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2 Jul 04
Howdy Hi everybody. It's Friday again. It's a holiday weekend. I hope everyone in the 50 states has a safe and sane Independence Day weekend. If I were going to be appropriate, I should have a revolutionary war title as today's highlight, but I don't have any. So we're stuck with Starfleet Command.
There are worse things to be stuck with. Unfortunately Taldren Studios closed their doors recently. It's kind of sad really. There are many great features in Starfleet Command (SC). As many of you probably know, SC took the rules of a tabletop game and converted them into a realtime game.
The first strength of SC is the license itself. This game came along and felt more like a Star Trek game than anything since the 25th Anniversary game. The game was set in the original series timeframe. You have the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans, the Gorn, the Lyrans and the Hydrans. Despite claims of peaceful missions there were a lot of battles taking place. SC really captures that sense of swashbuckling adventure of the original series.
Carrying on that sense of adventure is the progression. You don't start out in a massive battleship. No you're a junior Captain in a small frigate. You have to gain fame and prestige to get bigger and better ships. How do you do that? Just like Capt Kirk. You fight battles and complete missions. The more outclassed you were, the more impressed your superiors are. This encourages you to take on those challenging battles.
So how do you win those battles. Well, if you don't have superior firepower, you must use superior tactics. If you just try to fly at your opponent full speed and use an alpha strike, you're not only going to lose, you'll lose badly. The game require you to think about your ship's strengths and weaknesses. You have to balance your power consumption, prioritize repairs, reinforce shields and keep damaged sections away from your opponent. That's hard enough in a one on one battle, but sometimes you have to fight two or three ships. Fortunately, you're not always alone yourself.
Speaking of not being alone, in SC you're also commanding a crew. How well your ship operates depends not just on you giving the right commands, but on your crew carrying out those commands effectively. You're initial crew is pretty green, but they'll gain experience. You also have the option of spending some of your prestige to recruit more seasoned officers. While green officers can have negative modifiers, the best officers can make your ship do more than its designers thought possible (just like in the series). You have the choice to pick officers based on your needs and your strengths and weaknesses.
The final strength of SC has to be the information provided the player. Sure it's a complex game, but they give you complete statistical charts for all ships plus a 160 page spiral bound manual covering all aspects of the game interface. You just don't see that any more. Although I'm sure someone will point out that it's still 100 pages lighter than the Baldur's Gate 2 manual. Does anyone wonder why Interplay ran out of money?
Today's game is another in the great span of history games inspired by Age of Empires. It's Empires: Dawn of the Modern World (official site) from Stainless Steel Studios. This game spans the medieval age to World War II. You can lead China, England, France or Russia to victory or ruin. You get to battle on land, sea and air. It includes 3 famous General campaigns or you can battle on random maps. Empires is available now.
Jason
Comments?
1 Jul 04
I think publishers are finally figuring out what gamers and the mass market really want. Now if they'd only give us the real thing not an illusion. People want low risk games. This has nothing directly to do with gameplay. People want games that live up to their marketing.
I'm not saying that people don't understand marketing and its associated exaggerations. We all do. Nor am I demanding that every game be AAA quality. Here's an example. If you have a pure twitch first person shooter, compare it to the hit Doom rather than the hit Half-Life. That's simple isn't it?
People want the same thing from movie game. If you like the movie, you should like the game. It should have some redeeming qualities of its own, but generally it should convey the feel of the motion picture. The same goes of sequels to games. Don't reinvent the series completely. Build on the strengths of the first. Keep the feel the same.
Don't do things like the new Spiderman 2 game. Have two completely separate products that are almost indistinguishable on the shelf. In case you haven't been following it, the PC version is a simpler and more kid friendly game made by a different developer from the console version. If you didn't know the difference existed, you might think the PC is a great deal after reading the positive reviews the console version is getting. That's not low risk.
Blizzard understands low risk. That's why so many people preorder Blizzard games. They release polished quality every time. That's why people are so excited about World of Warcraft. Blizzard will cancel a game rather than release something that doesn't meet their standards.
Part of the reason this Driver 3 and Atari "scandal" has caught so many people's imaginations is that Atari was trying to make the game look low risk when (according to some reviewers) it wasn't. Of course, even the reviewers who didn't give it a 9/10 pointed out that it was generally a fun game and felt like a Driver game. So maybe it was low risk after all and the marketing wasn't.
Unfortunately for you, I make no claim that the games of the day are low risk. I just try to let everyone know what's out there. Today we have Imperial Glory (official site) from Pyro Studios. It has grand strategy from the early 19th century. Rule your empire and act as general for your battles. Command a might fleet on the seas. It combines a turn base empire management mode with real time battles. Look for it in the near future.
Jason
Comments?
