Sims 3

I have an admission to make. I have never played the Sims before. Therefore this review is probably unique, as I am coming to this game anew. It is a very difficult game for me to review as it is difficult for me to know where it is the game letting me down, and where it is me not enjoying the basic premise of the game.

One of the most significant improvements to the game is the introduction of an explorable city. Technically, this is very impressive. You can zoom right in and watch what your Sims are watching on their TV and zoom right out to see the entire neighbourhood without even a whiff of loading screen.

The graphics do help you in to the Sims world. The audio sounds good and when you zoom in all the way, you can really get inside your Sim's world. There is nice audio variation, and the whole world looks and sounds very believable. Your Sims, for the large part, act believably, moving around and communicating convincingly .

The game also introduces the “moodlets” system. A moodlet is a symbol which shows a single emotion affecting your Sim. It tells you the impact it is having, what is causing it and when it will go/get worse. For example you might have a tired moodlet, which says that the sim is very tired, making him 30 less happy, and in two hours time, he will become extremly tired. These are very good at showing instantly what is affecting your Sims and what you need to do at making them happier.

Both of these features help to minimize the barrier between our world and the world of the Sims. This is very important as the game's main pleasure come from the reality TV style game play of watching the lives of these characters. If you were constantly reminded of the virtual nature, it would be hard to relate to the characters.

However, the technical improvement come at a cost. The game takes a long time to load at the start. On my reasonably powerful computer (4GB RAM, 2.4Ghz x2 processor, 256Mb graphics card) it runs fairly well on low-medium settings. However, fairly well is the important part, it hardly feels lightning fast. Furthermore, I had to turn down the settings, as it was running at an inconsistent frame rate. For what is meant to be a casual game, I find this surprising.

My only criticism as a first time Simer would be working out what I should do for my first game. There are a number of choices at the start. I chose to make a family of four, which turned out to be rather ambitious for my first game. I also, foolishly, randomly created all but one of my characters and ended up with a mother who hated children and the outdoors. I also felt there should have been more guidance when choosing where to put your house. I ended up living in a very expensive part of town meaning, leaving me no money for improvements.

One of my favourite parts of the game is creating stuff. Building houses is fun as it is easy to do. However, I found that often there wasn't enough money to do it. Also, as what you made had to be practically useful, you couldn't have as much fun as you could in Spore. For content creation, I much preferred Spore's creators, which were so much easier to make interesting things. I also prefer the way you made styles to go on Spore creations, as I felt it gave you more freedom.

Another element that I though was superior in Spore was the online connectivity. One of my favourite parts about Spore was the fact that other people's creations were integrated so well in to your universe. In Sims, to get other people's stuff, you actually have to leave the game. There is no “Visit a friend” where you take your Sim's to someone else's game, which would have worked well. For me, this is a major disappointment. There is a load of potential for community building in this game. For example, you can create movies, so why not have it so that you can go to the cinema and watch other peoples creations?

My other major problem with the game may just be because it is a Sims game. For me, the actions are quite repetitive. I don't enjoy deliberately messing things up - I never made disasters in Sim City, so for me the game is just about doing things right. But then, when I am playing at my best, things run smoothly, and that is it. I do get attached to my characters, but not a lot. They annoy me as much as make me smile. They get unnecessarily angry when people get in their way, which stop me relating to their lives. It is nice when you build up a family and get a sense of continuity, but the day to day challenges frustrate me, rather than entertain me.

I also think the disasters that upset their lives lack variety. The shower breaks, the sink breaks, the oven breaks. You never get neighbours who start fighting in the street, or major crime or anything. Maybe it is because I am not the target market. But for me, the game gets repetitive if I play it how I want to play it. While I do get pleasure from seeing their lives run well, it is not enough to combat the repetitiveness of the rest of the game.

For me, that is probably the biggest problem. The gameplay is repetitive and lacks any substantial rewards to keep me going. At the end of the day, I haven't saved the world, or won a battle. I have just got another day older. This game does a lot well. There is plenty of variety within the jobs, the world looks great, the Sims interact with each other really well. The depth is really impressive. You have so much control other things like organising parties and days out. However, I did not feel like I can ever spend enough time or money on the parts I enjoy; building my house, organising parties, having nicely running families and instead find myself putting up with the repetitive area's of the gameplay. However, I am prepared to except that the Sims is not aimed at me, and therefore my thoughts on the gameplay are unfair.

However, I don't think my thoughts on the lack of multi player integration are. I am surprised by the barriers put in the way of content sharing and the lack of online play. The technical issues also surprise me, given the target market, casual gamers, will not have a super computer or want to spend the time messing around with graphic settings to get the right balance of frame rate and appearance.

In conclusion, I don't think Sims is for me. However, even if it was, I don't believe that it has as many features as similar games such as Spore, which I do enjoy.

This review is based on a review copy supplied by the publisher.

Project Natal = new console?!

It is rumoured that Project Natal – Microsoft's new motion camera and voice recognition hardware - will launch with a new console. This is a shocking revelation if Microsoft really is going to be releasing a new console. This announcement, assuming it is accurate, is highly disturbing.

In the article, they talk about how games will be developed for both platforms, with the new platform having slightly superior graphics. This has a number of implications. Firstly, the already expensive business of producing HD games is going to get a whole lot more expensive. Ok, so the hardware is going to be similar, and it won't be double production costs. None the less, it is going to cost more, even if it is only one and half times more.

And what do developers get with this increased cost, certainly not increased sales. It isn't like there is a market waiting for this console. Think about it, casual gamers, who would be lured in by Natal would prefer to buy the (presumably) cheaper Xbox 360 with Natal. The traditional gamers already own a 360 and the best case scenario is that they will ditch the 360 for the new box. Net gain in customers due to the new console, 0.

This increased cost without increased profit might contribute to the safe-bet game market. We will see more sequels and less new IP. We might even see increased cost in games across the board (Microsoft, I don't imagine, would want new Xbox games more expensive that 360 games, and Sony and Nintendo might be tempted to follow suit).

Speaking in really predictive terms, this may speed up the inevitable, piracy on consoles. One of the reasons the PC market is shrinking compared with the console market is piracy. It is assumed that piracy on console is impossible. Nothing is impossible for a pirate. Given time, all the consoles will be cracked, the market will level out and new anti-piracy measures will have to be taken. Increasingly expensive games may act as a catalyst to the process.

And then you start hitting other problems. Sure, at first the new games will look slightly better on the new console, but hey, us 360 owners don't mind, our games still look fine. But then developers start investing money in making new games look great for the new console. There are a couple of levels that don't quite run at 60FPS on the Xbox 360. No huge deal, they were epic levels. Then it starts appearing in places where it matters, online. New Xbox owners will get a lag free (read: advantageous) experience, whilst 360 users have to lag along. Then 360 owners have to start installing games to get them to play. They have to start turning down graphics options in game if they want a solid 60FPS. Remind you of any other dying piece of hardware (in terms of game sales). Oh yeah, the PC!

It is very early days, this console hasn't even be confirmed. None the less, I play console games because everything just works. As a gamer, I prefer RTS's to action games and FPS's are better on the PC (except Halo 3, which I enjoy loads, but not because it is on the console) None the less, I play a huge amount of console games because everything on the PC is a bit iffy, even though my PC is good. This development, however, represents a trend (along with patches) towards the PC for consoles. Hopefully I am over-exaggerating, but consider this a warning.

E3 - Nintendo Press Conference

Due to technical issues and my review copy of Sims 3, I did not watch either the Sony or Nintendo conferences live. I have since watched the recording of Nintendo's (I'll watch Sony's tomorrow). Here are my thoughts on said conference.

