end of StarCraft: Brood Wars. At the conclusion of Brood Wars Kerrigan's Zerg forces had dominated the Koprulu Sector. Despite having ample power to wipe the remaining Protoss and Terran forces from the universe, she instead retreats to Char.

The campaign follows the character Jim Raynor once again. The Zerg have not been heard or seen for years, but the threat of their attack remains. Arcturus Mengsk remains leader of the Terran Dominion. Raynor is working as a mercenary after being marginalized by the media and finds himself working for the Moebius Foundation uncovering Xel'Naga relics. Raynor is "jaded and bitter" from his betrayal by Mengsk and the loss of Sarah Kerrigan to the Zerg.

Raynor forms a group called Raynor's Raiders as a means of overthrowing the Terran Dominion's oppressive rule. The Raiders search for Xel'Naga artifacts in order to sell them to the Moebius Foundation, to fund their rebellion. They also undertake missions to undermine Arctrutus Mengsk by uncovering proof of his war crimes.

Zeratul then sneaks about the Hyperion and gives a message to Raynor in the form of a crystal which shares visions. The vision entails a strange prophecy about the future of the Protoss and Zerg races as well as a hybrid of the two races. The prophecy states that Kerrigan is the only one who is capable of saving all life in the Koprulu Sector from eradication.

The Moebius Foundation turns out to be led by Valerian Mensgk, Arcturus' son. He is hoping to prove himself a worthy successor. He enlists Raynor to help him use the Xel'Naga artifacts to free Kerrigan from her infestation. After much internal resistance they travel to the world of Char where they set off the device and restore Kerrigan to her (nearly) human state.

Some Protoss Void Rays taking on some Terran Battlecruisers.

Gameplay

There are two main sections to discuss here; the campaign and single player, and the multiplayer.

Single Player Gameplay

The campaign is broken up into missions. The player is often able to choose from multiple missions beforehand, affecting both the way the story unfolds and the order of the missions. Initially the game is fairly linear until Raynor boards the Hyperion. From then on the player returns to the Hyperion between missions where they are able to:

• Choose missions to complete.
• Choose research upgrades.
• Choose armoury upgrades.
• Replay old missions.
• View news stories and other trivia hidden around the Hyperion.
• Talk to the crew of the Hyperion for extra back story.
• Play the spacies game.

The upgrades you choose permanently change the units you have during the campaign missions. For example; if you upgrade the range of your ghost or spectre units in the armoury, all spectres or ghosts you build from then on will have this upgrade. There are two kinds of upgrades.

You get research upgrades by collection Zerg or Protoss samples during missions. Obtaining them often requires going outside of the mission objectives into dangerous territory. There are two research paths which you can complete easily by the end of the campaign - one for Protoss, one for Zerg. At each stage you get to choose between two upgrades which means there is incentive to play the campaign twice to see what all the upgrades are like. For example; in the Protoss research upgrades when you reach 20 research points you can choose between either a Science Vessel or a Raven as a new unit that you can produce. Not all upgrades are new units, most upgrade existing units such as a Neosteel Bunker with better armour and extra capacity.

The Protoss and Zerg research tree on the Hyperion.

Armoury upgrades work a bit different. You obtain credits at the end of each successful mission and can choose to spend these on either new mercenary contracts, or upgrades at the armoury. There are different upgrade paths for different units, and there is no way to obtain them all. Instead the player can focus on a particular set of units which they want to maximise the effectiveness of. For example; I focused heavily on marines. The mercenaries are special hero units that you can summon a limited number of during a mission. They are stronger versions of the standard Terran units.

In essence there are two parts to the game. There's the missions themselves, and then there's the upgrading and mission selection in between. There are also some crucial points during the game where you have to choose between the advice of two of your companions. The choice you make impacts the story from that point onwards and offers extra replayability to the campaign.

The other single player game modes include playing against the AI, and playing the Challenges. AI games are a great way to initially learn how to play the multiplayer game. The units available are vastly limited compared to the campaign, and you have access to both the Zerg and Protoss races as well.

