Just a quick note to say I'm moving server soon, there could be...disruptions.
Hopefully not but the site will be back asap if it disapears at all...
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Random Game of the Day
2 hours ago
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Music Makes The Game: Earthscape review
Usually I don't review music - my tastes seem to differ quite wildly from the rest of society eg: I like good music (eg, from independent computer-based artists) and the general populus likes bad music (randomly generated pop chords) with a few exceptions.
So I feel that sometimes it is my duty to wave my virtual arms around and point at something I think is worth listening to. If not just for the calibre of the artists involved but for the calibre of the games these people have worked on in the past.
If you're not interested in my opinions, which as usual is fair nuff, then you can listen to it using this neat little object thing here:
Most of the album is written and produced by Alexander Brandon, composer on Deus Ex, Neverwinter nights 2, Unreal Tournament and Jazz Jackrabbit. The final song is co-created with Andy Sega, composer on Freelancer, Wing Commander: Prophecy and the Crusader games (awesome).
As usual with both of these chaps there is a generous amount of synth-pad layering throughout and energetic bass lines that can be, very occasionally, distracting. However there is definitely an effort to do some different things here. Track 5, "Funky Rustic" for instance has an interesting change in nature fairly early on that really works for me. It introduces some african-ish drum lines that mix strangely well with the guitar.
The first track "Severn City" has an amazing ability early on to keep sounding like it's going out of tune when it's not. For a while I couldn't make up my mind if I liked it or not but after a few more listens I decided that I did.
Generally the disapointing thing for me in this album was the lack of a constant melody. Many tracks fell back into accompany-mode a lot of the time and would be great for games but possibly not for an album.
What made up for this was track 9: Square Mile - I absolutely loved the all-harmony singing parts. And while the verses are great for this they are followed by a fantastically uplifting chorus. Some more of the guitar solo heard near the beginning would have been good though?
I'll stop there because, well as I said I don't usually review stuff like this. All I can say is: It's free to listen to and only a $10 to buy and support these chaps.
Click here to visit the Earthscape buy page
So I feel that sometimes it is my duty to wave my virtual arms around and point at something I think is worth listening to. If not just for the calibre of the artists involved but for the calibre of the games these people have worked on in the past.
If you're not interested in my opinions, which as usual is fair nuff, then you can listen to it using this neat little object thing here:
Most of the album is written and produced by Alexander Brandon, composer on Deus Ex, Neverwinter nights 2, Unreal Tournament and Jazz Jackrabbit. The final song is co-created with Andy Sega, composer on Freelancer, Wing Commander: Prophecy and the Crusader games (awesome).
As usual with both of these chaps there is a generous amount of synth-pad layering throughout and energetic bass lines that can be, very occasionally, distracting. However there is definitely an effort to do some different things here. Track 5, "Funky Rustic" for instance has an interesting change in nature fairly early on that really works for me. It introduces some african-ish drum lines that mix strangely well with the guitar.
The first track "Severn City" has an amazing ability early on to keep sounding like it's going out of tune when it's not. For a while I couldn't make up my mind if I liked it or not but after a few more listens I decided that I did.
Generally the disapointing thing for me in this album was the lack of a constant melody. Many tracks fell back into accompany-mode a lot of the time and would be great for games but possibly not for an album.
What made up for this was track 9: Square Mile - I absolutely loved the all-harmony singing parts. And while the verses are great for this they are followed by a fantastically uplifting chorus. Some more of the guitar solo heard near the beginning would have been good though?
I'll stop there because, well as I said I don't usually review stuff like this. All I can say is: It's free to listen to and only a $10 to buy and support these chaps.
Click here to visit the Earthscape buy page
Friday, 5 February 2010
My Time With: The AVP Multiplayer Demo
Hmmm, that was an unpleasant experience.
Firstly I didn't seem to have any control over who I played as during matches, so I was stuck with the least favourite of the 3 - the predator.
Then I realised, after frantic pressing of the 1 to 4 number keys that my lovely pred weapons had to be *found* around the map. A map full of people who'd appeared to have played all day from how quick I died when I spawned.
My only saving grace was the cloak, which some alien players seemed to just ignore somehow. And cloak is a bit pointless if your footsteps sound like someone hitting a gong with a hammer. I had to stand stock still to have any hope of stealth.