It was really lame. I don't even mean what they were announcing, which actually had some nice games, which I'll come to in a minute. What it was really lacking was any glamour, excitement or show pizazz that make E3 E3. In actual fact, I am more excited about a forth coming Metroid than ODST, but when Microsoft announce something, they are so much better at it. Everything that they announced at their conference, felt like a huge thing which you could really get excited about, as you can tell from my coverage of it. With Nintendo, even with their big announcements, I found myself falling asleep. The whole conference was poorly presented and, unlike Microsoft, did not make use of multiple presenters, instead relying on Reggie and the stupid ski woman from last year.

It was like they forgot what E3 was, a chance to show off your best. They did precisely what Microsoft said they weren't going to do, talk about sales. Seriously, it is so dull. The who press conference lacked excitement or charisma. It felt like they hadn't even tried.

So if you could keep yourself awake through the dull presentation, you were rewarded with some interesting game announcements. Admittedly, they had nothing on Microsoft. There is a trailer for a new Metroid game. It is unclear even what perspective the game will take place is, with shots that seem both in the first person and side on. Once again, Nintendo let themselves down by not having a play demo or anyone talking about the game. They said there were some surprises for Metroid fans, but they didn't say what. Nintendo, this mysterious thing doesn't work! Give us something.

They also announced a sequel to Super Mario Galaxy which looked identical to the first, but providing the level design is just as good, then that will be good. Once again, there was no demonstration of the game or explanation or anything.

They also announced a new Mario game (they made 4 Mario related announcements, if your keeping count) where the main feature is 4 player co-op. It looks quite interesting, and back to basics Mario style platforming. It looks like it could be a lot of fun when you get four players together. No doubt it won't use online, which is a shame, so it will stay as a fun party experience.

They also demonstrated Wii Motion Plus, a heart beat monitor, and Facebook on DS, but I wasn't fussed by these. Wii Motion Plus was out did by Natal and should have been in the Wii Remote in the first place.

There was no Zelda announcement (except for DS), a short video for the Conduit and very little to keep my attention. I am sorry Nintendo, I stuck up for you last year and the year before. I have stood by the Wii when all my friends have turned away, but that was pathetic, I am so sorry, you have failed.

E3 - Microsoft Press Conference

Well, I unbelievably forgot all my E3 predictions beyond the announcement of Forza 3, which is pretty much a given anyway. The Microsoft press conference is scheduled for 18:20GMT tonight. You can watch it live on Gamespot. I will be posting thoughts here as the conference starts. The one thing I am desperately hoping for is Metal Gear Solid for the 360, although I am not optimistic.

The other major thing to look forward to at this conference is Peter Molyenux. The very fact that he has been given as slot means he must have some announcement. I think it is one of three things.

1. A big addition to Fable 2 - most likely
2. Fable Wars - a RTS based on the Fable franchise - not likely
3. Fable 3 - I think it is too soon to be announcing anything at E3, even less likely
   

The big addition, which I think is most likely, will be akin to Halo 3: Recon. It will use the same engine as Fable 2, which will allow them to release it before the next E3, but will be a whole game. What I suspect they will do is, it will be about your child. As those who have already seen the future, you will know that your child is destined for great things. What I think they might do is create a game set 20 years after Fable 2. The world will be based on what you did in Fable 2. It will magnify the decisions you made and the character you became and alter the world accordingly. For example, if you have been corrupt, everyone would be poor. This would be similar to how the world changed after the training section, except on a larger scale.

As for an RTS, I think it is possible, but not very likely. Peter has talked before about new technologies which allow them to animate many unique things at the same time, the kind of technology required for an RTS. However, it seems unlikely they would have any where near enough work to show.

As for Fable 3, while there definitely will be a Fable 3, I think it is too soon to announce it, E3 2010 maybe.

Skip to the conclusion

Updates

Conference thoughts
[14:20] - Conference starts in 4 hours
[18:25] - And we are off
[18:30] - No, I can't get the stream either...
[18:40] - Finally got a feed, except it's the Beatles!
[18:42] - MS say no charts, is that because of bad sales?
[18:46] - At first, I thought it was just a Wii Fit board, but to be fair, it moves on the ground, which is a huge improvement. But seriously, stop using celebrities, it's so annoying
[18:49] - CoD trailer, already seen, still looks pretty cool
[18:56] - CoD game play footage shown. Looks very CoD 4ish, some nice environments and some gimmicks to make you feel part of the story. Oh yeah, and plenty of action. Should be good for the CoD fans
[18:57] - Urgh, Final Fantasy - not my cup of tea I'm afraid
[19:03] - Ooo, Epic Games, give that man I microphone
[19:05] - Ooo, a Xbox version of Metroid Prime made by Epic, awesome!
[19:07] - Free racing game! Otherwise I wouldn't care
[19:10] - L4D 2?! That better be coming for PC!
[19:11] - Sam Fisher, the new Jack Bauer?! I just wish they could go back to Chaos Theory days
[19:18] - Forza 3!!!
[19:20] - Rolling cars! And interesting environments
[19:21] - They are right about the painting community, I know people who are obsessed
[19:24] - That was awesome... They just did this crazy video of car stunts
[19:25] - Halo 3: Recon footage, they've brought the big guns out early
[19:27] - Stealth gameplay nice...
[19:28] - Certainly an interesting way of telling a story, sounds quite cool
[19:30] - 22nd Sept ODST will drop, new secret project!
[19:32] - Halo 0 presumably, guess Microsoft couldn't resist (Actually called Halo reach and is coming in 2010)
[19:35] - Don't know what to make of this game, Alan Wake, the fact that it is being presented by the writer is quite positive, too early to say I think
[19:38] - MS clearly have high hopes for it, that was quite a long demo. Looks quite Resi Evilish, coming in Spring 2010
[19:39] - Music is coming to Xbox Live, I bet it's not in England...
[19:41] - Yay, being included for once, except I bet it is only for Sky subscribers or something stupid like that :(
[19:45] - I don't care about these things... but coming up is Peter Molyneux!
[19:48] - She is almost as embarrassing as that person from Nintendo last year, except I feel pity more than anger. But yay to Twitter!
[19:50] Big announcement coming up. Oh my word, MGS4!!!!!
[19:51] - OK, not MGS 4, but still, better than no Metal Gear Solid
[19:52] - Don't know who Raiden is, I have never played MGS in my life, how embarrassing
[19:53] - Motion controller for the 360? Wait... Me... the controller?
[19:55] - Why is it with new control schemes the adverts had to be SO embarrassing. Still, looks technically impressive
[19:46] - Tony Hawk just got outplayed...
[19:58] - Life Experience is quite impressive, but like the Wii, it will need games to make use of it
[19:59] - Stephen Spielburg as taken the stage, thank goodness it isn't Peter Molyneux
[20:03] - Take those stupid glasses off NOW!
[20:05] - Nintendo, consider yourself challenged. I imagine these demoers are over-exaggerating things and helping it work, but still looks pretty impressive. And that was a cheap shot at Nintendo
[20:11] - On the second thoughts, that sounds like quite a lot of effort for most games...
[20:12] - Peter Molyneux!
[20:15] - Get lost! How are they doing this? How?! Even without the face recognition it is impressive...
[20:17] - Well, I wasn't predicting that *hastily deletes predictions*

Conclusion

Well Microsoft's conference is over, and it certainly had some surprises. I am pleased about the Metal Gear Solid, although it was really MGS 4 that I wanted to play. None the less, I am sure this new title will contain the same type of thing as MGS 4, which I suppose will have to do. ODST looked really good,(how many of you spotted I put Recon before correcting it to ODST?). Obviously the new Halo is good, but to be honest, it is going to feel forced and a lot of people (me) will be unwilling to drop Halo 3 after sinking time (maps) and money (maps) in to it. The 2010 release date will slip without a doubt, I reckon early 2011 or very late 2010 at best.