The challenges are meant to help prepare you for multiplayer by forcing you to learn important skills such as using shortcut keys, using unit abilities, walling up, knowing the benefits and weaknesses of each unit, and army composition. They are difficult to complete and you can obtain either a bronze, silver, or gold rank depending how you perform on each.

As with multiplayer there are a vast set of achievements which can be obtained during the campaign the single player games. For example; completing every challenge with a gold rank gives you the Spectre portrait and unlocks an achievement. These have no use functionally and serve only as an aesthetic "medal" you can show off to your friends.

Multiplayer Gameplay

Multiplayer matches can be broken up into many categories. There are four different game styles which make up the ladder and are ranked. These are 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4. The team games can be played with your friends by forming a party, or you can search for a game and get teamed up with random people over the internet. There are also free for all (FFA) games which are unranked, as well as a multitude of custom games using either Blizzard made or fan-made maps. A lot of the custom games created by the public are complete games within themselves which break away from the original game mechanics completely.

Protoss forces engage a Terran base.

When you first start multiplayer games you get put into Practice League. In this league the game speed is set to Normal, you play on special novice maps which have lots of destructible rocks, and you get 50 games with no consequences or impact on your ladder ranking.

Once you are finished with Novice League (you can opt out at any time) you start your five placement matches. You will be matched up against a variety of opponents from differnet skill levels. Depending on how well you do you'll be placed in a league. The leagues are as follows (and don't quote me on the figures for Bronze to Diamond, I heard this but can't confirm):

• Bronze League; the bottom 20% of players in your region.
• Silver League; the bottom 20-40% of players in your region.
• Gold League; the top 40-60% of players in your region.
• Platinum League; the top 20-40% of players in your region.
• Diamond League; the top 20% of players in your region.
• Masters Leaguel the top 2% of players in your region.
• Grandmasters League; the top 200 players in each region.

Each League is broken up into divisions. A division contains 100 players whom you are essentially competing against although you may never play any of them. You are given a division ranking; for example you might be in Silver League and be rank 38 in your division. The rankings don't actually have any direct relationship to how close or far away you are from ascending to a higher league but rather how many points you obtain by playing games. Usually the players who play the most have the highest division ranking.

You get re-placed for every team you are involved with. For example; your 1v1 games you are ranked as a solo team. Each time you play with a new friend, you will be considered a new "team" and be placed independently to your other rankings. This is really useful; you might be diamond league for 1v1 but have a friend who has just started the game and you want to play 2v2 matches with him or her. In your placement matches you're likely to lose a lot and might get placed in bronze or silver league which is appropriate considering your strength as a team.

Once you are placed the leagues are not locked. You can ascend to a higher league simply by beating players who are better than you on a regular basis (in a higher league). There is a hidden score system that you cannot view directly, but your objective is to increase your score to get into a higher league.

Periodically the season ends and a new season starts. When this happens you have to play one match to re-evaluate your league placement and all of your stats are cleared. Often before a season is about to end the leagues will be "locked" meaning you can lose or win as many games as you like but will stay in your current league until the next season starts.

A Zerg base under attack. The purple creep surrounds everything they build on, and is spread all over the map to help Zerg units move faster.

The actual game is a real time strategy game similar to the original StarCraft but faster paced. You have to manage economy, research, military, and your opponents at the same time. This is a complex thing to do. It's easy to pick up the basics, but the nuances of the game mean there is always something new to learn or work on to improve your game. Players can pick from three races;

• Terran are humans and are the focus of the Wings of Libery campaign. They have utilitarian units which can be adapted to any purpose. In general they have quite strong units but are slow to re-build their forces and often play defensively in the early stages of the game.
• Zerg are your standard Aliens type of creature. They are a race of organisms who "infest" other races and assimilate them into their Swarm. Zerg are probably the most different (and arguably difficult) race to use. They spawn units from hatcheries, have Queen's to assist them, and have generally weak units which are meant to be expendable. Playing Zerg requires a lot of micromanagement.
• Protoss are the high-tech Predator like race. They have powerful units but have less variety than Terran. With warp gates they are able to warp in basic infantry armies quickly and they can also chrono-boost production to speed up building and upgrading. I play Protoss.

