Twisted Metal

Game: Twisted Metal
Developer: SingleTrac
Platform: Sony PlayStation
Release Year: 1995
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

Basic Plot

The setting is Christmas Eve 2005 and the competition is called Twisted Metal. Twisted Metal involves various vehicles engaging in combat. The last surviving vehicle wins.

Gameplay

This is a third person car game with the primary objective being combat rather than racing. Players can pick from a variety of vehicles and are put together in an arena. There, a group of vehicles engage in a combat free-for-all until the last car is standing.

Each vehicle was different. They had different speeds, could take varying amounts of damage before being destroyed, and handled differently.

Weapons, health, and ammunition was scattered around each arena and replenished over time. Every car was also equipped with twin machine guns which did minimal damage but had unlimited ammunition (although they could overheat).

The single player game involved six arenas which were bound together into a campaign.

Mutliplayer was done over split screen so your opponent could see where you were at all times. This made it quite tricky to be sneaky.

Positives

A good multiplayer experience. Fun, not trying to be anything other than a bit of rough and tumble. Easy to pick up.

Negatives

No story, kind of annoying characters and sound design in general.

Memorable Moments

We played this game over a weekend when hiring out a PlayStation on more than one occasion.

Pokemon Platinum

Game: Pokemon Platinum
Developer: Game Freak
Platform: Nintendo DS
Release Year: 2008
Stephen's Rating: 8/10

Pokemon Platinum is the director's cut/extended edition of Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl in the same way that Pokemon Emerald was the extended version of Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire.

Basic Plot

The game is set on the island of Sinnoh. As with all Pokemon games the player takes on the role of a young Pokemon trainer who leaves home to explore the world. The story focuses around the activities of Team Galactic as well as three legendary Pokemon, Dialga, Palkia, and new to Pokemon Platinum, Giratina.

Gameplay

The game plays out much like the previous incarnations of the game with some minor tweaks. It's a third person adventure game for the most part where players capture, train up, and battle a series of pocket monsters or Pokemon.

There are three main views within the game. The world view is top down and allows you to see your character and move throughout Sinnoh. Battle view is pseudo 3D (sort of) and occurs whenever you enter a Pokemon battle. There is also an extensive menu system for viewing and manipulating the items you have in your possession.

Some new feature were added which were not present in Pokemon Pearl and Pokemon Diamond such as a multiplayer wifi section called the Wifi Plaza in which up to 20 players from around the world could compete in a series of minigames.

Positives

This was easily the best Pokemon game I've ever played. The story and characters were less grating than usual, but it was the gameplay which really made it stand out.

When I play a game I play for keeps. I want to master it, to be an unstoppable force of power. In order to do that I looked into advanced techniques like EV training and breeding. The game fully supported my desire to do this in lots of ways. Firstly, there were plots all over Sinnoh where you could plant berries. You could come back in 1-2 days and collect them. Some berries were very useful. In particular, some berries could lower a Pokemon's stats by 10 points. This helped when EV training a Pokemon because you could lower unwanted stats to focus on the ones you do want. Secondly, there was an item called the VS. Seeker which you could use around NPC Pokemon Trainers you'd already battled. There was a chance when you used the item they would spring to life and re-battle you (often with Pokemon of a higher level than your initial encounter). This was exceptionally useful in levelling or EV training as Pokemon owned by a trainer garner much better experience than wild ones and you get money for winning the battle on top of it.

There were also a whole raft of extra features which allows you to catch almost every Pokemon in the game (except event Pokemon). All and all it was a very well balanced game which made life easy and efficient. The menu systems were intuitive too, which was a major flaw in Pokemon Heart Gold.

Negatives

I bought this game over a year after its release and as a result I missed out on all of the wifi events and therefore about half a dozen event/legendary Pokemon that can't be obtained any other way except trading. It was pretty disappointing considering I paid just as much for the game as the people who bought it on its release date. I think Nintendo need to change the way they do events - so that everyone who buys a new copy of the game gets the chance to obtain all the event Pokemon that come with it.

This game only allows WEP authentication while connecting to wifi. This was... very annoying as almost every wifi network on the planet had been updated to WPA or WPA2. Every time I wanted to check for an event or access the wifi to trade I had to change my router settings. This was extra frustratring because I have a Nintendo DSi which has WPA capability but only if the game supports it.

