Chris Newell

Gaming Seminar

9/3/08

Game Details:

Name: Age of Mythology: Gold Edition

Developer: Ensemble Studios

Publisher: Microsoft

Genre: RTS, Real Time Strategy

Platform: PC

System Requirements:

Microsoft® Windows® 98/Me/XP/2000

PC with 450 MHz equivalent or higher processor

128 MB of system RAM

1.5 GB available hard disk space

32x speed or faster CD-ROM drive

16 MB video card required

Sound card, speakers or headphones required for audio

Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

56.6 Kbps or better modem for online play

Cost: $19.99 List price

Release Date: June 30, 2004, Original Version October 30, 2002

Now, the real reason your reading this review. The juicy, extra saucy mash potato plated masterpiece of the actual game. When I first picked up this game I didn’t know what to look for in games. This was one of my first pc games. Yea I know I’m a little late to the pc world. I was looking for something to occupy my time. I also was interested in mythology, so once I saw this game it was a given.

When I first opened the box, I noticed there were two disks. I thought this was simple, compared to Baldur’s Gate with 4 or more disks (cant remember). Now I cant remember very many other games back then. Heck all of high school is pretty much a blur. So here we go!

2. ELEMENTS
1. Graphics

When I first started the game, you get a cinematic trailer. It captured me as soon as I saw it, I liked it so much, and I immediately quit the game and restarted it to watch it again. Then like the good little boy I was, I immediately launched the campaign. I mean for the time this game was made it has pretty good graphics. The colors in the game are still pretty good, even by today’s standards. They’re extremely bright and detailed, and there are a lot of units on screen at the same time. The units are pretty detailed, and the environments were visually interesting.

2. Sound

I found the sound in this game decent. I mean the sound in Real Time Strategy isn’t the main focus. However this game, along with most Real Time Strategy, doesn’t totally ignore sound. Each unit has it’s own unique sound byte that comes along with moving sounds and battle sounds. The background music is involved with the themes of the game. A little Greek, a pile of Norse, and a pinch of Egyptian combine into the games music. I never wanted to turn the music off, nor did I want to break my eardrums. It was peaceful and Zen like for me.

3. Game play/Control

The game play was the best part of the game for me. I like a game to have a lot of replay value. It’s been 6 years now and I’ve never stopped playing it. The game is a smooth ride, with not a detour in site. I never once experienced any lag spikes or slow processing times. Of course I had the graphics on full blast, but even then it was running very smooth.

The controls in this game were pretty easy to learn and part of the brilliance of the game play is just that fact. The learning curve is pretty good for an R.T.S.. Compared to Empire Earth where it took me considerably longer to learn the controls, in Age of Mythology I was immediately into the game.

3. Conclusion

When I first played this game 6 years ago, I was shocked at how much I liked the game. 6 years later here I am, still playing the game. Even if you hate R.T.S. id recommend that you try this game out. The game would of gotten a 100 from me if I had reviewed it when it first came out. I can proudly recommend getting the gold edition now, because it has held up to the test of time and still is a 100.

Link to the Official trailer: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4757082574169386904&ei=E2O_SOfAOZPm-wHuoLH_CQ&q=age+of+mythology&vt=lf

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Review

Published by: Electronic Arts

Developed by: Pandemic Studios

Released Date: August 31, 2008

Genre: Third-Person Shooter

Platform: XBOX 360

The Review

If you like blowing  shit up Mercenaries 2 is the game for you. Most of the game is just blowing crap up. The story is simple, we have herd it before, basically your pissed of because some guy shot u in the ass and you want to get revenge on him by killing him. So you must do jobs for people to earn money so u can buy new weapons and various items that will help u through the game. The game is funny and i found myself laughing at every cut scene. It has single player mode and also a fun two player mode only allowed over xbox live.