When I did pick up a weapon it became a bit more fun, once I'd realised how to fire the thing anyway. The shoulder cannon wotsit was fun but it wasn't exactly outstanding. Comparing this to what I've just been playing the last week (ME2) there really isn't much attracting me to this...
And I sort of came to a conclusion whilst playing the demo: because I'd only want the game for the Marine campaign I'd be paying for a third of a game. And unless one gets thrown my way I doubt I'll be playing any more of it. On reflection I think a multiplayer demo wasn't the best example for someone like me who prefers story and characters and stuff like that. This video certainly makes it look better than it felt in game.
So, if you're a die-hard fan you can get this dirt cheap for a new game over at Amazon or Play.com - unless you'd rather pay an extra £6 for it on steam?
And can we please, please, please remove that horrible Blur-Turning effect that game devs seem to think is so cool these days? It really isn't...
Firstly I didn't seem to have any control over who I played as during matches, so I was stuck with the least favourite of the 3 - the predator.
Then I realised, after frantic pressing of the 1 to 4 number keys that my lovely pred weapons had to be *found* around the map. A map full of people who'd appeared to have played all day from how quick I died when I spawned.
My only saving grace was the cloak, which some alien players seemed to just ignore somehow. And cloak is a bit pointless if your footsteps sound like someone hitting a gong with a hammer. I had to stand stock still to have any hope of stealth.
When I did pick up a weapon it became a bit more fun, once I'd realised how to fire the thing anyway. The shoulder cannon wotsit was fun but it wasn't exactly outstanding. Comparing this to what I've just been playing the last week (ME2) there really isn't much attracting me to this...
And I sort of came to a conclusion whilst playing the demo: because I'd only want the game for the Marine campaign I'd be paying for a third of a game. And unless one gets thrown my way I doubt I'll be playing any more of it. On reflection I think a multiplayer demo wasn't the best example for someone like me who prefers story and characters and stuff like that. This video certainly makes it look better than it felt in game.
So, if you're a die-hard fan you can get this dirt cheap for a new game over at Amazon or Play.com - unless you'd rather pay an extra £6 for it on steam?
And can we please, please, please remove that horrible Blur-Turning effect that game devs seem to think is so cool these days? It really isn't...
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Mass Effect 2 Review!
I managed to drag myself away from Mass Effect 2 for just long enough to piece a review together.
This really was something special. I could easily have rambled on for thousands of words with this but I made sure to restrict myself to a couple of pages!
And yes, I know I said a few weeks ago I wouldn't bother with it because it was slightly more than I usually pay for a game, but I'm glad I went for it anyway. Mass Effect 1 was good, I probably would have given that something like...82% or such, however with this sequel...
Well, click here to find out what I thought!
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Fancy a Bite? The Great White Destroyer!
As I crawl out of my hole, my home for days while playing MassEffect 2, I'm greeted with news of many new games on the horrizon. And while it's hard for me not to think of other games as time spent not playing MassEffect, one in particular caught my eye thanks to it's mega enthusiastic creator! And the game itself of course...
You're a shark who is the chosen shark, possessed by the god of sharks and you have a hunger for all things fishy...and avian...and, well, everything really!
There's a demo available on their website as usual, but it's always nice to see in advance what it involves so here's a vid too:
I'll be doing a full review over the next couple of weeks, so look out for that.
You're a shark who is the chosen shark, possessed by the god of sharks and you have a hunger for all things fishy...and avian...and, well, everything really!
There's a demo available on their website as usual, but it's always nice to see in advance what it involves so here's a vid too:
I'll be doing a full review over the next couple of weeks, so look out for that.
Monday, 1 February 2010
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Lead And Gold: Haven't I seen this before?
Just received an email about "Lead And Gold" by Paradox Interactive. It looks pretty neat but...isn't there something familiar here?
I've not got sound on but I'm guessing it's a team based shooter with...a western theme...
So definitely not a well know team based shooter with that sort of scenery set in more modern times.
And those silhouettes...they look...hmmm...
Well let's call it a coincidence and not even mention the other game for now. I'm probably being very unfair...probably...
Otherwise it looks pretty good and something I'd be interested in playing! Some of the action snippets looked impressive and the different game modes look like fun (even if it is a bit dim in the video at those points.)