The big thing was obviously this motion thing (by the way, the name is stupid, no one is going to remember that, it's worse than the Wii, at least that was short). Technically, it looks impressive, but these things always do in such controlled environments. What Peter Molyneux has supposedly done is incredible, but I will wait until someone from a respected site says it's as good as he says it is. Like the Wii, this technology is entirely dependant on developers. If we just see another batch of mini-game/party games, then it will fail. Non-gamers have already bought the Wii, they will be unwilling, in these economic times, to buy another games console, even with this easily marketable gimmick.

It is also going to suffer from the same problems as the Wii did in that, I don't want to stand up for a few hours playing games. I am not going to buy hardware for the sake of easy menu navigation and a few mini games I'll only play once. I'll buy it if it enhances the games that I play loads of, but then, if I play them loads, I don't want to stand up...

I think that it is going to be hard to develop for and, as developers have already invested a large amount of money in to traditional 360 development cycles, they will be unwilling to pour more money in to an unproven tech. None the less, even my scepticism can't quite stop me feeling a little excited if it really does work that well.

Some nice game previews there, Splinter Cell looks like 24, CoD 6 looks like CoD 4 but better and obviously a new Left4Dead is good for everyone, and Steam will obviously be releasing for the PC. I was surprised to not see anything about Bioshock 2 or Assassins Creed 2

Overall, a very nice conference, Nintendo must be crying. They just got out-done at their own game, however it turns out in the end.

I've seen the future

And I was pretty pleased. I am, of course, talking about the Fable 2 DLC currently available on the Xbox Live market place. It comes in at a less-than-average 580 Microsoft points, and, being related to Fable, I snapped it up the day it came out. And finished it the next day. Despite having to do the first quest twice due to a glitch. And than taking my time. And having exams. It is short, I can't hide that from you. However, what there is, is pretty good, albeit missing any moral decisions. Included are three quests and glimpse of the future. Without wanting to give too much away, here are my thoughts.

The first quest takes place in a black and white world in which you must restore colour. While I do think they could have used this backdrop more thoroughly, it was an enjoyable quest. At least, it was the first time, but I'll get to that in a minute. The thing that really made the quest work were the enemies. Each enemy could only be killed through one of the combat disciplines (melee, ranged or Will) While I wouldn't describe it as hard in the traditional sense, being forced to use your different abilities added variety to an otherwise dull combat system. It got particularly interesting when the game started throwing different colours at you, and you were forced to play much more dynamically instead of just spamming level 1 fire spells.

The quest was somewhat undermined when, at the end, I got stuck in a wall. The game would only let me fast travel if I reset the quest, but, when faced with an eternity living in a wall, that seemed like a small price to pay. None the less, it was frustrating and to top it all, I ended up with far less of the collectibles at the end.

The second quest was quite amusing, as you were forced to dress up in various different costumes and perform expressions, which is always fun. Also, towards the end it had these interesting puzzles which were almost lemming-like. You had to summon various different types of Hobbes, each with their own unique uses. You had to use them to solve some environmental puzzles. For example, there was a toxic river which you couldn't cross. First, you had to summon an explosive Hobbe to destroy a wall which reveals a second summoning point. You use this one to summon a Hobbe with stilts to walk across the river and activate a switch. Once again, it wasn't very hard, but they were enjoyable enough to work out. I would have liked to see this mechanic expanded upon.

When you do go to see the future, you will, most likely, be unimpressed. There is hardly some ground breaking secret within it. It varies a little depending on your character. Sadly, little is the operative word. All you can definitely get from it is that Lionhead plan to make another Fable. If you wanted, you could read in to it that they are considering making a real time strategy game, but that is quite a stretch.

The third and final stretch of the game is definitely the highlight. Although not hard, as Lionhead promised, the arena poses an interesting challenge with its high scores. You are tasked with killing as much as you can in a tight time limit. It is not hard to get all the prizes, but I have yet to face the final boss, so it isn't easy. It also emphasises the need for two screens in co-op, as it is virtually impossible to actually co-operate. Instead, you end up fighting for the single view, making shooting specific things and getting the combo things virtually impossible.

As you would expect from Fable DLC, it comes with nice costumes and collectibles. This time, it even has some amusing achievements in addition to the normal collection ones. It has a couple of nice locations to explore, new characters to meet and weapons to use. The only obvious omission is the lack of any moral decisions there were so focal in Fable 2. I would have liked to see many of the mechanics expanded upon. None the less, for 580 Microsoft points I do recommend it. It is an enjoyable reason to return to Fable with some interesting quests.

Posting hiatus is over

I know it is early than I said it would be. However, I had to end the posting hiatus prematurely for a number of reasons.

Firstly, I have written my Fable 2: See the Future impressions and can see no real reason for keeping them from you! As a sneak preview (I'll be posting it tomorrow) I really enjoyed it, but it didn't have a moral decision, which I felt was odd at best.

Secondly, THQ have just granted me a review copy of Red Faction: Guerrilla (!) which, while I haven't covered before, does look very cool (see video below). Also, it looks like it has a Team Fortress 2 style online, which, given how much I am enjoying that, should be good to see. Anyway, as I am being given a copy of this game, I feel somewhat obliged to review it around the time when it was released. The review embargo is until the 5th of June, so expect the review some time around then.



Also, as you may have gathered, I have the Orange Box. Steam were selling it at the outrageous price of £5, so I couldn't refuse. And what a package! I can't work out which game I like most. I have the Cinematic Mod for Half-Life 2 and I am loving every second of this beautifully well paced first person shooter, more than any other FPS ever (except maybe Metroid Prime, but that isn't a real shooter). Then there is Portal, which I am going to devote a whole post to just expressing my shear love for the game. And then there is Team Fortress Two, which was recently patched to include some really cool maps (it's like Steam love me). The whole game is that amazingly balanced online experience that hasn't got old yet.

Talking of free maps, Relic have added more maps and even a new game mode to Dawn of War 2. The game goes from strength to strength, with the 2v2 mode adding even more strategy to the game, but I'll be talking more about that too.

And I sold out and got both map packs for Halo 3. I haven't really played much of Legendary, but I have made a map that I am pretty pleased with in Sandbox (I'll probably be posting about it on my game development blog). I really got it as I was going to have points left over from Fable, and I wanted Sandbox, so I just got it all so I could play it online.

Oh yes, and the small point that E3 is coming and I best get my predictions in early. And guessing Forza 3 doesn't count as a prediction, it's like "predicting" that the sun will rise tomorrow, it's all but guaranteed.

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone. I am 3/5s of my way through my exams, I am addicted to Twitter and the weather was fantastic, until today.

Wordle

Posting hiatus continues, but, I had to quickly show you this:




Sorry about the size, click on it to see it full size. Basically it searches my RSS feed and finds the most common words. Based on their popularity it assigns a size. I may try and use it more frequently on a separate page. I am planning on introducing a couple of new pages to Veteran Gamer anyway, so stay tuned for that. Don't ask me how it can do that, I've got no idea... Check it out out @ wordle.net

Posting hiatus

Well you will have probably noticed posts seems to have dried up. To avoid the situation which happened last year I am posting an official hiatus notice. Due to exams, posting on this blog, (and my game development blog) will halt. Posting will resume on June 15th with a post about the Fable 2 DLC.

In the mean time, I will leave you with some links.

Firstly, a personal shout out. I mentioned my game development blog, which I am pleased to report has successfully taken off (as in, past the first two posts, which so many of my other blogs didn't). Better yet, it has got a couple of posts about Frozen Kangaroo, the real time strategy game I am working on. Most recently, about how the nuclear weapons will function.