Memorable Moments

Just outside about the second or third town I had a lucky break. I came upon a wild shiny Shinx (an electric type). Instead of the usual blue colouring he was golden... I was pretty much shaking with nervousness but I managed to not critical hit him and catch him, and I used him as my primary Pokemon for the remainder of the game. I have now transferred him to my Pokemon Black game. I ended up catching a shiny Roselia later on but that is pretty much the worst Pokemon in the game.

Angry Birds

Game: Angry Birds
Developer: Rovio Mobile
Platform: iOS and Android
Release Year: 2009
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

Angry Birds is the infamous and addictive bird tossing puzzle game everyone has on their smart phone.

Basic Plot

The story of each campaign is roughly similar. You play a collection of (wingless) birds. A group of pigs have stolen your eggs. It's up to you to destroy them and get your eggs back.

Gameplay

From a very basic point of view Angry Birds is like firing a sling shot at a pile of tin cans.

Each level consists of a slingshot, some stylised birds who don't have any wings (usually just a ball with a face on it), a tower of some kind containing various materials (ice/glass, wood, metal, etc), and a group of pigs who are scattered somewhere amongst the tower. The objective is to hit all of the pigs by firing your birds with the slingshot at them. The puzzle aspect is about the different towers which protect them. Often simply trying to fling birds at the tower without any thought will only take out a few of the pigs or none at all. It's about assessing each tower, finding the weak spots, and hitting them accurately.

Firing the birds is done with a touch screen. You pull the slingshot back and aim it in the direction you want. When you release, the bird will fly in the desired direction. On each level there is a pre-determined set of birds in a certain order who automatically jump up into the slingshot when it is their turn.

There are different types of birds who all have different abilities from basic birds who don't do anything, to birds who split into three smaller birds if you tap the screen while they are in mid air, and birds who explode like a bomb after a certain time frame. Knowing what materials and situations each bird is good at handling is a big part of the game.

In some of the later patches and releases there are some new features such as the golden eggs which are hidden around the game. Finding golden eggs unlocks bonus content and is somewhat like the red rings from Sonic Generations.

Positives

Addictive, simple, always with you as long as you have your phone.

Negatives

Repetitive, frustrating (at times).

Memorable Moments

I have to admit my opinion of the game is swayed by the phone I used to primarily play it.  I had a Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini at the time which I believe has the smallest touch screen on the Android market. Plus it has fairly low specs all round. The larger levels became unbearable laggy, plus everything was half the size or less of what everyone else was experiencing.

My wife is the master of this game. She will replay every level until she gets 3 stars, which she always does.

Portal 2

Game: Portal 2
Developer: Valve
Platform: PC
Release Year: 2011
Stephen's Rating: 9/10

This is it. The 100th game I've posted on my blog. I chose Portal 2 because for me it was the best game that came out of 2011. 

Basic Plot

Portal 2 occurs after the end of the original Portal and follows the character Chell after her escape from GLaDOS.

The game starts with Chell waking up after a long period of time. The Aperture Science facility has severely degraded over time, and Chell immediately meets the character Wheatley. Wheatley is a robot core and helps Chell escape her holding cell with the intention of escaping the facility. On their way out they accidentally (thanks Wheatley) re-awaken GLaDOS who has not forgiven Chell for "murdering" her all those years ago.

GLaDOS separates Wheatley and Chell and starts rebuilding the facility. After GLaDOS forces Chell through a number of new test chambers she is able to do a "core transfer" and put Wheatley in control of the Aperture Science facility leaving GLaDOS powered by a potato. The power quickly goes to Wheatley's head and he becomes deranged and evil, banishing Chell and GLaDOS into the deepest pits of the facility. GLaDOS reveals that Wheatley was designed specifically to be the "dumbest moron who ever lived" and berates her for putting him in control.

The remainder of the game involves Chell traveling through the old Aperture facilities below the current ones which are disbanded and mostly unused. She encounters a whole raft of new puzzles and challenges not seen in the original game and eventually fights her way back up to Wheatley where they face off in the final confrontation.

During her time in the old facility she is given a bit of backstory into the Aperture Science facility and where it all orginated from.

Using lasers and lenses in conjunction with portals to take out an assault bot.

Gameplay

The game is very similar to Portal in terms of gameplay. It is a first person puzzle game utilising a "portal gun" to traverse various puzzles and obstacles. Chell is able to fire a blue and orange portal which can only adhere to certain surfaces. These portals lead to each other. Using a combination of objects (lasers, cubes, lenses, assault bots) Chell is able to traverse levels and progress through the game.