30 Jun 04
It's the end of June and I'm trying to keep my head above water. I mean that literally since this has been the wettest June in Houston since Tropical Storm Allison stalled here for four days just to prove that no drainage system could ever be completely adequate. The difference this time is that the rain has been falling slowly every day instead of all at once. You know it's bad when people here are longing to see the sun even knowing that will mean high 90's with oppressive humidity.
Some of you may remember that I've been trying to finish up my novel. For those who don't it's a classic high fantasy adventure. Although since people ask, I usually tell them it's more toward the Harry Potter end of the scale than the Lord of the Rings. Still, I think I'm close to wrapping it up. I'm doing more editing and less writing now. If anyone knows a good literary agent, drop me a line.
On a side note, I used to wonder how Douglas Adams came up with the idea for the description of the effects of a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a gold brick. Now I know. He was a writer and understood what it was like to try to finish a novel.
Thanks once again to Bill Harris for his kind words. If anyone is stopping by for the first time because of his link, please take your time and look around. If you're looking for something specific, the search function is on the News section of the site. I'm always looking for feedback around here. Tell me if you find something you like, something you don't like or just want to say hi. If you like the place, feel free to register and say hi in the forum.
Enough rambling for today, let's get to the game of the day. Today's game isn't a purely tactical game, but it does offer an excellent cooperative tactical mode. It's James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (official site) from EA Redwood Shores and EA Canada. It features 11 levels designed exclusively for cooperative play where spies must work together to accomplish their mission objective. Everything or Nothing is available for the major consoles now.
Jason
Comments?
29 Jun 04
I think it's time for my regular reminder of the purpose and goals of this site. It's time now, not just because I enjoy hearing myself type, because you might start seeing my name elsewhere. Since my column was run on Gone Gold, I was contacted by Groovalicious Games to do some writing for their site. Don't worry I'm not giving up on this place nor will I stop updating the site. In fact, I'm hoping see my name around more places will help grow this place.
There's a reason that I'm not the heart and soul of this site. This site is about you, the community. I'm just the guy who runs around and does the busy work. Hopefully I do it well enough that it doesn't drive people off. This place is here to house your stories of great conquest on the digital fields of battle. It's here that the armchair generals dissect those conquests. It's here where you admit that you just lucked into that brilliant maneuver.
There's a reason we had a forum before we had a news section. Keeping up with the latest in the strategy and tactical gaming world is nice, but discussing it with each other is better. Having lots of wargaming experience will not impress your significant other, but it might just impress us. So come on in. Sign up and tell us about your experience in the great wars of the gamescape. Come in and champion that game you think everyone has forgotten. We know what it's like to look at the clock at three in the morning thinking you must go to bed but realizing you're this close to winning. So end satisfied at five in the morning knowing you've won as you grab those precious 45 minutes of sleep. Welcome home General.
Today's game doesn't give you the lofty rank of General. In fact, you get the lowly job of tending the animals. Yes, it's Zoo Tycoon 2 (official site) from Blue Fang. Your zoo is now in full 3D this time. You now get to try your hand as a manager, a zoo keeper or just a guest. Look for it this fall.
Jason
Comments?
28 Jun 04
Howdy, I hope everyone had a good weekend. Just sort of a quick stream of consciousness for you tonight. If you saw the Gone Gold Night Call Guest Columnist Contest, you might have noticed a familiar name among the winners. Yes, I came in third with my entry on games gone wrong. Follow the link if you want to read all the winning entries. Bill Harris, the man behind Night Call and the contest, told me in an email that he might have some more comments tonight on his update so you can check that out.
In world news, Iraq's interim government took control from the United States today in a surprise move that no doubt left some terrorists disappointed. One of the first things they did was normalize relations with Kuwait. It's not quite the reunification of Germany, but it is still quite moving and important.
In other world news, we see that Axis of Evil member North Korea is upset with the plot of Ghost Recon 2. I wonder how they'll feel about the similar plot in the upcoming console game, Mercenaries. The North Korean government claims this shows America's dislike for the country. I would have thought the whole "Axis of Evil" thing and the thousands of troops on the border would have made that clear.
If you checked out the news section, you noticed that Vivendi has released the original Ground Control to promote the sequel. I'd just like to say again that I love this trend. If you missed out on Ground Control when it came out, get it now. It's a true classic.
In fact, it's the game of the day. Yes, Ground Control (official site) from Massive Entertainment was a breakthrough game. It was one of the first really playable 3D real time games. I'd say strategy, but it was really more tactical. You could configure your squads before the mission, but that was it. You had to outplay the opposition with what you had. No careless throwing away of units here. You had to do everything to make every shot count including hiding in shadows, using cover, air support, recon and indirect fire. Now that it's free, you have no excuse to avoid it (unless you're on dial up).
Jason
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