Secondly, I am really enjoying the Three Moves Ahead podcast from Flash of Steel. If you want a taster of what the podcast is like, my favourite one was about symettry and asymettry in games. The podcast is well worth a subscribe because it combines genuinely interesting discussion about games design with some funny personalities. Better yet, it doesn't just focus on the latest game release.

Finally, an odd link. I am linking to this site primarily so that it can be found by Google. It is a website I designed (email me @ thekileyenator@gmail.com if you fancy one for yourself) and so I need Google to index it. However, if you are looking for plants in your work place, and you are based the home counties, this is the site to go to -Renaissance Plants

Fable 2's second DLC announced

And it's called See the future. Some more information was released today, not least, that it will come out in May. You can read the full release here.

It appears to be centered around a strong story element. It also suggests that it will be harder than anything found in Fable (admittedly difficult for it to be any easier...)

The other interesting feature appears to be similar to their April Fool's Joke, where you can change the breed of your dog. Customisation is always fun, and hopefully they won't take it at all seriously an include some weird breeds and custom colors (maybe even using your existing dyes!)

However, the most important part of the press release is the price: 560 Microsoft Points (about £8). This is 240 points cheaper than the usual 800. Hopefully, this is Lionhead being nice, although I fear it means it is not very long. It also doesn't appear to include any new areas and the press release lists only three quests.

Either way, more Fable = Good.

Steam: The future of game distribution...

Steam is the future of game distribution...but not yet. Steam Powered Games is rapidly changing the way games are bought and played on the PC, however, there are still a few issues that is going to stop it becoming truly main stream.

Unless you have been living in a hole for the past two years, you will probably have heard of Steam. It provides 3 basic functions: firstly, a gaming community system akin to Xbox live, complete with common friends list, in game tools (including a web browser and chat) and everything else you would expect. Secondly, it offers dedicated servers for large multi-player games such as Counter Strike. However, probably the most unique of its services is the ability to download (legally) entire games straight to your PC - the gaming equivalent to iTunes, if you will.

Judging by PC sales last year, the PC market is now completely dependant upon Steam for its survival. And believe me, I think it will survive. But Steam isn't quite ready to conquer the world. Here are the things that I think they need to resolve to go truly main stream.

1)Bandwidth - Steam side
For years, one of the biggest obstacles for online game distribution was that high speed broadband was not common, and even where it was, it wasn't anywhere near fast enough. This isn't true any more. As far as I am concerned, in the UK within the next 5 years, 5-10Mb broadband will be standard with 20-100 being fairly common. Which is fast enough.

The problem, would currently appear to be at Steams end. I have above average, 20Mb broadband, normally getting about 15mb/s. However, downloading a game from Steam, I will normally get no more than 1mb/s, usually a lot, lot less. Like 10-20Kb/s. I don't think Steam is capping the download. Instead I think their server can't deal with the downloads.

Obviously, this will improve over time. However, if they want to become mainstream, it has got to be as quick as walking in to town. A download cannot take 24 hours.

They are offering a solution which lightens the problem, called pre-loading. Basically, the user downloads the game before it comes out, but can't play it until it does. This is a good idea. Make sure every game is doing it. Make it so it is available as early as possible and make it possible for people to download it a little bit at a time whilst leading up to the release. If the download is available a month before the game comes out (as is usually possible) then every time people log in to Steam, it downloads what it can in the background, then the load will be shared out effectively across the 30 day period.

2)Piracy

Part of the reason that Steam is as successful as it is, is because virtually every game released, is released on to it. If you had to see if a title was available, you just would stop bothering. Steam has received loads of publisher support. Partly, this is due to their excellent anti-piracy techniques. As far as I am aware, Steam games are not easily hacked. When playing a Steam game, the game checks its legitimacy against the Steam servers. This is good, as piracy is a very real threat to PC games.

This is fine, until the connection with Steam is lost. It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen. If you are charging people to pay games, you have to let them play them, whenever they want to. Either guarantee 100% up-time on your servers or find a work around. Maybe less frequent checking, or allow it to fail a few times. I wouldn't mind, but it has happened twice in two days - Xbox Live doesn't fall over, ever. Well OK, maybe at Christmas, but it didn't stop you playing games, and it certainly doesn't happen on a daily basis.

Survival of the fittest

When playing Dawn of War 2, I have to manage my Steam overlay window, my Games for Windows Live (GFWL) dashboard, and, if I have any attention left, Dawn of War 2. I think that Steam needs to sign a deal with Microsoft or else they are going to start competing against each other. That is bad for Steam, as Steam will lose, simply because there will never be Steam on the Xbox, and the Xbox isn't going anywhere.

Steam need to agree with Microsoft to work together, as Microsoft could easily do what Steam does. Were Microsoft to sell games they would have far greater bandwidth with which to do it. Factor in that they could sell 360 games too, and they would be very attractive to sell with. I don't care how it is done, but make Steam needs to join Microsoft, because they can't beat them.

Pricing

Like iTunes, Steam needs to be cheaper than retail stores. For a good few years yet, people will have an attachment to physical objects. No one is going to pay more (or even the same) for a download. Particularly when it isn't even much more convenient with the 24 hour+ downloads. Game regularly under sells Steam. Steam needs to be doing much more dynamic pricing to keep the prices low. Admittedly, they do more than iTunes, but iTunes offers something that shops don't; £0.79 songs. Seeming as Steam can't do an equivalent (one level of a game just wouldn't work as people would view it as a demo), it needs to be cheaper in general.

I genuinely believe that the future of games is in downloading. Better deals can be granted to everyone and the community system is an excellent reward. However, I don't believe it will necessarily be Steam that wins. They are winning at the moment, but like I said, Microsoft could sweep in at any point.

What do you think? Do you buy all your games from Steam, or do you cling to the polythene wrapping? Do you think that broadband is ready for this? Post your remarks below, I would love to see some other opinions on this.

Bonfire Studios Interview

When Microsoft announced they were closing down Ensemble Studios (most famous for the Age of Empires series and, more recently, Halo Wars) I was deeply shocked. More shocked even than when Bungie left Microsoft. Ensemble had been with Mircosoft for as long as I have been playing video games.

Since this announcement, Halo Wars has been released and, by and large, has been positively reviewed (with a few notable exceptions), I'll be posting my thoughts in a couple of weeks. Following it's release, Ensemble Studios was duly dismantled; a true figurehead of the industry removed.

However, all is not lost. From Ensemble rises two new development companies. The first, Robot Entertainment, is currently working on the Halo Wars DLC in addition to their own new intellectual property. The second, Bonfire Studios, kindly agreed to answer some of my questions about the break from Microsoft, Halo Wars, their new studio and their new project.

Closure of Ensemble Studios

1) Would you view your break with Microsoft as a blessing in disguise, as you surely must have more freedom in design, or a curse, as, in reality you have less freedom due to financial constraints?
It’s a bit of both. We enjoyed a great relationship with Microsoft for almost 15 years, and it was very disappointing when they decided to close Ensemble. Microsoft was supportive of Ensemble in most ways, but we found it difficult to branch out into genres other than RTS, largely due to the success of our RTS games. The break from Microsoft allows us to explore some creative ideas that would have been difficult to pursue in the past.

2) What will you miss least about being a first party developer?
We liked the fact that Ensemble was closely linked to PC gaming and now the Xbox, and I believe we helped Microsoft push both of those platforms forward. However, there were times when we wish we could have pursued development on platforms such as the iPhone or Wii, and obviously that wasn’t going to happen when we were owned by Microsoft.