Each race has strengths and weaknesses but ultimately they are fairly balanced. There are regular patches to address balance issues, and the new Heart of the Swarm expansion will add new units to each race which will mix things up again.

The ultimate objective is to destroy all of your opponents buildings. There are a whole raft of strategies involved which I am not going to go into great detail with but here are some headlines:

• Cheesing which is another name for an "all-in" strategy. This involves trying to win the game quickly at the start of the game while taking the risk that if you fail, you've essentially lost the game because your economy is so far behind. There are multiple varieties available to each race and two of the most classic ones are the 6pool or 8pool from the Zerg where they sacrifice economy to get zerglings in the opponent's base as quickly as possible, and cannon rushing from the Protoss which involves building photon cannons in your opponents base which are difficult to deal with early on. There is a famous Youtube series called When Cheesee Fails which documents some spectacular cheese fails on the ladder.
• Macro is all about economy and build order. A player with good macro will have better income, more units, more research completed than someone who doesn't. Macro isn't just about getting lots of money, it's about build order; what to build and when in order to be efficient. Working on this kind of thing is recommended as a first approach to new players and the strategy differs between races.
• Micro is about micro-managing your units. Micro helps win individual battles but can't win games by itself. Micro is about using your units special abilities and taking advantage of terrain and map features which can help you win a battle. For example, a Protoss sentry can place force fields which stop units getting past. A single force field can stop the enemy going up the ramp into your base, and can save you from early aggression.
• Scouting; if you don't know what your enemy is doing you don't know how to prepare/counter. Scouting is very important right from the start of the game. Keeping map control and knowing what is going on is an ongoing part of the game which takes some effort to maintain.

In a nutshell the number of combinations of strategy involved in the game are endless. Because of this, and because you're playing against real people who are unpredictable the replayability of even just the base game is beyond any other game I've ever played. That doesn't account for the custom games, some of which are fully fledged games of their own right with huge followings. Examples of these include Squadron Tower Defence and Marine Arena.

Battle.net Features

Firstly, Battle.net handles match ups automatically. You hit "find game" and it will find a close-enough matched opponent for you to take on. If you want a team game, it will find you a teammate. It's so easy to play multiplayer by yourself or with your friends.

Secondly, the friends system is easy to use and very well executed. Down the bottom right is an icon which shows you how many friends you have online. This stretches across to other Blizzard games such as World of Warcraft too. There is a Facebook account feature which finds anyone in your Facebook friends list who has the game, and connects you up. Additionally you can meet friends and add them in your games and also block and mute players who are offensive.

I cannot stress enough how effective the friends system is. When I jump into the game I know instantly who is online and what they're playing. I can chat to them with the press of a button, join a party, and start playing.

Positives

Some of the things that make this game spectacular;

• The complexity and variety of gameplay is immense. There is little wonder why this game is the most successful pro game out there with tournaments all over the world with large cash prizes.
• There is a huge fan following with people posting parody, commentating games, talking about strategy, and just general discussion all over the internet. I heard that there are about 12 million StarCraft II players in the world so you are never without someone to play with.
• The custom games are amazing. I play some of them more than I play the actual game.
• The friends system and interface are excellent.
• The campaign is fun and replayable.
• The achievements and portrait system are fun and add incentive to play more games.

 Choosing a player portrait. You unlock portraits by getting achievements in the game.

Negatives

You can't play offline or LAN. You have to be online all the time. If the Battle.net servers are down, you can only play in "offline" mode which is single player only and all your achievements and progress are unavailable.

Some of the players out there are incredible. Starting now would be tricky, as there are just too many good players out there to ascend the ladder quickly.

Memorable Moments

StarCraft II brings people together. I have re-connected with old friends and acquaintances through the game's Facebook friend finder. One such person I now consider one of my closest friends, and we talk pretty much every day - and we still play StarCraft together many times each week. The Battle.net service and the way the game is organised has brought a group of us together in a way no-other game could.

We have actually made some videos based on StarCraft II including a music video and a little sketch to some music. Check them out:

"Eight Pool" music video.