There are a number of new puzzles and objects in the game especially in the underground facilities. These include blue, orange, and white gels which can be turned on and off using special pipes throughout the game. Each has a different effect. Blue gel turns a surface into a trampoline which you can use to bounce to different places. The orange gel allows you to move very quickly when standing on it, and the white gel can be used to turn any surface into a portal-viable one.

There were also light bridges and gravity tunnels as new puzzle objects which were also a lot of fun to interact with.

The game is split into two campaigns. The single player campaign follows Chell and the primary story and is the longer of the two. The multiplayer campaign allows you and one friend to play a co-operative campaign. With a culmination of four portals you are able to travserse even more complex puzzles. The campaign is shorter and has a lot less story than the single player but is still enjoyable and adds a whole new dimension to the game.

The visuals and game engine were improved from the original game but it kept the same consistent look and feel.

Blue gel.

Positives

For the most part the story was fascinating. I really enjoyed being in the abandoned facilities underground and learning about the history of Aperture Science. The characters are strong and help facilitate the story. The music is good, the puzzles are fun and satisfying. All in all, when you come out of the game you feel like you've experienced something.

A lot of people criticise this game in relation to the original because of how big-budget and "revelling in its awesomness" it is. I disagree, I found this game an improvement on the original especially in the story. My only qualm was the choice of Stephen Merchant as the voice of Wheatley (see below).

Negatives

The only flaw I see with the game is that once you've completed both the single and multiplayer campaigns there really isn't anything more to do. Although I really got a lot of the experience of playing the game, it was all over within a few weeks.

I personally didn't like the choice of Stephen Merchant as the voice of Wheatley. His voice has way too many connotations with Extras and The Office and for me it was a bit jarring, especially in the early stages of the game. It was all a bit cheesy. I didn't engage with the character of Whealey, instead I just kept thinking I was playing a game with Stephen Merchant.

Some of the old abandoned facility.

Memorable Moments

I didn't have to look up how to do any of the puzzles in the game, from memory. Maybe one? I was pretty stoked about that. I really liked the gels, and how you could combine all the puzzle components together into such interesting solutions.

Wacky Wheels

Game: Wacky Wheels
Developer: Beavis Soft
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1994
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

Basic Plot

There was no plot.

Gameplay

The game involved racing cartoon styled characters in cars around a racing track, while engaging your opponents in battle. There were various objects you could use to distract your opponents including hedgehogs and other items.

There were several different game modes ranging from traditional racing to arenas where the objective was to hit your opponents a certain number of times with hedgehogs.

The game featured split screen and network multiplayer support.

The game was, and the developers openly admit, heavily influenced by Super Mario Kart. They wanted to bring the same kind of gameplay experience to the PC. Copysoft also released a similar game around the same time called Skunny Kart which I also played.

Positives

Rich and interesting gameplay experience for the PC at the time. Bright and enjoyable graphics. High replayability.

Negatives

Very much a Super Mario Kart clone. 

Split-screen multiplayer mode.

Memorable Moments

This was one of those games I often saw in Simply Shareware magazine but never bought it because you paid per megabyte, and for the time this was a big game. I played it years later when the internet became more accessible and I could download it.

SkiFree

Game: SkiFree
Developer: Chris Pirih
Platform: Windows PC
Release Year: 1991
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

SkiFree was a classic arcade game that shipped with earlier versions of Windows (Windows 3.1 & 3.11). It ran in a window within the Windows environment.

Basic Plot

There is no plot. The game is set on a ski slope and you play the role of a skier.

Gameplay

The game involved skiing down a mountain slope avoiding obstacles and hitting jumps. There were a few different modes of gameplay:

• Free Style in which players attempted to gain points by doing tricks.
• Slalom in which players swerved between flags.
• Tree Slalom was identical to Slalom only longer, there was less room to move, and there were trees as obstacles.
• Just "ski free".

The Abominable Snow Monster...

In any game mode once you reached the bottom of the mountain there was a unique mechanic to end the race. As you flew down the mountain an Abominable Snow Monster would chase you until he grabbed you and ate you. There was no way to avoid him, he eventually caught you every time. It was challenging to see how far you could get without getting eaten.

Positives

For a "Windows Game" this was actually fun and replayable. Each time you did a race the obstacles and jumps were different, and it was satisfying to play.