For it to be successful will probably depend on the price. In my case for example, the only reason I've bought previous team based shooter games is if they're included in a pack with other single player games. So unless this matches price with other big team based shooters I reckon it'll have a hard time (this goes for the other big team shooter games that are due to be released soon.)
That is, unless there's a strong single player element too? Or a bunch of co-op based missions?
I'm not sure about the number of playable characters either. Four seems a bit of a small amount these days. Then again Counter Strike is still popular!
So something to watch with interest for now.
I've not got sound on but I'm guessing it's a team based shooter with...a western theme...
So definitely not a well know team based shooter with that sort of scenery set in more modern times.
And those silhouettes...they look...hmmm...
Well let's call it a coincidence and not even mention the other game for now. I'm probably being very unfair...probably...
Otherwise it looks pretty good and something I'd be interested in playing! Some of the action snippets looked impressive and the different game modes look like fun (even if it is a bit dim in the video at those points.)
For it to be successful will probably depend on the price. In my case for example, the only reason I've bought previous team based shooter games is if they're included in a pack with other single player games. So unless this matches price with other big team based shooters I reckon it'll have a hard time (this goes for the other big team shooter games that are due to be released soon.)
That is, unless there's a strong single player element too? Or a bunch of co-op based missions?
I'm not sure about the number of playable characters either. Four seems a bit of a small amount these days. Then again Counter Strike is still popular!
So something to watch with interest for now.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
My time with: Blimp Wars!
Blimp Wars Online is a free to play browser game from the creators of the mad professor mmorpg Golomizer.
So I thought I'd have a quick go - actually I had a quick go on my laptop a while ago and had chalked the bad performance of the game down to the speed of that. I tried again on my gaming machine just now and...well it's not good news.
It's not that it looks particularaly bad, or that the idea is bad. In fact I quite like the idea! Online RTS with airships? It's a good idea!
Unfortunately the execution is what lets it down here. I'm almost sure it's because of my connection speed or because I'm using Internet Explorer or whatever the issue might be here. But any game that is slow to respond to commands is going to be frustrating to anyone.
When I'm desperately trying to look past the slow gameplay issues it doesn't seem like a half bad game. And I'm guessing it's mostly down to the speed of the database that end because it's on a shared server or something. I'm also hoping that for anyone nearer the server it will perform better. I've not even dared to play against other people yet!
Other critisisms I would have revolve around there being no sound and there being a strange offset when clicking where to move to (eg, the X to signify your next position is never quite where you've clicked)
I think it would be great if the obviously prolific author of the game would look into something like the free Unity3D engine with it's marvellous web browser plugin stuff as they would create something that probably ran a lot smoother because of it....providing it's just not me that is!
Anyway, it's definitely worth checking out if you're bored of the norm! http://www.blimpwarsonline.com/
So I thought I'd have a quick go - actually I had a quick go on my laptop a while ago and had chalked the bad performance of the game down to the speed of that. I tried again on my gaming machine just now and...well it's not good news.
It's not that it looks particularaly bad, or that the idea is bad. In fact I quite like the idea! Online RTS with airships? It's a good idea!
When I'm desperately trying to look past the slow gameplay issues it doesn't seem like a half bad game. And I'm guessing it's mostly down to the speed of the database that end because it's on a shared server or something. I'm also hoping that for anyone nearer the server it will perform better. I've not even dared to play against other people yet!
Other critisisms I would have revolve around there being no sound and there being a strange offset when clicking where to move to (eg, the X to signify your next position is never quite where you've clicked)
I think it would be great if the obviously prolific author of the game would look into something like the free Unity3D engine with it's marvellous web browser plugin stuff as they would create something that probably ran a lot smoother because of it....providing it's just not me that is!
Anyway, it's definitely worth checking out if you're bored of the norm! http://www.blimpwarsonline.com/
Friday, 29 January 2010
Cheapest Sam And Max Ever!
That says it all really.
The Sam And Max revival is what really kicked Telltale games into our concious collective and made us love Pointy/Clicky adventure games again. This season is a bit older now but for this price...
Well if you like Point/Click games it's an unmissable offer. It's only until sunday so get clicking!
New Review: Bob Came In Pieces!
It's a game about building a ship and flying it through a puzzle laden world. All physics based of course, and it reminded me a little bit of Trine from last year, but that's probably because of the in-game viewpoint.
Anyway, as always it's worth checking out!
Read the full review here!
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