Graphics

Merc 2 graphics are pretty good. There are just a few things that bothered me. For one when you are in a vehicle you can pretty much drive through anything and destroy it. This is cool in some ways but come one you cant drive right through a full grown tree. Another thing is the vehicles dont leave tread marks on the ground. I think this is a nice touch and a pretty lazy decision for not doing it. Last thing is once things/items have been touched they disappear. This is ok in some cases but not with big items when its clearly noticeable. These are just some small minor things that i am picky about. The colors are nice and everything looks pretty realistic, but for the amount of time that it took to make this game i think that it could have looked better.

Sound

The sound of the explosions where nice and loud. If you have the surround sound hooked up you can here explosions all around you which make for a nice intense experience. The sound or the AI is the worst of this game. You will here the same five lines thought the whole game.

Gameplay/Performance

Almost everthing in the game is destructible, and when blowing theses things up the game keeps a nice steady frame rate witch is surprising for how big the world is. The camera angles are not bad. The only place it can get kind of confusing is when operating any vehicle.

Control

The controls are fine. They are like pretty much like any other FPS. Its easy to learn. Teh only time when it gets hard to control is when in a vehicle. You have to use both joysticks at once which can get confusing for some people.

Compare/Contrast with other games

I have never played Mercenaries 1 so i cannot compare to that. The games world reminds me of GTA but not as big and not as polished. Nothing special with the layout its just like any other 3PS. Its not anything that we have not seen before.

Conclusion

Overall i like Merc2. It has a lot to it. Of coarse there is just the main story  but there are also side challenges, a ton of unlock able items, and bonus missions with each real mission. Its one of those games that you dont even have to play the main mission to have fun. You can drive around town, hit pedestrians, and blow shit up. You do the main story at your own pace which is nice. Its not on any level with GTA but its worth a try. There are just a few things wrong with the graphics that i thought they could have done a better job on but other then that its a pretty solid game. Witch is why i give it a pretty solid 7.5 out of 10. I would not buy this game but for you crazy people out there who cant get enough of blowing shit up it might be the game for you. When it comes down to it Merc2 is a fun game  and thats what its all about.

-Matt Burns

Name: Warhawk

Developer(s): Incognito/SCE Santa Monica

Publisher(s): SCEA/Incognito

Genre: Third-person Shooter

Platform: Playstation 3

Cost: $29.99 ($39.99/$59.99 if bundled with USB Headset/Bluetooth headset)

Release Date: August 28, 2007

Media Formats: Blu-Ray disc or download from Playstation Store

INTRODUCTION

To be fair, before ever playing anything on a Playstation 3 (PS3), I considered the PS3 the devil. I enjoyed the simplicity of Xbox Live and I could find most of the games available on PS3 were available on the 360 as well.

All that changed last year when I was introduced to Warhawk. The one thing that really made it interesting to me was it was a multiplayer-only game. It allowed people in the same room to play in a match against people from around the world. In my opinion: the perfect package, albeit with some issues here and there.

GAME ELEMENTS

Graphics/Look and Feel

The graphics in Warhawk were, at the time of it’s release, among the best the PS3 could offer; However, when compared to other games, it just doesn’t have nice realistic smooth look found in games like Gears of War, which was released almost a full year before on a technologically-inferior console.

An entirely different matter is the look and feel. Warhawk forms much of its action and fun by changing the look and feel of the game. For example, you are playing a Capture The Flag (CTF) match on the map and it’s layout is set to full map with full access for ground battle; next map, the layout “Dogfight” is set which forces each team to fight the other in just a Warhawk or Nemesis. With variety in map layouts, 8 maps can become up to 30+ different maps and force the players to change their strategy to the new layout.

Sound

Sound is one of the most important components to any shooter. Whoever worked on Warhawk’s sound sure knew that going into production of the game. The sound is absolutely wonderful, both in terms of dimension and just the basics.

The sound makes gameplay a whole lot better, because it has a wonderful 3D sound system that just makes the matches all the better. With 3D sound, if you don’t come up quietly your target will know you are there. It also helps in air combat since you can hear the enemy’s engines behind you. In all, the sound totally lends itself to making the matches and game much better.