 

Doing a jump.

Negatives

For what it was, there really aren't many. It would have been nice to have multiplayer.

Memorable Moments

I played this quite a bit. I got good enough to get to the bottom of the mountain with enough momentum to avoid the snow monster for quite a long time. My brother and I played this a lot together.

Talk World

Unfortunately, I can't find any record of this program on the internet. I want to enter it in for my own record, to remember what it was.

Talk World was a free piece of software which worked kind of like a 3D first person social game. There were no objectives, there was no mechanic to the game. It was simply a very early way for people to create an avatar and chat to each other online with voice communication and visuals.

Players could upload a headshot of themselves and attach it to their avatar. You could run around talking to other people. The world was broken up into rooms/areas. When you talked into your mic everyone in the same area as you could hear your conversation.

It was pretty cutting edge at the time, but also pretty weird.

Battlefield 1942

Game: Battlefield 1942
Developer: Digital Illusions CE
Platform: PC
Release Year: 2002
Stephen's Rating: n/a

Battlefield 1942 is an online team based first person shooter.

Basic Plot

There is no plot. The setting is the year 1942 during World War II. Each military campaign is based on a real life battle which occurred in the war.

Teams were either Allied or Axis powers within the game.

Gameplay

The game was primarily a first person shooter in which two teams battled to control objectives and take each other out. Similar to Counter-Strike teams had objectives on top of shooting each other such as holding control points to achieve victory.

The focus of the game was on team co-operation. Teams were large compared to similar games in the genre with 64 players broken up into two teams of 32 a fairly common number. The mechanic of having to "hold" control points enhanced the necessity to work well as a team.

Holding control points had a number if in-game benefits including slowing down the number of reinforcements the enemy team had, and spawning vehicles which players could take into battle for an added advantage.

One of the common game modes was conquest. A team lost by no longer having any players on the board. Players could respawn as long as they controlled at least one control point, so the way to achieve victory was to take all of the control points and then kill off any remaining players.

Positives

Nice focus on co-operation and team work. Lots of players, big epic games.

Negatives

I found the weapons (as in most WWII games) to be quite clunky and unsatisfying to use. Perhaps some creative licence could have been used to make it all a bit more interesting and engaging.

Memorable Moments

I don't think I ever played this game against real people, just the AI, so I don't feel justified in giving it a ranking.

Resident Evil

Game: Resident Evil
Developer: Capcom
Platform: PlayStation
Release Year: 1996
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

Resident Evil was the original mainstream horror survival zombie game.

Basic Plot

The game is set in Racoon City, where there have been reports of strange murders and cannibalism. An elite police unit called Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S) is sent in to check it out.

When S.T.A.R.S arrives they are attacked by rabid dogs who kill one of their team (Joseph Frost). The helicopter pilot Brad Vickers panics and takes off, leaving them behind. The remaining four team members are chased and forced to take refuge in a mansion.

The player can take the role of either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. The story involves searching the mansion, finding the members of Bravo Team (who were sent previously) and battling zombies. The story unfolds through a series of notes and pieces of evidence left around the game. Ultimately the story reveals that the Umbrella Corporation has been doing illegal experiments. One such experiment, the T-virus, is what is creating zombies in Racoon City.

After uncovering an underground research facility the player is eventually able to escape but not without having an encounter with the Tyrant, a giant humanoid monster created through long exposure to the T-virus.

Gameplay

The game is essentially a third person shooter with elements of puzzle solving. The style is that of a horror movie. The music, events, lighting and sound are all designed to keep the player on edge and surprise them at every turn. Like Half-Life there are scripted events designed to scare the player.

One major part of the gameplay is items. There are several plot items (keys, items required to fix a machine, journals and evidence, etc) which can be gathered and also combined within the game. This includes herbs and healing remedies. The player can only hold a certain number of items at any time, and can story excess items in an item box.

Beyond the zombies, the mansion itself is filled with traps and puzzles which the player needs to solve to progress through the game.

The player can only save the game by writing on a typewriter. This requires using up ink which is an in-game item. This adds to the tension, as the player is only allowed a limited number of saves and only at a few set locations in the game.

There are a variety of enemies in the game from traditional zombies and zombie dogs, to giant spiders, "Hunters", "Chimeras" and the boss "Tyrant". A number of weapons are available to help defeat them from pistols and shotguns to a bazooka launcher which can have different kinds of ammunition (acid rounds, fire rounds).