3) And what will you miss most?
I’ll miss a lot of the friendships that were built over the years at Microsoft. I think we’ll also miss working with one of the biggest players in the tech and gaming industry

Halo Wars

4) Have you played Dawn of War 2, and if so, what did you think of it (bare with me)?

Yes, it’s really popular around the office right now. The reviews have been very positive, and the game looks great. Relic has done a very nice job with the Warhammer 40,000 franchise.


5) What would you say to Dawn of War 2 being better suited to the console than Halo Wars? After all, there were fewer units to control, which surely would have been easier on the console.

Without commenting on Dawn of War 2 specifically, I will say that the number of units you control is just one aspect of what makes an RTS work well on the console. Every feature in Halo Wars was designed with the Xbox 360 in mind, and because of that, I think it works very well on the console. After our experience developing Halo Wars, It's hard to imagine any PC title working well on the console without significant design change.

6) Were you pleased with the reception of Halo Wars?

Yes, we've been pleased with the response so far. Our ratings are in-line with those of previous Ensemble titles, and most of the reviewers feel that Halo Wars is a great addition to the Halo Universe. They feel that we nailed the control scheme, which was extremely important to us, and something that we had to get right for RTS games to finally migrate to the console.


7) Given more time, is there anything you wished you could have changed in Halo Wars?

Of course. As a developer, there’s always one more feature or one more polish pass you’d like to finish before sending the game out into the wild. Halo Wars was no different. Given more time, I would have liked to have seen us implement split screen co-op for the campaign.

8) Are there any plans to port Halo Wars for the PC?

Microsoft hasn’t announced any plans to port Halo Wars to the PC. To-date, they’ve been firm about Halo Wars being exclusive to the Xbox 360.


Bonfire Studios

9) There are two splinter development companies that came from Ensemble Studios, so obviously the team was split. Which areas do your team specialize in? Do you wish there was anyone / any skill area that you wish you had more of as it has gone to the other team. I.E., is one team the artists and the other the programmers?

The company was divided largely along product lines. Virtually everyone at Bonfire worked on Halo Wars from the earliest concept phase all the way through ship. We have a complete team – artists, programmers, designers, audio, and production. Robot, the other Ensemble spinoff, has very specific plans in mind that don’t overlap with what we’re doing at Bonfire, so it really worked out well that two top-notch studios are coming out of Ensemble’s closure.

10) Will you be working with the other studio on any future projects?

We don’t have any plans to work with Robot at this time, but they are great friends of ours, so you never know what might happen!


11) I heard that Robot would be working on the DLC for Halo Wars; does this mean you are not?

That is true – Robot is releasing DLC for Halo Wars. Bonfire doesn’t have any responsibilities for supporting Halo Wars at the moment.

12)Why is Robot working on the DLC if your team is composed of the Halo Wars development team?

At Ensemble, everyone in the company eventually piled onto Halo Wars to help get it out the door. So, while most everyone at Bonfire was on Halo Wars from the very beginning, the team also eventually included the folks that now work at Robot. Robot was the first spinoff to come out of Ensemble’s closure, and Microsoft felt they’d be a good fit for the initial round of DLC.

13) Will you remain a 3rd party developer to Microsoft or entirely freelance?

We haven’t announced a publishing partner yet for our new game, but we’d certainly be open to working with Microsoft in the future. Despite the fact that they closed Ensemble, we enjoyed working with Microsoft over the years and we made some great games together.


Future Projects

14) What is your current project, or is it just a collection of different ideas at the moment?

We’re working on an entirely new game based on original IP that we are very excited about. There’s not a lot we can discuss just yet, but I think fans of Ensemble titles will be very excited when they hear what we have in store and also a bit surprised!

15) What are your thoughts on the Wii, specifically for "hard-core" games and even real time strategy games?

I think there is a huge opportunity for a publisher willing to take a bet on a more “hard-core” title for the Wii. How can you ignore a console with such a massive install base? The game needs to be designed with the Wii in mind from the start, and not just be a simple port of an existing title. Madworld from Sega comes to mind – talk about breaking the mold of what is expected in a Wii title! I think strategy games could find a home on the Wii as well. Our hope is that Halo Wars is the title that finally demonstrates that RTS games can work well on the console. If it does, maybe other publishers will feel more confident in investing in RTS games on all consoles including the Wii.

16) Will you be producing games from outside the RTS genre?

Definitely - our first game is something very different than what we've done in the past. I think our games will always have a strong strategy element to them, though, since that is one of our core strengths. Of course, we do love the RTS genre, and I imagine we’ll always keep that door open in the future.


17) Can you give us a time frame on hearing about a new project from Bonfire Studios more officially?

The team would love to share more with you today, but I’d say “later this year” is a safer answer!

Conclusion

While they sadly did not reveal their current project (trust me, I begged) they do drop a couple of interesting hints. While this is purely speculation, I think their new game could be squad based first person shooter. Why? Well, they hinted at a game that was "very different to what we have done in the past" but yet has a "strong strategy element". It is also possible that it could be a Wii game, however, that is also guess work based on their apparent interest in the Wii.

Their conclusion of Halo Wars is to be predicted, I truly hope it was the legacy they wanted to leave behind. While I am disappointed that there are no plans for a port to the PC for Halo Wars, I am hardly surprised.

Blog Update

Well I hope everyone enjoyed the (long) review for Dawn of War 2. I really can't stress enough how fun I found it. I stand by my positive opinion of the campaign, despite everyone else seeming to disagree with me (Tom Chick, Gamespot).

Also, sometime mid next week I will be posting an interview with the newly created Bonfire Studios which was one of the two companies to have emerged from the ashes (no pun intended) of Ensemble Studios. The other studio was Robot Entertainment. I've sent my questions off and I should get the replies on Monday, I expect to have the whole thing posted by Wednesday, so check back then.

Also, I have been putting a lot of time in to Sins of a Solar Empire, late I know! Anyway, I just got to the bit where it lives up to everything it promises. I must have had about 40 ships (and was no where near the cap) my two allies must have had 60 each and the enemy had 50 or so. With a bit of ping spamming on my part, I engineered a huge pitched battle between these two forces. It was the most awesome space battle I have ever seen, beating even the intro to Star Wars III. Part of the problem I have been having up till now is not really understanding anything. In fact, the reason I was so far short of the cap was because I only today found out how to increase it! There are a number of game design topics in this game, which I will be posting about on my other blog, Bot Work Studios. However, I hope to be putting some gamer impressions up here as well.

I downloaded the demo for Empire: Total War and as of yet, have not had too much time to play on it. This is largely down to the atrocious loading screens. It must have been loading for a good 10 minutes. While my computer is not quite state of the art, it can easily run Dawn of War 2 on Ultra with a rock steady frame rate, so it is hardly under powered. When it did eventually load, it was too late for me to work out how you play it without a user interface(!). I hope to put some more time in to over the coming week. I'm too much of a fan of the series to let a little loading put me off; Rome: Total War was bad on my old computer, and that is still one of my favourite games of all time.

Remember to check back on Wednesday for the interview with Bonfire Studios!

Dawn of War 2: Review

If you were expecting a traditional sequel to Dawn of War 1, think again. Dawn of War 2 changes so much it is some what surprising that Dawn of War 1, an immensely popular real time strategy (RTS) that didn't introduce a lot to the genre in terms of innovation, is it's prequel. In an industry that seems scared of changing anything out of fear that it might not work perfectly; this fact alone makes Dawn of War 2 stand out. However, on top of this, the changes work really, really, well. If you are looking for an RTS like no other, this game is worth every penny.

