Yet another games round-up
Starcraft: Brood War
You know a game is good when a year after its release, thousands of people still
play it everyday. Blizzard's Starcraft is one of those games and their online gaming service, Battle.net, is packed with people playing Starcraft 24 hours a day.
Towards the end of last year, Blizzard released the first
"official" add-on to Starcraft. Brood War (BW) is EXACTLY what an add-on pack should be. There are six new units, two to each race, and the properties (cost, build time, rate of fire, etc) of many of the existing units have been
tweaked. When compared to other games, six additional units may seem rather paltry, but these are designed to complement and enhance the experience rather than flood you with units you'll probably never use. BW adds to the experience of
the original game and extends its life by intelligently giving the gamer more of what he wants, not just more.
Grim Fandango
LucasArts is quickly developing a reputation as the king of adventure gaming. In their most recent
triumph, Grim Fandango (GF), you play Manny Calavera, travel agent to the dead. He must pick up souls in the Land of the Living and sell them travel packages to the Land of the Dead. In order for him to "rest in peace," he has to
meet his sales quota, but an embezzlement ring is preventing him from getting the good clients.
GF is one of those games that you just keep playing because you're playing in a "cool" environment, with "cool"
characters and "cool" things just seem to keep happening. The graphics and story are a pastiche of Mexican folklore meets Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. Excellent execution, clever but not overly difficult puzzles,
and a very intuitive interface make GF one of the best adventure games in years.
Sin vs Half-Life
Sin and Half-Life (HL), by Activision and Sierra respectively,
are two notable additions to the first person shooter (FPS) genre. Both feature top notch graphics (especially HL) and engaging story lines. Say goodbye to the Quake style take no prisoners approach. In these games, you actually have missions to accomplish and a plot to work through.
Sin's best feature is the area specific damage, meaning that shooting an enemy in the head will do much more damage than a shot in the leg or arm. When playing Sin, learn to aim quickly and make well place shots and you'll go far.
Unfortunately, when the game was first released, it was marred by MANY bugs and inconsistencies. The majority of these have been fixed through patches available on the Activision web site, but they really should have been addressed prior
to the game's release.
Sierra has produced a highly polished, well thought out and brilliantly executed game, Half-Life. This is the game by which the next batch of FPS's will be judged. The graphics are stunning and the sound is
incredible. If you've got a modern 3D sound card (e.g. the Diamond Monster Sound MX300) prepare to have your gaming enhanced with excellent 3D positional audio. HL will allow the use of a four speaker system with two in the front and two
placed behind you. It's awe inspiring when you hear an enemy's voice or footsteps coming from behind you so you can quickly turn around and blast 'em before they get
you. Also noteworthy is the computer's AI. The marines in this game
are smarter than some of my friends! Watch them as they run for cover or get a few buddies to ambush you. No game available today immerses you in its computer generated world better than HL. This is a spectacular game and a
"MUST-HAVE".
SimCity 3000
The SimCity series of games is one of the true classics in the computing industry. Now in its 4th iteration, SimCity 3000, Maxis has added increased depth and improved graphics to the mix.
The goal of the game is to create a thriving city complete with power and water for your inhabitants (affectionately called Sims), roadways, commercial, industrial and residential areas, trade with neighboring cities, etc.
You're
kept apprised of problems through a set of advisors and news flashes informing you for instance that your city has excellent water services or perhaps that they are lacking in a certain part of town. This new feature is much appreciated as
it saves you from having to constantly check the map overlays where detailed information is available.
The problem with SimCity 3000 is that eventually, you'll say to yourself "Why am I playing this game?" It's not like
Caesar III where you have a series of missions to accomplish. I found it fun and engaging at the beginning, but afterwards, it seems each city becomes unmanageable and you give up and start anew.
by Jason Offiong
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