Positives

This was a great concept and pulled together quite well for the time. There weren't any games like this at the time. In terms of meeting its objective the game was very tense to play, and they really pulled of the horror genre well.

Negatives

For me personally it was a bit heavy. I would have liked to be able to save more often, but from another perspective I can see why they made it the way it is.

Memorable Moments

I didn't play this game much myself. A friend and I would hire out a PlayStation and some games for a weekend, and this was one of the games we played and completed.

Mortal Kombat

Game: Mortal Kombat
Developer: Midway
Platform: Sega Megadrive
Release Year: 1992
Stephen's Rating: 5/10

Mortal Kombat is one of the classic fighting games of my childhood along with Street Fighter II.

Basic Plot

Mortal Kombat is a science fiction fighting game. The story is not told explicitly in the original game but is slowly introduced in the sequels. The concept involves a fighting tournament called Mortal Kombat. In order for the inhabitants one one realm to invade another they must defeat their strongest warriors in 10 tournaments in a row. The original games involves a series of fighters from earth defending themselves against an invading enemy in the 10th and final tournament (after losing 9 times in a row previously to another realm called Outworld).

The original game involves the thunder god Raiden assisting the fighters of Earth. Liu Kang ends up becoming the Mortal Kombat champion after defeating Shang Tsung in the final, thus saving Earth. There is a fairly terrible movie with the same name (not the animated one, but the one with real actors) which tells this story.

Character selection.

Gameplay

Mortal Kombat is a traditional fighting game. The player was able to compete against AI fighters in a 2D side on combat scenario in different arenas. Players could also take each other on on the same console.

As with other fighting games the player was able to choose from a number of playable characters to fight with. Each character had their own look and aesthetic, as well as their own set of special moves.

Special moves were predominately what separated the different characters in the game in terms of fighting style. For example; Sub Zero used abilities which froze the enemy whereas Raiden had abilities which involved his power over thunder and storms.

An example of a fatality.

There were special kinds of special moves which could only be used when an opponent was already defeated. When you beat your opponent he or she was left standing nearly lifeless and a voice would say "Finish him!" This would give you a short moment to enter a special key combination. If you did it correctly, your character would perform a fatality on the opponent which involved some kind of butchery of the opponents body. For example, one fatality involved ripping the opponent's spine out of their body.

Positives

The concept of fatalities is something which although gruesome added to the mystery and interest I had in the game. There was nothing comparable at the time and it quickly became a benchmark in fighting games.

The gameplay was smoother and better executed than the main competitor at the time, Street Fighter II. This is my opinion, I'm sure there are those who will disagree.

Gameplay.

Negatives

There were not a lot of characters to chose from. In a time where the internet hadn't taken off yet, it was pretty hard to work out special moves and often required a lot of button mashing and then trying to remember what it is you pressed to make it work.

Memorable Moments

I never owned this game but remember playing this at a friend's house a lot. It was frustrating getting beaten every round. It was definitely a game you could get better at over time.

Starsiege: Tribes

Game: Starsiege: Tribes
Developer: Dynamix
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1998
Stephen's Rating: 7/10

Starsiege: Tribes is a first person team based multiplayer shooter.

Basic Plot

The world is set in the Starsiege universe. The basic setting is a world full of roaming tribes who engage each other in battle in a futuristic setting.

Gameplay

The "thing" about this game was that it wasn't a land based first person shooter like Counter-Strike but rather an air and ground based combat system which utilised the 3D engine to a greater degree than other first person shooters at the time.

All players had a rocket pack which they could use to boost themselves into the air for short periods of time, depending on what kind of armour and items they held at the time. Another common feature of player movement was "skiing" which involved falling from a great height onto a downward slope. The player was able to slide along without losing speed or momentum and move quickly across the map. Perfecting both air-based combat (shooting while falling and flying) and skiing was a big part of becoming good at the game.

Disc Launcher weapon, looking at team mates who are both in light armour.

Players were able to choose between one of three armour types; heavy, medium, and light. The heavier the armour the more protection it would provide and the heavier the weapons you could hold. This came at the expense of greatly decreased movement speed and jetpack flying distance. Players in light armour were more mobile and able to boost great distances and infiltrate the enemy base more swiftly.