Like many RTS games, Dawn of War 2 features a campaign and a skirmish element. Normally, I prefer the skirmish element. I think this is probably down to the fact that the campaign normally shoe-horns you in to a fixed strategy and the story is not enough make me put up with that. However, in Dawn of War 2, I love the campaign. I have spent more time on it that in the skirmishes.

From a story perspective, it is weak. The story is predictable. The characters are shallow at best and it offers no depth. So no surprises there. To top it off, the main characters struggle to get across any emotions beyond the simple, I-like-to-kill-stuff. The story is presented well through a variety of mediums, however. The game uses painting-style cut-scenes interspersed seemingly randomly through the campaign. The odd style gives works very well, giving them a very gritty feel. The voice acting, apart from being devoid of emotion, presents the story clearly.

Fortunately, the rest of the campaign makes up for the story. The campaign takes the form of linear missions. You usually have a choice of missions. Variation is added through optional missions and missions that have to be completed within a certain number of "Campaign Days".

Campaign days are sort of a compromise towards the more modern approach of province capture. In normal circumstances you are only allowed to deploy once per day. For every day that passes, the Tyranid infestation spreads, weakening your hold on the planets. Missions lower the infestation. If you perform especially well in a mission, you are granted extra deployments. This really feels like you are pushing back the wave of Tyranids, giving your campaign momentum. Choosing which mission to undertake also adds to the immersion as you have to fight back the infestation on different planets.

That is just one of the many decisions the campaign will force you to make, however. The various different decisions you must take are really what set this campaign apart from the competition. From choosing how to level up your troops, what equipment to give them and even what troops to deploy, you will find yourself battling over the options.

All of these decisions have the same strengths and weaknesses. They all offer an interesting decision and add to the replayability of the campaign. The decisions have visible effects. The levelling system is an excellent example. As you might expect, levelling in each of the different areas provides a small benefit in that area, eg, upgrading in combat will allow the units to deal more damage when in close combat. However, in addition to this, there are perks that are unlocked every so often. These provide a very noticeable difference, often in the form of a special ability, eg you may unlock a power attack. This blend of micro and macro makes the levelling system very rewarding.

Sadly, the system is, in some respects, over balanced. Their need to not make one dominant strategy sometimes makes your decisions feel irrelevant. Every strategy is so equally viable, that you can choose your options at random.

Overall though, the decisions are largely interesting even if somewhat irrelevant.

The actual missions split in to two main types. The main style involves pushing from one end of the map to the other. While this is hardly anything new, it is quite satisfying and the maps are interesting and well designed. Most of these levels end in a boss battle, of all things. While they don't require any thinking or tactics, do offer a nice crescendo to the mission as you use everything you have got on them.

Also, on each map there are points that you can capture. On the first occasion, they provide you with a special bit of war gear, and each one of that type you capture increases the number of times you can use said war gear. However, they are heavily defended. This adds a nice decision in to the otherwise linear missions. Also, as you can only capture one of these per mission, and there are usually two per map, it means returning to the map the second time is not so tiresome.

The other type is defence. In these you are pitted against waves of enemies and you must protect a building. They are not nearly as fun or as satisfying as the other missions (not least as there is no reward, only a lack of loss) None the less, they add variety to the campaign and make it feel more like a real campaign.

I think the one weakness of the missions is scale. As you have so few units, the maps often feel empty. Obviously, you can't control any more, as this would upset the balance of the campaign. However, I think what they should have done (and, admittedly, did at stages) would be to put in computer controlled AI and have pitched battles going on around you. There would be too many people for you to get involved and they wouldn't be doing your objectives, but it would have made you feel like you were involved in something bigger.

Sadly, my positive thoughts of the campaign are somewhat overshadowed by the fact that I have been unable to pass one mission because of a technical flaw. I can't believe that it is my computer as it meets the specification and some. Nor can I believe that it will happen with every copy, as it happens at the same point in the same mission. Hopefully, they will fix this, as the campaign has been a lot of fun so far and I do want to see how it ends.

Unfortunately, this is not the only technical hitch I have come across. The game repeatedly crashes at seemingly random points. Aside from the bug I mentioned above, these occur outside the intense fire fights and simply after cut scenes or before loading screens! These are minor inconveniences as the game picks up precisely where you left off with no loss of data. None the less, it is quite frustrating.

It may then come as a surprise that technically this game is very impressive. The graphics are fantastic. Even when you zoom right in, the models looks good. Even the organic shapes of the Tyranids look pretty good. The frame rate is rock steady even in intense fire fights. The frame rate only dips when there are hundreds of Tyranids on screen and you are rapidly delivering orders to all your troops. Even then it is only by a couple of frames a second.

The audio, as you might expect from a Dawn of War game, is top notch. The Orks still make me laugh. The noises the Tyranids are genuinely disturbing. Overall, the excellent technical achievements outweigh the inconvenience of random crashes. Sadly, the broken mission is slightly more serious, I will check whether it is just more, or if everyone is having this problem.

Obviously, the other key element to this game is the skirmishes. Most of my online experience comes from the beta as the press online is deserted whenever I search for a game! The online is really good. The movement away from conquering towards the new, more mobile, style is really good. Having played the campaign I wish they had taken it a step further; select five units before the game starts and use them instead of building units during the game. As it is, you still have to have some focus on your base. Furthermore, because your units aren't levelled up (as they could have been with the selection method) they don't have any of the special abilities that they do in the campaign.

I have now had the chance to play some team battles, admittedly with AI, and they work much better than the 1v1s. As there are more units the scale feels much better. Also, the battles go on for longer, allowing more advanced units to be produced.

The integration with Games for Windows Live is a good thing. Stat tracking being tied to your Live profile, easy to use matchmaking, achievements and your friends list are all great. To top it off, they have kept the custom hosting option, so it is win win!

In conclusion, I have thoroughly enjoyed Dawn of War 2. It is refreshing that this game has done something different. Like most people, I was shocked at first. However, this change is good beyond the fact the genre needs change; it is good because it works. Yes, it is disappointing that the game has some technical issues. However, I have faith that Relic will get these issues resolved as soon as they become aware of them. The game is a really nice package, with good graphics, good frame rate and an excellent array of decisions that you must make.

It is also worth noting that this game features co-op campaign. I have not had a chance to try this out. I have my doubts about this, as four units is certainly not too many to handle for one player. None the less, it should be a joy to experience the campaign with another!

This review was based on a review copy of Dawn of War 2 supplied by the publisher.

Dawn of War 2 First Impressions

Well I have now spent 3 days playing Dawn of War 2 and, while I don't feel like I have fully experienced it, I certainly think I can do quite a detailed first impressions.

Firstly, I just want to say a huge thank you to Relic (the developers). For the first time in a long time, I won't have to say, it's just another sequel. This game is not "another RTS", it is not just some nice graphics stuck on to an age old model. This game is different and, err, fun.

Another thing I didn't think I would ever say; I think I prefer the campaign to the skirmishes. Me, as in the person who played all of one mission from the first two parts of Dawn of War 1 and never even finished the campaign in Dark Crusade. Me, who loved the Rome: Total War campaign and, despite spending hours in the game, never finished the campaign because I preferred skirmishes. Me, who never even touched the campaigns in Age of Empires 1, me who didn't notice there wasn't a campaign in Sins of a Solar empire and me, who doesn't even bother with scenarios in Civilization 4.

However, the campaign in this is loads of fun. You control a maximum of four units (choosing these four units quickly becomes one of the many interesting decisions that make up this game) The reduced numbers quickly makes the game incredibly focused. In any other game, the amount of handling you have to do for each unit would be unhandleable micromanagement. Admittedly, at times it does feel a little intricate. For example, you have to point you Heavy Bolter units in the right direction for them to shoot, you have to constantly be activating special abilities and moving all your units around to face the onslaught on enemies.