Gameplay/Performance

As the picture above illustrates, Warhawk’s gameplay is far different than most third-person shooters. The best part of the gameplay is it allows you to have three people beside yourself playing in an online match. Weapons used in Warhawk are great as well because every weapon has a counter to it. Even Warhawks can be countered by ground weapons and the reverse is also true, making this one of the most perfect weapon balances ever seen in console video games.

However, the game can lag or stutter because it is a multiplayer-only game. If you don’t have a proper network set-up, you could get kicked from a match halfway and lose all progress you were making. If that happens, be sure to check the ports on your router or go to port-forward.com and follow their simple instructions (be sure to look for Playstation Network under your router).

The camera angles are almost perfect because it is always focused on you. Wherever you look, the camera always stays looking at you whether you are on the ground or in person. This also means you must be good at turning around fast if you are being chased or else you are dead.

Gameplay is really smooth and flows nicely, given how big the maps are and what people are doing at the time. Even if you are on the ground getting chased by a Warhawk, you can enter Warhawk as well and take it to your enemy without so much as a hiccup or stutter. It may take a little while to get your aim speed down, but it won’t take long so it’s hardly noticeable. It can take a match or two to find your balance. Other than that, gameplay is wonderful and just screams for you to play and play a lot.

Control

The controls for Warhawk are both a blessing and a curse because while you will have an easy time learning ground combat, it will take a long time (roughly ten matches) before you understand the controls of a Warhawk. A common problem is that people will not learn the Pro Flight mode, which is what 80% of all players use when flying.

However, with the recent release of update 1.5, there are two tutorials that will help out greatly. The tutorials are Warhawk Training and Flight Practice. Warhawk Training will help with understanding the basics while Flight Practice will help you practice Pro Flight and various other advanced techniques that will make you a good pilot. Once you have mastered the ground and flight controls, you will be ready to unleash pain on your foes.

Compare/Contrast

Warhawk is something of an enigma today. It seems to be as if Incognito took Gears of War and blended it with Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. After all, it has the tactical, team-based gameplay of Gears mixed with the fluid of flying found in Rogue Squadron. The best part is that it is so well blended. By mixing two very different gameplay styles almost perfectly, they created a whole new style that is just fantastic. That is what makes Warhawk so great: it is a representation of mixing two very different styles of combat and tuning them together so well, it is hard to notice them separately.

CONCLUSION

Warhawk has everything you could want in a multiplayer game: great variety, excellent gameplay, good controls, and wonderful sound. Ever since I first played it, I have been hard-pressed to find a better console multiplayer experience. It doesn’t matter whether you are a fan of Madden, Halo, or even Lego Star Wars, this game will appeal to you if you are a fan of great video game multiplayer in general. In all, a great video game that I recommend for owner of a Playstation 3.

Graphics/Look and Feel: 95 (Graphics aren’t as good as some games the year before)

Sound: 100 (An all-around great sound set-up)

Gameplay/Performance: 94 (The port issues may cause you problems if not solved)

Control: 96 (Flight control requires time to become familiar)

Compare/Contrast: 100 (Gears of War-meets-Rogue Squadron. What could be better?)

Total Score: 97 (Some minor issues may annoy, but doesn’t take away from enjoying the game)

Title: Deus Ex: The Conspiracy

Developer: Ion Storm

Publisher: Eidos

Genre: FPS/RPG

Platform: PS2 (Also PC but this is a review of the PS2 version)

When I began playing Deus Ex, I was a little discouraged by what I first mistook as difficulty. Since the game is played from a first person perspective and you use guns to kill your enemies, I mistakenly assumed that Deus Ex was simply another FPS game. But I soon discovered that using the same strategy that I had used in other FPS games did not work in Deus Ex. And so, when I began to change my strategies, using brute force, stealth, and diplomacy in different ways, I realized that Deus Ex was not so much an incredibly difficult game, but instead, a game with a type of gameplay I had never experienced before; a type of gameplay that I ended up thoroughly enjoying and that Deus Ex has done better than any of the other games in the genre. It is the engrossing gameplay along with a masterful plot that make Deus Ex such an amazing game. However, the game is of course not perfect, as no game is, and so, before I continue swooning over the amazing storyline and gameplay, I’ll go into more depth about the game’s shortfalls.