The only form of the game I played was capture the flag. Two opposing teams had a base each which contained a flag. The goal was to infiltrate the enemy based, capture their flag, and bring it back to your own base. This was a very difficult task and usually required team work to achieve. Each base had stations which could be used to buy weapons, armour, and items, and replenish both health and ammunition. These required power which was supplied by generators. The enemy team was capable of destroying your generators and shutting down power to your base. This could be repaired, but was a common ploy when trying to capture a flag.

There were some other aspects to the game such as airships and portable supply consoles (for healing or getting items in the field) as well as several items such as radar jamming packs, or energy packs which let you boost for longer.

Flying through the air.

Positives

This game required a lot of skill and I enjoyed that. There was nothing at the time which was quite like it, adding the sky as a playable area by including jetpacks was a genius idea which added a lot of complexity to the gameplay. There were a lot of facets to the game which meant it was very replayable.

Negatives

The learning curve at the start can be quite steep, especially working with some of the more complex weapons such as the mortar or disc launcher.

Memorable Moments

My best friend's dad used to play this game with us. It was hilarious. If you spotted the guy standing still out in the open sometimes looking around or taking a step now and again - that was him. He actually got "ok" at the game and even got some kills with the sniper rifle.

I had another friend who became a master at this game. He would go solo with light armour into the enemy base, take out their generators, kill everyone inside, and grab the flag before they knew what was going on.

Half-Life: Blue Shift

Game: Half-Life: Blue Shift
Developer: Valve
Platform: PC
Release Year: 2001
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

Half-Life: Blue Shift is an expansion pack for Half-Life which follows the character Barney (a security guard) through the same events which occurred in the original game.

Basic Plot

The story is in parallel with the original game and focuses around the events at Black Mesa which cause the "resonance cascade" which opens up a portal to another universe, letting aliens into the Black Mesa complex and ultimately letting the Combine invade Earth.

Whereas in the original game you play the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist involved with the experiments, this time you play the role of Barney Calhoun, a security guard at Black Mesa.

The story revolves around Barney trying to find a way out of Black Mesa with the help of Dr. Rosenburg. Barney encounters hostile alien life as well as US military forces who are trying to seal Black Mesa and destroy everything inside it.

Gameplay

Half-Life: Blue Shift is a first person shooter with elements of puzzle solving and in-game cinematics.

The gameplay is almost identical to the original Half-Life but with a different story and some different characters. The plot items included in Blue Shift extend upon the original story and help build-up the backstory of the game world.

The character models in Blue Shift were re-worked and contained twice the polygon count of the original game.

Positives

Great story, a worthy addition to the original story and one that extends upon rather than cashing in on the original's success.

Negatives

Lacking in new gameplay features, something which I believe was done better in Half-Life: Opposing Force.

Memorable Moments

I remember I heard about this game through my brother, and enjoyed playing both it and Opposing Force.

Skunny: Save Our Pizzas

Game: Skunny: Save Our Pizzas
Developer: Copysoft
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1993
Stephen's Rating: 4/10

Basic Plot

The recipe for pizza has been stolen by the evil Chef of Cadiz. Skunny has to travel back in time to ancient Rome to find the recipe.

Gameplay

Skunny: Save our Pizzas is a standard 2D platform scroller. There really wasn't anything that made it stand out, Copysoft were known for making rough copies of similar games at the time and selling them for a cheaper price.

Positives

None.

Negatives

Nothing particularly standout about it. Skunny just isn't a very attractive hero when put side by side with Sonic or Alex the Kidd.

Memorable Moments

I bought this game through the magazine Simply Shareware and was a bit disappointed.

Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons

Game: Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons
Developer: id Software
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1990
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

This is the first set of games in the Commander Keen series. This series is comprised of three games which tell one continuous story; Marooned on Mars, The Earth Explodes, and Keen Must Die!

Basic Plot

You play the role of 8 year old Billy Blaze on his adventures through space and time where he assumes the role of Commander Keen.

The story involves Keen travelling to Mars where an evil alien race called the Vorticons steal parts to his ship which he has to retrieve. In The Earth Explodes he returns to Earth but the Vortican mothership is there waiting for him. Keen has to find and deactivate a series of Vorticon cannons which are aimed at some of Earth's most important landmarks. In Keen Must Die! he travels to the Vorticon homeworld to confront the Grand Intellect who is directing the Vorticons to attack Earth.

Shooting the ray gun.

Gameplay

Commander Keen was a side scrolling platform game common of the era. Interaction involves moving left and right, jumping, and a big part of the first game is obtaining a pogo stick which is used for higher jumps and is kept for the remainder of the series.