Viva la Dirt League Teaser

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)

Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit version, as opposed to 8-bit)
Developer: Sonic Team
Platform: Sega Megadrive/Genesis
Release Year: 1992
Stephen's Rating: 7/10

Basic Plot

As with all Sonic games the plot revolves around stopping the evil Dr. Robotnic. Robotnic is attempting once again to take over the world with his army of animals who he's turned into robots.

Gameplay

The gameplay is very similar to the original Sonic the Hedgehog with some notable tweaks and additions:

• Sonic now has a spin dash attack which he can use to gain momentum from a stationary position. It has a really satisfying sound effect and is very useful in the game.
• You can play the game as Sonic (like the original), Tails (his sidekick, who is slower but has a "fly" ability to reach high places), or both. In the latter you play as Sonic, and Tails follows you. He has some limited AI and will try and help you, or another player can take over Tails' and control him.
• Bonus stages are different than the original game but give you a chaos emerald each time you complete one. If you manage to collect all of the chaos emeralds you gain the ability to turn into Super Sonic during the main game. This requires obtaining 50 rings and jumping into the air. Super Sonic is yellow with larger spikes, is faster than normal sonic, and immune to any damage other than falling or being crushed by terrain. He remains as Super Sonic as long as he as rings, but he slowly drains rings to remain in this form.
• Overall the levels are larger and the pace of the game is faster than the original.
• If the player also owns a copy of Sonic the Knuckles (released in 1994) they could "lock" that cartridge to the back of this one and play the combined game. This allows you to play the story as Knuckles.

 Sonic with Tails following behind.

Positives

The music is amazing, the gameplay is polished and satisfying. The little secrets like Super Sonic make this game very replayable. There is a really satisfying feeling as the game progresses, especially heading into the Sky Chase Zone and Death Egg Zone, and the music really helps with this.

Negatives

This game is pretty difficult if you play it in its original form. When I played it I used an emulator which allowed me to save my progress any time, which was the only reason I was able to obtain Super Sonic and experience the game in its entirety.

Memorable Moments

I remember vividly when I first was shown Super Sonic from a friend of mine. I thought it was pretty darn amazing, and an awesome little secret to put into the game.

When I watched a friend play this game I loved taking over as Tails as an non-important but semi-playable ally.

Cyberdogs

Game: Cyberdogs
Developer: Ronny Wester
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1994
Stephen's Rating: 7/10

Basic Plot

None.

Gameplay

Cyberdogs is a top down action shooter which can be played as a single or two player shared screen co-operative campaign.

Players choose between three characters; Jones, Ice, and Warbaby. The game involves traversing levels, collecting items, and fighting off enemies. Money obtained during a level could be spent between levels on upgrading your weapons and gear.

Choose your hero. Why wouldn't you go Warbaby? I mean... he's wearing a beret.

Positives

Along with Sopwith 2 and The Lost Vikings this was one of those games my brother introduced me to. This had an air of "cool" about it, and I really enjoyed the times I played it.

Negatives

The view and controls were a bit confusing at times, shared screen even more so. The perspective was unusual for other games of that era.

Memorable Moments

I remember there were some pretty amazing guns you could obtain if you saved up enough money. I played split screen a lot with my brother and other friends.

Serious Sam

Game: Serious Sam
Developer: Croteam
Platform: PC
Release Year: 2001
Stephen's Rating: 5/10

Basic Plot

You play the role of Sam "Serious" Stone and you travel to different time periods to defeat an ancient alien enemy called Mental.

Gameplay

This is an unashamedly non-realistic first person shooter. The guns are huge and powerful, the enemies are enormous and come in huge waves, the colours and bright and unnatural.

There was only one way to beat the game. Jump backwards in circles and hold the fire key down. There was simply no other way to get past the enemies.

There was a nice sense of distance and size within the game world which had an almost peaceful feel about it at times.

Positives

I like how the game doesn't try and be anything other than what it is - a really bad first person shooter with lots of STUFF. It fulfills that niche which Duke Nukem also sits in but does it with more nouse in my opinion.

Negatives

It's a fairly repetitive game and it really doesn't have much of a story. There isn't a lot of skill involved other than jumping backwards in circles.

Memorable Moments

Jumping backwards in circles? I completed the game so I couldn't give it less than a 5. If it was terrible I simply wouldn't have finished it.