However, it is doable. The game manages to keep you under pressure whilst not overwhelming you. On the lower difficulties, it isn't actually very difficult, but it feels like it is and that you are only just making it through because of your command.

Part of this is down to the decisions. Sid Miers once famously said that "a game is a series of interesting decisions". In this game, every decision is non-trivial. What equipment do you give your units, which units do you take, do you push for the heavily defended fortification to provide you with bonus equipment or focus on the main objective.

Also, because of the intricate combat, your stratagies feel much more relevant. In traditional RTS's, the actual tactical element is largely just amassing troops. This is out of the question in this, not least because the enemy will always out number you. As a result, you must constantly be using the terrain around you to make best use of your units. The weaker units that in most RTS's are just throw away units are as vital as any other, no unit is dispensable.

The press release said that you would care for your units on a personal level. Sadly, this isn't true. The characters are clichéd at best and are simply to shallow to ever feel like you know them. They are not loveable enough and it is very difficult to empathize with them. Also, the game made it so that units do not die, they are simply knocked unconscious. This is an interesting decision, and was no doubt taken in part because each unit's leader plays a part in the story. None the less, this once again stops you caring about your units.

Levelling up your units also features in this game, and it works really well. At first glance, it seems fairly simple, upgrade your heavy bolters with ranged and your jump pack troops with close combat. However, as you earn enough points in a certain area you get a perk. These perks are tailored to the unit, so every path is viable. For example, upgrading your heavy bolters in close combat makes them able to carry on "focus firing" when they are in combat.

As far as I can work out, when your unit is knocked unconcious, they don't loose all their experience, they just earn less. This could have been a way of appeasing the story whilst making you care about the units. Or it might just have been annoying.

I could talk about the campaign till the cows come home, so I will move on. Rest assured, this is the first RTS campaign that I have enjoyed that isn't done in the Total War style, and in some ways, I might even prefer it to the Total War ones. Story wise, it is a bit "whatever" and the voice acting is pretty much mediocre, but aside from that, the campaign has a few neat mechanics, interesting missions and fairly varied objectives.

With all that good, what is there left for the skirmish side of things. I have talked before about it quite a bit with the beta. However, I didn't actually try a team battle. The team battles work better than the 1 v 1s. One thing they do wonderfully is recreate the wonderful feeling when playing the board game with many people. The 1v1s, the battles, whilst fun and frantic, always felt a little empty. A quite effective strategy was to run around securing the victory points after the enemy has left them (you don't have enough units to defend every point on the map).

In the team games however, you really feel like you are taking part in a big battle. Normally with team RTSs, you invest a lot of focus back at base, meaning you can't really co-ordinate with your team. However, now it is capture victory points, you are forced out of your turtle shell and stand next to your brothers.

And I was only playing with AI!

The game isn't perfect, the army painter is fairly basic with only a minimal selection of badges and only four customisable colour parts. Another slightly annoying thing is you can't even use your painted armies in the campaign. Another thing I encountered was during the campaign, the game crashes immediately after the cut-scenes. It didn't matter, once I loaded up the game again, it resumed right where it left off, and the cut scenes aren't very command but a bit annoying any way.

Overall, get this game, this is the change we need (in the RTS genre at least). Apologies about the length, the final review will be more orgaised.

Full, more formal, better structured, review on Sunday.

Dawn of War 2 Interview

I read an interesting interview with the developer of Dawn of War 2 with Tom Chick. In it, they talk about how the genre has gone stale when compared with other, more successfully genres (such as first person shooters).

While I completely agree with what is being said, I think part of the shrinking sales is to do with the PC as a whole. Halo Wars has not saved the RTS genre (more information about this some time next week) but only showed that RTSs are almost always better on the PC, hence RTS survival is completely dependant upon the PC.

Sadly, however, the PC market is dying. It is, in part, to do with piracy. It was reported (I have sadly lost the link) that one game had a piracy rate of 85%! Compare this to the current generation of consoles, where it is virtually impossible to pirate games and even harder to distribute them, you can see where the money is going to go.

None the less, they raise a couple of interesting points about how console games are changing and why PC games need to do the same; and they are right. Console games are being simplified and shortened. Even Civilization on the console can be played through in a single play. Personally, I liked the depth that PC games offer. However, what might speak more is I love being able to dip in to console games for maybe 10 minutes - and I do probably spend more money on the console than I do on PC.

For those who are interested in Dawn of War 2 itself, I have a review copy of it which I am currently playing. I am not allowed to post anything before Friday though. My plan is to post my (detailed) first impressions on Friday and the full review on Sunday, allowing me to get a good feel for the game and what not. However, if I am allowed one sentence it would be this: Thankyou Relic for not making me repeat my sentiments that I have used so frequently in the past 12 months; "it's just another sequel". Stay tuned for more!

Free Radical bought by Crytec

Last year, Free Radical (Time Splitters) went in to administration. I, along with many others, was both shocked and upset, I was looking forward to Time Splitters 4, scheduled for this year. It was rumoured there were a number of third parties looking to buy in. However, it was not until earlier this month that it was revealed who was going to take them on.

And I must admit, I was surprised to find it was Crytec, most well known for Crysis. If I had to think of two first person shooters that were as different in style and execution as possible, it would probably be these two! Crysis is ultra-serious with incredibly realistic graphics and physics, a clichéd, with no tongue in cheek humour, action story. Time splitters has a weird, goofy, genuinely funny script, cartoony graphics, some of the worst physics you will ever come across and a monkey gun.

Can it work? I am not convinced. With the economic climate, and that FR was rescued from administration, Crytec may not be willing to fund a FPS that is less serious (as it may be considered more risky, just compare the sales of Time Spiltters with Halo or even Cyrsis itself). On the other hand, it could be absolutely awesome. It depends on whether the Cryengine can handle cartoony graphics as well as it can handle real graphics, and whether Crytec let FR run with their crazy monkey schemes!

I played the Halo Wars demo, so expect some first impressions coming soon. On top of which, some very exciting VG news:

While I am not getting my hopes up just yet, I think I may have secured a review copy of Dawn of War 2. As a result, I will be getting my act together and actually witting the review on time! The review cannot be posted before the 20th, but I aim to have it released exactly as the embargo is listed. Don't worry, I won't let it get to my journalistic integrity! But, however I score it, I want to say a big thank you to THQ, and if the beta is anything to go by, I am sure it will be awesome.

Resident Evil 5 Demo Impressions

Well, along with 1.8 million other people, I downloaded the Resi Evil demo for the Xbox 360. It comes with two playable levels. I played them both on my own and in co-op.

On your own is good but not great. The controls feel a little clunky. I know this is what they have always been, but that doesn't mean it isn't time for change. My main Resi Evil experience comes from RE4 on the Wii, which I thought had perfect controls, so maybe I will wait for a Wii port. My main gripe is that you have to press a button to draw your knife and then a second b to swing with it. What other possible reason could there be for drawing it, if not to swing with it. You can't move with it drawn, so when you draw it, you obviously want to swing with it.

The other main problem is your co-op partner is frustrating at times. You can't tell her to push furniture, or rather you can, but she only pushes it a little bit, you must go and push it all the way. There is no way of directing where she is shooting and she only ever uses her primary gun. There are bits which are obviously set up for co-operative fighting, like a room with two doors. She, however, refuses to settle on one.

Chuck in a second player and it gets a whole load better. There are some neat co-op features like ammo sharing, requesting different things and obviously being able to protect each other. The inventory is a bit clumsy - when you select an item, you have a drop down list to chose from (use, give etc.). I think it could have been more streamlined if A was use, B was give etc.