Keen can obtain ray guns to attack enemies. He loses a life if he touches an enemy. In the second and third games moving platforms, switches, and powerups are added to the game features.

The game has two main views. When you are playing a level it is a 2D platform scrolling view. When traveling between levels there is a top down map-orientated view.

Using the pogo stick.

Positives

This series was one of the first to bring the look and feel of the Nintendo Entertainment System to the DOS PC. The 2D side scrolling game engine was popular at the time.

It is a well polished game and has a surprisngly solid story considering.

Negatives

This game didn't create anything new, it only provided to DOS gamers what those that had Nintendo units already had.

Memorable Moments

I played this entire series WELL after it came out when I was at university.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

Game: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Developer: EA Los Angeles
Platform: PC & PS3
Release Year: 2008
Stephen's Rating: 3/10

Basic Plot

The game is set in an alternative universe where World War II never happened. In previous games the Allies went back in time and killed Adolf Hitler thus preventing the war. Prior to this game the Soviets go back and kill Albert Einstein and prevent the Allies from obtaining nuclear weaponry.

During this game the Empire of the Rising Sun rises up to become a third power on Earth. This plunges the world into a three way war between the Allies, the Soviets, and the Empire.

Gameplay
 
Red Alert 3 is a real time strategy game set in the alternative reality of the Command and Conquer universe.

The game has three playable campaigns (one for each faction) which follow roughly the same path but from the different faction perspectives.

Each faction requires resources to build units, and units have a variety of upgrades which can specialize them into different areas. There was a real focus on naval units in this game compared to its predecessors.

The single player campaign can be played as a two player co-operative game and there is extenstive skirmish multiplayer support.

The visuals are sort of cartoonish and bright coloured. There are cut scenes with real actors. They've tried to put "hot chicks" in the game which is a childish attempt to gain ratings.

Positives

None. It's not a terrible game, but it really isn't a very good one either. I never got around to play multiplayer, so I can't comment on that. I can imagine it would have been a lot better than the campaign.

Negatives

Terrible voice acting and jarring cut scenes with real footage of people dressed in poorly made costuomes. Was too frustrated/bored to finish the campaign. Completely outshadowed by other real time strategy games such as StarCraft and Age of Mythology.

Memorable Moments

None.

Farm Town

Game: Farm Town
Developer: Slashkey
Platform: Flash
Release Year: 2009
Stephen's Rating: 5/10

Farm Town is a multiplayer Flash game where players build and maintain a farm. I played this game in late 2009 so will review it from the perspective of how it was then (I'm sure it has changed a lot since then).

Basic Plot

The scenario is that you have a farm, and you can grow crops and sell them for money. There is no objective other than building the farm the way you want. Selling crops and making money, as well as gaining experience levels allows you to build bigger farms and gain access to different crops and items.

Gameplay

Within the game you have a top down isometric view of your avatar. You can travel between several areas including your own farm, your friends' farms, and a tradehouse where you can sell your goods or find other people to work your farm.

On your farm you started with an area of plain ground. You have to hoe the ground to make it ready to plant crops and then plant seeds for the crops you want. You then have to wait real world time in order for the crops to finish growing. Once they are ready you have two options for harvesting; you can do it yourself or you can get a random person or a friend to harvest them for you. The benefit to getting someone else to do it is they get bonus money for themselves in the process.

A player avatar walking through some crops.

Planting and harvesting crops required clicking on tiles one at a time which meant it was a pretty click-intenstive experience. Later on you could buy items (tractors etc) which meant you could place more tiles of seeds or harvest more crops at once.

There were a huge variety of vanity items which didn't have any functional value but which you could use to make your farm look just how you wanted it (including fences, rivers, statues, flags, houses, etc).

Positives

It was surprisingly satisfying to "work the farm" even with the limited graphics. It was ideal for me when I was in Sydney and only had access to a low spec laptop in my spare time. This and Zynga Poker were the bread and butter of my spare time.

You could export a full view of your farm to your Facebook wall.

Negatives

Too much clicking. There is no real point to the game, and not enough player interaction. The game heavily rewarded you for having a lot of in-game friends (forcing you to promote the game to your Facebook friends if you wanted the rewards) which was frustrating as I missed out on some content due to me not wanting to spam people with game requests.

Memorable Moments

Pineapple was the best crop. I used to LOVE when someone invited me to harvest their crops and I saw they had pineapples...