Sid Meier's Civilization

Game: Sid Meier's Civilization
Developer: MicroProse
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1991
Stephen's Rating: 7/10

Basic Plot

In Civilization you take on the role of a leader of a great civilization. Each game is different, but the objective is always to do what you need to do to become a great empire, starting with a single village.

Gameplay

Civilization is a turn based empire building strategy game.

This game has one of the most complex sets of mechanics out there (perhaps excluding EVE Online) so I'm not going to try and tackle all of it, just highlight the major points of difference.

At the beginning of the game there is a world which is unexplored. You start with a settler who can found a city, and one other unit to protect it. It is the Stone Age (depending on the game speed you choose).

 The graphics are simple but well designed for the game.

Once you found a city it starts with a population of 1 and immediately you can choose a unit or building to start producing from it. Cities are one major component of your empire. They are your production, they house your population, and they also required maintenance and attention. Cities have buildings which provide various bonuses but also incur maintenance costs. There are special buildings called "wonders" which take a very long time to build but often provide a powerful advantage. Only one of each wonder can be built.

The next major part of an empire is its units. These consist of settlers (which can be used to found a city) as well as soldiers and other specialist units (spies, diplomats). These are usually used to defend yourself against another civilization or to lay war upon them.

Throughout the game the player can research science, starting from the very primitive (agriculture, horseback riding) right through to the advanced (nuclear fusion, robotics). Each "tech" takes a number of turns to research. A more populous empire with the right infrastructure (libraries, universities etc) researches technology faster. Technology allows you to build new units, buildings, tile improvements, and also choose new religions and government policies.

There is also diplomacy. Inevitably you'll come face to face with other empires. Depending on your relative military strengths you may end up going to war, becoming allies, or bribing each other to stop an all-out war. You can make trades for technology, gold, resources, or even peace.

The land itself can be upgraded and improved to help your civilization whether that be building mines, roads, farms, or railroads; all of these help the empire. The world is divided into "tiles". Each city can use a certain number of tiles depending on its population. An improved tile may provide more production, gold, or food (which are the three primary resources).

There are several ways to achieve victory:

• Military domination - simply controlling the majority of the world and eliminating your enemies by force.
• Space race - be the first to build a ship and travel to Alpha Centuri.
• Points - have the most points at the end of the Modern Era.

Positives

The complexity of the game and the huge number of interacting mechanics make this game hugely replayable. There is a large degree of skill which can be obtained by studying or trial and error, and there are vastly different play styles which can be experimented with.

There was nothing as detailed and complex as this at the time. It provided that satisfaction and detail involved in some of the very detailed board games with the automation and simplicity of a video game.

Negatives

I can't really think of any. It's a pretty specialized genre and its not for everyone, but for those that like this kind of thing the game is excellent in every way.

Memorable Moments

I've re-played this game many times over the years, the latest being in 2005. In more recent years I've switched over to Civilization IV Complete which is a worthy successor to this brilliant game.

Doom II: Hell on Earth

Game: Doom II: Hell on Earth
Developer: id Software
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1994
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

Basic Plot

After the events of DOOM the nameless marine returns to Earth only to discover it has also been overrun by demons. The remaining humans have built huge space ships to escape, but the demons have captured them and are preventing their escape. The nameless marine liberates the ships and allows the humans to escape, then he travels through the portal to Hell where he battles and defeats the Icon of Sin. In doing so he is able to close the portal and save Earth.

Gameplay

Doom II is a first person shooter and used the same engine as the original game. There were no technological upgrades, but the game included larger and more complex levels.

There were a number of new monsters to fight, and one new weapon - the Super Shotgun which was a double barrelled shotgun devastating in very close quarters.

One of the new enemies. Rocket launcher in hand.

Positives

Multiplayer was fun, the new complexity of the levels and the new enemies made it just different enough to make it stand out and hold interest.

Negatives

Pretty much cashing in on the success of the original, fairly repetitive and linear gameplay.

Another new enemy, chainsaw in hand. Notice the glowing eyes of god-mode on the players face bottom centre. Can't remember if this was only a cheat or if you could get a power-up in the game that gave you this temporarily.