To begin, the game is pretty ugly. Even for its time, I feel the graphics did not quite meet the standards. There were many other games that looked better, even on consoles. The game did receive some minor graphical enhancements for the PS2 port, mainly dealing with character appearance, but for the most part, it looked the same. There is also a lot of loading screens, far more than I like in a game but after getting entranced in the game’s plot, they no longer really bothered me. Also, there is fortunately little to no graphical glitches: no clipping through walls, and the like.

Deus Ex has a pretty steep learning curve for those unfamiliar with the open ended, strategical, RPG-like, first person gameplay (did I use enough adjectives?) of games like it, Bioshock, and System Shock 2. While it is possible to run and gun and still get through game, you will find that using that strategy alone is difficult. Ammo and health pick ups are not entirely nonexistant but far from abundant, encouraging the player to think of new ways to approach a situation. While some may find this restricting (Hey if I want to just run and shoot things, why can’t I?), I think in the end, it leads to a much higher replayability. To this day, after owning the game for nearly 6 years, I still find new things everytime I play it.

And so end the grievances I have with the game. Now to get to the good parts. I will start with the gameplay. While System Shock and it’s sequel came out before Deus Ex, this was my first experience with open ended FPS/RPG style gameplay, and as I said before, I really liked it. I am a big fan of RPGs and so the upgradeable skills and bio mods really appealed to me; they gave me that “leveling up” feel that I enjoy so much. They also really buff the replay value. Since you can not upgrade every skill or bio mod in the course of one game, it encourages one to start again with a new skill build and bio mod set. The skills all deal with combat, movement, and primarily physical things while the bio mods all give you special abilities, such as being able to see through walls and detonate explosives before they reach you. Coupled with the skill and bio mod system, is the ability to handle almost every event in the game in an infinite amount of ways. For instance, in any given area, you could choose to just kill everything in your way, whether it be hostile or civilian; or, you could sneak through some path and eliminate half the confrontations you would have normally face. Still, you could also bribe an npc to escort you to some area you would not normally be able to access. And those are just a few of the ways that a level can turn out.

The control system is easy to pick up and not at all different from a typical first person perspective game, although your aim with guns improve as you upgrade the skill set that ties with a particular fire arm (Rifle skill improves your skill and aim with shotguns, sniper rifles, and assault rifles. Heavy arms improves your skill and aim with rocket launchers, so on and so forth).

The sound is well done. You can hear the enemies footsteps, or the hum of a camera, and plan your strategy accordingly. The music is hit and miss. The theme song is a real winner, whereas most of the ingame soundtrack falls between pretty good and horrible.

The story, moreso I feel than the gameplay, is what really brings Deus Ex to the pinnacle of its genre. I do not want to go into too much detail, as I do not want to spoil anything for anyone, but I will give you the basics. It is a mixture of Sci-fi, consipracy drama, with cyber punk elements. It takes place in a dystopic future where America is under attack by the NSF, a terrorist group, and suffering from a new plague with no cure, called the Grey Death. You control JC Denton, a nano-augmented agent. JC works for UNATCO, a United Nations counter terrorist group (Think 24’s CTU except globalized), and his first mission is to neutralize an NSF attack on the recently bombed Statue of Liberty. The plot is far from black and white, and twists are around every corner.

Thusly, I feel Deus Ex: The Conspiracy is definitely worth a buy. You will find endless amounts of replay value and unique storyline that will keep you engrossed time and time again. If you are really concerned with aesthetics then you may want to consider borrowing it from a friend  or renting it, if there is anywhere that it is still rentable. If you are a fan of either of the System Shocks or Bioshock, this is definitely worth your time.

In the End(A concise score card for each aspect of the game, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest)

Gameplay: 10

Story: 10

Graphics: 3

Replayability: 10

Sound: 6

Difficulty: 7

The Orange Box compilation contains three games, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress2, and Portal. It was published by Electronic Arts, developed by Valve and is available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. It was released in the United Stated in October of 2007, for consoles the game cost $60, while for the PC it cost $50.