Yes, it has the painfully obvious scripted "co-op" bits that stick out like a sore thumb, but aside from that, it was fun to play through. Graphically, the game looks very impressive. This is certainly a title to watch.

Dawn of War 2 Online Beta Impressions

Well, despite THQ claiming this game has gone gold, Dawn of War 2 has gone into a last minute beta check and they need YOUR help, quick, download it off Steam. [If you didn't pick up on the sarcasm in that last sentence, I recommend you read the rant at the end of my last blog update]

Dawn of War 2 is very different to Dawn of War. If you are not aware, there is no base building. At all. Before you all leave to pre-order Starcraft, hear me out. This change is not a bad thing.

So, you strip out the base building, what do you have left? A surprisingly fluid RTS that could work on the console as well as the PC. How does it work, all your units are built at your headquaters. You can level your headquarters, but that is about it. Levelling up grants additional, more powerful, units.

The game flows a lot more than in Dawn of War. In the original, the best strategy tended to be: build some turrets, quickly level up, build as many units as your cap allows then attack. This was fun, but made games quite similar and also quite lengthy.

If you do that in Dawn of War 2, you will lose. Annihilation is not the aim of the game. On each map, there are 3 "Victory Points". Both players have a score, the opponents score decreases at a rate relative to the amount of victory points you hold. When one reaches zero, they lose. These work in a similar way to the requestion points in Dawn of War(which are still present).

Building units still requires energy and requestion. However, you cannot build power stations, they now must be captured like requestion points. All of this adds up to force you to mobilise your troops right from the start. If you sit in your base, the opponent will quickly be able to rack up more requestion and energy points than you (on top of the victory points, allowing him to win). When he does finally attack you, you won't stand a chance.

This means that you will constantly be sending out troops to capture points. Which in turn means you will always have less units alive at any given point(hence why it could, in theory, be adapted for the console). Less units means more control over them. Units can now get behind cover, for example. It plays more like Platoon (a demo came with a newspaper once!).

Also, because right from the start you will be battling, your commander unit (which you now start off with) plays a much more important role, helping to turn the tide of battle. Commanders now level up and, when they die, an option to revive them becomes available.

Another bonus is the game is actually balanced. Each side has a very different feel to it and yet, remarkably, the sides feel fair. Such a quick and competitive online will surely result in this game being played a lot - the true test of balance - but from where I am sat it looks balanced.

The game looks good, not quite as good as the screen shots, but the animations are really cool. The game sounds good, as you would expect from Dawn of War. Finally, the Games for Windows Live intergration is a mixed addition. On the one hand, it will mean achievements, plus neat stat tracking and a working friends list. However, no option to browse games (the custom game feature doesn't seem to work, either that or no one in the whole world was hosting a game) and having to matchmake (which is as slow as Gears at the moment) is a bit annoying.

Overall, I am pleasantly surprised. I have talked before about how I am looking forward to see what they are doing with the single player campaign. I am pleased to report the online, which was so key in the original, is shaping up to keep in sync with the fresh single player whilst offering fast, addictive online.

Blog Update - Walking in a winter wonder land

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately, despite having much to post about (Resident Evil 5 and Dawn of War 2 beta/demo's to come). The main reason is this weekend I took part in an event called the "Global Game Jam". You can read all about it on my other blog.

Another thing that may have got in the way of my posting is the incredible snow! Normally, when their is snow, us British tend to make quite a fuss over what would, in other countries, be described as "light". This time, it is different. We had about 9" of lush, thick, soft snow, and it is still hear some 3 days on! Yes, maybe we did overreact by having schools closed for the duration of those three days - but hey, this only happens every 20 years. To all the people who are complaining about people "skyving off" because of the snow (*cough* Borris Johnson *cough*) lighten up a little bit. This does not happen often enough to be a serious disruption to anything, so just go out and enjoy yourself!
Check out the bench! I spent Monday and Tuesday morning sledging and the afternoons warming up by the fire (my Xbox 360) I hope that if you did get snow, you were able to enjoy it also.

Also, for those who read my review of Braid early today, I have now completed two worlds (first world and the third world) and have discovered that more content becomes available once you do every world. I forgot to include scores and such that you normally find in my reviews as I only decided to make it a review when I finished it and came to tagging it up. On the other hand, how helpful are scores? The question you want answered is, should I buy it? Post a comment if you have oppinions on scoring games using arbiatary systems (oh yeah, make a simple concept sound a lot more in inteligent!)

I am going to write impressions on both the Dawn of War 2 beta and Resident Evil 5 demo tonight. As I don't want content released earlier today (Braid review) to get lost and then there to be a drought of content, I will have scheduled publications of them over the next 3 days at 7PM (Dawn of War 2 on Friday, Resi Evil on Saturday) so make sure to check back then.

But first, a quick rant. The "Multiplayer beta" of Dawn of War 2, as much as I am loving it, IS NOT A BETA. For one, the game went gold (ie. into production) before the beta was released. Unless they are trying to sell a half finished game that will require instant patching, the game is not in a beta stage. Beta stage means it is still being tested! I don't want to buy a half finished game and then have to patch it.

The truth, my cynical mind tells me, is a little different. Yes, the game probably will need to be patched (even the internet and widespread broadband comes with it's curses) the reason they call it a beta is to follow a new trend. CoD 5 also did this. Ever since Halo 3 did an actual online beta, games have been using it as the new buzz word for "early demo". It makes players feel like they are getting involved in the game developement and it means that people can say "oh, it's only the beta, the actual thing will be much better", providing a fallback for the developer. This is simply not the case, if you don't like the "beta", you won't like the game, the disks are already being burnt with that on. It isn't like in the beta they are supplying you with an old copy of the game to see if you can spot the improvements they have already made.

Ok rant over, check back on Friday for my opinon of the so called beta. If you liked Dawn of War, you will probably want to check this out first before commiting to the game. It is very different (read: barely 4X). Check back Friday to see why I think it is a good different.

Braid Blew My Mind

I don't really know what else to say. I downloaded Braid and I am loving every minute. This may well be my favourite platformer since the original Mario on the Wii Virtual Console! Every single puzzle requires you to think. The levels are so well thought out and clever. The game's difficultly even increases at a good pace.

The game is a 2D side scrolling platformer. The difference: a time travelling mechanic. In the early levels, this is a way of quickly fixing mistakes and bringing yourself back from the dead. However, it doesn't take very long for the game to use it to solve puzzles. The first puzzle that you really have to start using time is quite a good one at demonstrating what kind of mind bending activities are to come (although they obviously get quite a bit harder)

[Note: items that glow green are resistant to time travel]

You appear in the level. There is a green key at the top of the map. The puzzle piece (what you are trying to collect) is located behind a locked door. Above this door there is a rock that is slowly falling.

First attempt: Run and get the key, by the time you reach the door the rock has fallen in front of it

*Spoiler - if you plan to do this game without any help, this next paragraph explains this puzzle. Having said this, it is not very complicated when compared to the others, so you could be forgiven for reading on if you are deciding whether to get the game.*

What you have to do is grab the key, rewind the time to the start (causing the rock in front of the door to have lifted) Because the key is green, it rewinds with you.

Fairly simple to work out, yes. However, the puzzles become very complicated requiring you to consider a number of different things at once.

Also, to keep the levels fresh, each world introduces a different mechanic, twist or theme. The 4th world, for example, time only advances when you move forward, and goes back when you move backwards. Or in another, when you rewind time, a shadow of you does whatever you just did and you have to use him to do simultaneous things.

I have now played through all the worlds - so the game is not very long. However, I have not got a single world on perfect, not even the first one, so many more hours of fun are to be had. This game is challenging, fun and refreshing. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys puzzles. Beautiful - arguably my favourite game of 2008.