Memorable Moments

This was the first multiplayer network game I played (I think). I used to play it over my 33.6 k modem with my friend Nick. We played quite a bit of deathmatch and also some of the co-operative mode.

Afterthought: This was also the first game I made my own levels for. I found the level editor fairly intuitive and it was a good addition to the game.

Jazz Jackrabbit

Game: Jazz Jackrabbit
Developer: Epic Games
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1994
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

Jazz Jackrabbit was a game I played in the hayday of shareware.

Basic Plot

You play the role of Jazz Jackrabbit, a fast running rabbit with a gun. The story is an extension of the infamous The Tortoise and the Hare. The main antagonist is Devan Shell, a tortoise who conquers planets. Jazz's homeworld of Carrotus proved too strong to conquer, so in retaliation Devan Shell kidnaps the princess Eva Earlong. It's up to Jazz to defeat Devan and rescue the princess.

In writing that it sounds very much like the plot of Super Mario Brothers with the gameplay of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Gameplay

It's pretty obvious that this game is a lot like Sonic the Hedgehog. It's a fast paced platform game. The difference is that Jazz can't jump on enemies to defeat the, instead he has a gun. By default he has a blaster with unlimited ammunition but he can collect various other forms of ammunition to help him throughout the game:

• Blaster - unlimited ammo basic projectile.
• Fireball - large radius fire shot.
• RPG - bi-missile projectile.
• Bouncing Grenades
• TNT

(Those arne't the official names but how I remember them). The game also featured bonus levels (like Sonic the Hedgehog) and secret levels.

Positives

As with other Epic games, Jazz had some of the best music out there. It's interesting that its competitor Sonic the Hedgehog also had excellent music, although the styles were quite different.

The fast pace of the game was enjoyable, and it used the trusted formula of Sonic the Hedgehog so it was bound to be aesthetically enjoyable. For the time it was great graphics.

Negatives

It was pretty unoriginal. The story and characters were pretty cliche and uninteresting. It didn't grip me enough to make me want to buy the full version, although I *really* enjoyed playing it at the time.

Memorable Moments

Although Jazz looks tougher than sonic because he has a gun, it kind of makes him more fragile because he can't jump on enemies (he gets hurt).

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Game: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Developer: Bethesda
Platform: PC (and others)
Release Year: 2006
Stephen's Rating: 3/10

A potentially incredible game ruined by an absolutely retarded skill system.

Basic Plot

Oblivion is set after the events that took place in Morrowind.

The game is set in the province of Cyrodiil and like the previous game the player takes the role of a prisoner of an unknown crime. The player quickly finds themselves escaping underground with the Emperor Uriel Septim VII (voiced by Patrcik Stuart). You are ambushed by the Mythic Dawn cult, the Emperor is killed, but he gives you an amulet to deliver before he dies.

In a nutshell hundreds of portals have opened up all over Cyrodiil which lead to the plane of Oblivion. This is caused by the lack of an Emperor... which I have some moral issues about but lets move on. The only way to stop the invasion of the Daedra is to find a rightful heir to the throne and get them to use the Amulet of Kings to light the Dragonfires.

Third person view in the game.

Gameplay

The game is at first glance a lot like Morrowind. It plays out as a first or third person single player role playing adventure in a vast world. There is a primary story to follow and a quest line to complete, as well as a huge variety of secondary quests which can be completed for various other factions or individuals.

I'll cut to the chase. The skill and advancement system is appalling. Here is how it works... When you start you choose from a large list of skills some to be your major skills, and some to be your minor. When you gain 10 skill points in either major or minor skills you level up. Depending on the skills you used to achieve the level up, you'll be able to increase different stats (strength, agility, endurance, etc). The frustrating thing is that in order to get the most out of a level up you need to keep track of what skills you've gained points in. Skills are linked to particular stats, and depending on how many gains you get in each skill point you will be allowed to increase your stats more or less. I literally still can't explain to myself how it all works but I can explain the impact.