While Portal can be classified as a puzzle game it stands unique from other titles in that it is first person, has a detailed story line, and it forces the player to think in a completely different way. In the game you play as Chell who wakes up in a testing facility to the voice of GLaDOS who is a computer which monitors and directs your actions. GLaDOS directs you through various tests which test a portal gun and your ability to solve puzzles. The portals created by the gun in the game can literally flip the world upside down or turn it on its side; it really challenges the player to view the world in a different way.

While the levels are challenging and can take some time to figure out, as they should be, the controls are extremely easy to use. Besides GLaDOS explaining everything for you, during the first few levels icons pop up to help you figure out the buttons which are very simple. Another way in which the game helps you is that before every testing room there is a wall which contains icons telling you which techniques should be utilized to finish the task.

All of the avaliable icons

As some of these icons illustrate, Portal is, beside an extremely challenging game, an extremely comical one. The game keeps a lighthearted feel the entire way through, even when things turn a little violent. GLaDOS is always offering you cake or perhaps lying to you about how the next test is impossible (when you complete this test she compliments you for working under very negative conditions).

GLaDOS is talking to you throughout the entire game which makes sound in this game pretty important, but she keeps things entertaining. The only other real use of sound in this game is created by the few dangers in the game, like the glowing orbs that appear pretty early in the game. You can hear them bouncing off of walls and being shot out of the dispenser. These things kill you with one hit so without the sound they would be a little more than unfair. There are also the sentinel guns which appear in some of the later levels. The sounds help you to locate the guns since their laser sights make a slight humming noise, also when it starts shooting at you the sound helps pretty fast to find it. But again, with the humor the sentinels with also talk to you, asking you where you are and forgiving you for destroying them. The only irritating thing about the sentinels is that they can see you through glass walls and they don’t understand that the wall is there so they fire at you. And they don’t stop until one of you is dead…goodness does that get old fast when you can’t reach the little creep just yet. That constant wearing away at the glass always inspires me to go faster and kill the thing. The last enemy is another type of gun which fires rockets at you once you have been sighted. Again there is a laser sight which makes a slight noise but the gun also beeps. Once it finds you the beeping grows loud and fast so you can tell when it is about to launch a rather large rocket towards your face.

As you can see above, the game is very monotone in color palate, however, I feel that this works perfectly with the setting. You are in a scientific testing facility, everything is kept clean looking and was made to help prevent distraction, so it is all shades of boring grey. However, when you advance in the game or find the hidden rooms, more color is added to the game and everything looses its clean look. The grime can sometimes be a little pixilated, but I am willing to forgive. While the shapes and settings may be simplistic in design the graphics are fairly realistic. Again, I attribute the simplistic design to the setting of a testing facility, it is meant to be that way.

The main character Chell

The game play is pretty smooth throughout. I have personally never experienced lag or stutter, but sometimes I feel as though there is a foot of impenetrable space between me and some of the objects. This feeling is intensified by the fact that you never really see hands in the game, when you pick up and object it just kind of floats there. This however, should not make game play more challenging it is very easy to get used to and is not very cumbersome at all. Since the game is viewed in first person, there is no real problem with awkward camera angles.

I really enjoy a good challenge in a game and Portal truly delivered for me. The puzzles got me very engaged and were always completely different. The story line and the humor that takes place in this game is a real treat and will leave you wanting more. And you will definitely be wanting more; the game is only a three or four hours long if you are really good at puzzles. However, once you beat the game you unlock new versions of old levels. You can beat levels within a time limit, within a certain number of steps, with a certain number of portals used or you can play the level on a higher difficulty. These additions are a life saver once you master all the various tests; they force you to look at the puzzles in a different way.

So while it stinks that this game is really short, it is a definite must. There are two other games on the disk which make it a smart buy. And it has true replay value with its off the wall humor and it unlockable difficulties. I would easily give this game a 91/100. It loses points for being too short and for having the occasional irritating moment (like sentinels who don’t understand glass or how when you die you must move the control stick for it to register and start over).

I loved this game as much as my companion cube.