Unreal

Game: Unreal
Developer: Epic MegaGames and Digital Extremes
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1998
Stephen's Rating: 5/10

Unreal is a 3D first person shooter which was released in the same era as Quake II.

Basic Plot

You play the role of a human prisoner being transferred by spaceship to a prison planet. Enroute the ship is somehow re-directed and crash lands on the an uncharted planet called Na Pali. The planet is the home of the Nali, a primitive four armed species who are being enslaved by the Skaarj, an advanced reptilian race. The Skaarj have come to mine the planet for tarydium and are enslaving the Nali to get it.

The Sjaarj board the prison ship and kill everyone inside, except you. Your journey takes you across the planet as you uncover the injustices the Skaarj are inflicted on the Nali. You also uncover the remnants of humans from the prison ship through electronic journals, although you never meet another living human in the game.

The player must find the teleported which leads to the Skaarj mothership, board it, take out the energy core, and then kill the queen.

Gameplay

Unreal is a traditional first person shooter set in a science fiction scenario. I don't remember much about it and can't find any easily accessible explanations of the game mechanics.

Positives

Unreal pushed the boundaries of 3D graphics at the time. It was the first to render detailed outdoor environments.The music is good too.

Negatives

Didn't really grab me. One of the major drawbacks to early first person shooters was the lack of good character and story.

Memorable Moments

None.

Colonial Line Wars

Game: Colonial Line Wars
Developer: Lithe
Platform: PC (as a custom map for Starcraft II)
Release Year: 2010
Stephen's Rating: 7/10

 

Colonial Line Wars used to be my favourite custom map on StarCraft II. Then they released a patch which ruined the game and now no-one plays it. So, I'm going to review it as I knew it - the awesome game that it was.

Premise

Two competing teams have arrived on a planet to extract resources. They go head to head to compete for resources in order to wipe each other out.

Gameplay

The game involves two teams of three players, at each end of a large map. Between the two teams are three canyons with three "resource checkpoints" along them. Players build buildings at the end of these canyons and every 30 seconds one unit will spawn from each building and begin walking down the canyon toward the enemy base. Units engage each other automatically (no direct control is necessary) leaving the player free to focus on the strategy of which units to build to counter those of his opponent.

Resources are obtained at regular intervals as well. The amount of money you get depends on two main factors. Firstly, the more checkpoints that your team controls (i.e. that your team's units are in front of, or have touched last) the more money you get. Secondly, players can spend money investing in one of the three canyons (or lanes). If you have invested more in a lane you recieve higher income from it. Therefore the goal is to try and invest in a lane which your team has strong control and territory within, and to stop the opposing team from doing the same. There is also a balance between investing in your future economy and building units to keep up with the enemy.

Units are broken up into tiers and have to be researched and the research centre. This takes time and costs money to do, so the timing is important (when your team is ahead). Tier 1 includes basic units such as marines, zerglings, zealots, reapers, and hydralisks. Tier 2 contains a larger variety of more powerful units, and tier 3 contains the elite units such as void rays and siege tanks. Each player also recieves 1 gas which can be spend on one tier 4 unit such as a carrier, battlecruiser, archon, infestor, or collossus.

Players can also spend money on abilities which are on a cooldown. These are the wraith run which sends a wraith down one lane who drops bombs to help your forces, and spore salvo which dropped acid on any enemy army within your vision. Each player also had one plea for help which destroyed all the units in a lane.

The game became about balancing whether to tech up, invest in a lane, or build more forces. In choosing units you worked to counter the units of your opponent. For example; if your opponent was simply massing marines you might choose hydralisks to counter or try and tech up to teir 4 and get a collossus to ruin them in the late game.

Team work could make or break a game. Because each player had to take time and resources to research new units, you could split up the research between your team mates to be more efficient and share units with each other's lanes. This is how we won a lot of our games, by working together.

Positives

This game was excellent if you wanted to focus more on economy and unit composition rather than micro management of units. It is more relaxed but just as engaging as the original game.

Negatives

They released a patch which ruined everything. The game is terrible now, and no-one plays it

One thing which bothered me was that a smaller team tended to have an income advantage and win, so if someone left the game it would ruin the game for everyonen else (almost always).

Memorable Moments

At one stage we had a strategy of massing marines. Sometimes we'd have half a dozen or more solid ranks of marines and doing this we'd win a surprising number of times.