Firstly, when you level up so do all your enemies. Throughout the game you will always take on opponents roughly the same level as you are. If you make poor choices in levelling up (i.e. just play the game normally) you will find yourself getting comparatively weaker and weaker in relation to your enemies. This is unintuitive and in my opinion a deeply flawed mechanic.

Secondly, you are essentially forced to keep track of your skill gains. This greatly takes away from the playing experience, as you'll find yourself carefully having to take notes with pen and paper and change the way you play in order to level up efficiently. This is absurd, for a game to expose this much of its core mechanics and force the player to keep track of it. It could mean if you gain a level in swordsmanship you might want to only get strength based skills, but while you run to hit another enemy you gain points in Athletics which is an agility skill (let's say), which screws up your levelling.

Character information.

All and all the skill advancement is very, very, very, very, very badly thought out and executed. I could not play this game once I learnt how it worked (and now I'm still a little confused...). I did find a patch which altered the skill system to be more organic, but people who bought this game for console didn't have that option.

Other than that... you spend a lot of time travelling around the world as you did in Morrowind. You can get mounts in this game, and there are many other small changes. You can enter Oblivion gates and close them. And instant travel was introduced which is a huge improvement from Morrowind where you had to find an in-game source of transport like a silt strider.

Positives

Instant travel. Patrick Stewart's voice.

Negatives

The skill system. The repetitiveness of the Oblivion zones. The annoying things people would say around cities. The regression in terms of the visual design of the world in comparison to Morrowind. Better graphics, worse design and detail. Single player only - what is the point in playing such a vast game when you can't share it with your friends?

Memorable Moments

I basically hate this game. It could have been awesome, but the skill system is retarded. And it's single player.

Team Fortress

Game: Team Fortress
Developer: Team Fortress Software
Platform: PC (Half-Life Mod)
Release Year: 1996
Stephen's Rating: 7/10

This original version of Team Fortress was a Quake mod way back in 1996. This was ported to the GoldSrc (Half-Life 1) engine in 1999, and it is the Half-Life mod which I played.

Basic Plot

There is no plot. The game involves two opposing teams consisting of multiple players who battle each other and to complete certain objectives.

Gameplay

In its essence Team Fortress is a class based team battle game between the red and blue teams. By class based I am referring to the different character classes which the player can take control of during a game, each of which has unique abilities and weaponry.

The classes available are:

• Scout - Fastest but weakest class. Useful for capturing flags and getting to objectives quickly, but greatly outclassed in terms of combat ability.
• Spy - Also very weak unit but is able to change appearance to look like an enemy player, choosing which class they'd like to parade as. Had a knife attack for backstabbing enemies. Used for infiltration and assassination.
• Medic - Light warrior with the ability to heal allies and infect enemies.
• Engineer - Light warrior with the ability to built and upgrade automatic turrets. These turrets could be used to fortify important positions on the map.
• Pyro - Fire-themed heavy infantry with a flame thrower among other weapons.
• Soldier - Heavy infantry with a bazooka.
• Heavy Weapons - The ultimate heavy infantry with a chaingun but very slow movement speed.

There are usually map objectives as well including capturing the enemy flag or holding strategic points. This is similar in gameplay to Tribes.

I think this is a set of class models from the original Quake version, I'm having trouble finding images of the version I played - all I seem to find are screenshots from Team Fortress 2.

Unlike Team Fortress 2 every class had some kind of grenades which could be used during combat. These were extremely useful and were effective at clearing out enemies who were "camping" in particular spots, and could even be used to get to high areas (by timing a jump as a concussion grenade went off, you could leap great distances).

Positives

The variety of classes and large number of players in a game meant that no game was ever the same. There was a kind of wonderful chaos about the game and each game was filled with action.

Negatives

It didn't have the realism of Counter-Strike in terms of head shots or falling damage, which was actually not necessarily a bad thing but was one of the reasons I stopped playing.

Again, I can't tell if this is from the GoldSrc engine or Quake.

Memorable Moments

Team Fortress was my first taste at first person multiplayer action online. I really liked the game and only stopped playing because Counter-Strike grabbed my attention more and provided a game which required more skill and complexity to master.

My favourite class was the Engineer and I got pretty good at taking kills with the shotgun, and building turrets inside the enemy base without them noticing.