Exploring Stuff That Makes Life Great
To Designers,
If you want to be the next Will Wright or Shigeru Miyamoto you must remember that games are GAMES! They should be new experiences that bring excitement and fun!
The best way to get inspirations for games is to constantly look at life in a new light. If you can view life as you did growing up, designing that AAA title will be easy; making it is a whole different problem.
One of the key factors that you’ll notice in this industry is that if your game does not have the right PR behind it, the game won’t sell. Even with the right marketing stragety main-stream websites and magazines may not publish anything about the game.
In the case of EDI’s Morning’s Wrath, our first PR went out near the release of the game October 2005. It wasn’t until I sent Gamespot.com 3 copies of the same PRs that they publish a page about the game in December 2005. Now with Malathedra Gamespot along with other major websites still have yet to publish anything about the title even though it was announced on June 1st 2006.
How are developers supposed to reach the gaming audience when the media doesn’t cover their game?
There hasn’t really been a good FPS on a Nintendo system since Perfect Dark. But finally, there is hope for Gamecube-owning FPS fans. Even though Timesplitters 2 is also for the Playstation 2 and there are a few shortcomings in the technical area, this is still the best FPS to hit the Gamecube, and this game is fun to play for a really long time.
The story mode of Timesplitters 2 is fairly plain, with 10 missions that you can play on three difficulties. The story mode is definetly good for one or two runs, but the good quality stuff lies in the Arcade Mode. The Arcade Mode is a ton of fun to play by yourself, but it is way better if you’ve got a few friends over. There are dozens of characters, a number of excellent levels, lots of gameplay modes, and the best part of all: customization. You can set how many bots there are, how difficult they are, what weapons you use, how frequent the different weapons show up, and you can even select which music you want.
Besides the excellent customization, there are a ton of different gameplay modes to choose from, and each requires a different skill. Besides the regular deathmatch and capture the flag, there is some really fun ones, like ‘Flame Tag’ and ‘Monkey Assistant.’ In Flame Tag, one person is on fire, and you must pass on your flame to someone else by touching them. Whoever is on fire for the least amount of time is the winner. In Monkey Assistant, whoever is in last place, gets a swarm of monkeys to help them attack other players.
The control scheme of this game will not take much time to get used to. The only thing that may be 2a little different than other FPS games, is that the control pad is used to switch weapons. Another nifty little feature is that you can view detailed information for each profile. You can see things, such as how many levels that person is beaten, how far they’ve walked, and how many shots they’ve fired (over the entire time you’ve played). Its kinda neat to look back and see that you’ve shot 1200 people in the head.
The graphics are a little disappointing, and this is especially obvious during movie sequences. Character models are so poorly done it is disturbing at times. Luckily, most of the time the bad graphics don’t matter, as the game is in first person. And even though some of the character models aren’t that great, some of them are kinda cool, because you can play as characters such as the gingerbread man.
The sound of this game is much more impressive than the graphics. The soundtrack in this game is phenomenal and really does add to the awesomeness of this game. The voiceovers are not quite as good, but I really found myself not caring, as the music is much more important.
Overall, this is the best FPS for Gamecube and is a really, really fun multiplayer. Its too bad the Gamecube doesn’t have online capabilties for this game, because sometimes I really wish I could have more than four people. Oh well, there’s always Timesplitters 3.
When Resident Evil was first released in 1996, it started not only one of the most popular franchises in the history of gaming, but it set the stage for all the survival horror games we know and love today. The original Resident Evil is on many people’s list of best of games of all time, and the remake for the Gamecube does homage to the original Resident Evil and is a fabulous buy for Gamecube owners, regardless of whether you have played the original.
The opening sequence of this game will absolutely blow you away. The graphics are one of the best of any Gamecube game, and probably even beat the much-appraised Metroid Prime. The stunning realism, the lighting, the character models, and the voice-overs are all not only good, they’re perfect. The look and feel of this game are part of what make this such a scary game, and even if this weren’t meant to be a scary game, the incredible realism would have you wetting your pants.
You have the choice between two characters at the beginning of the game, Chris and Jill. This choice will not only affect the storyline of the game, but will also affect the difficulty of the game, the enemies you meet, and the weapons you get. Regardless of who you pick, you are dropped off in a huge, dark mansion alone. And every once in a while there is something not too friendly around the corner. The zombies in this game are simply amazing. They cannot be any cooler. The zombies will amaze when you first see them, but after a few bites on the neck, you realize they are not to be dealt with like a five year old. You must use your arsenal of weapons to destroy them as best as you can.
Even though the combat of this game is a lot of fun, most of the game will be spent exploring the mansion and solving puzzles. And, this easier said then done. There are several different areas to this mansion, including three floors, a courtyard, and a guesthouse. You must collect all the items and find out in what room to use them, and how they are used. The other aspect that makes this game challenging (and realist) is you can only carry a limited number of items, you have limited ammo, and you can save a limited number of times. This challenge not only makes the game funner, but it adds to the replay value.
My only complaint gameplay wise is the controls. Its not that the controls are really bad, they’re just hard to get used to, because they are very different than the average game out there. Pushing front and back on the control stick moves the character in the proper direction, but pushing left and right on the control stick rotates the character to the left or right, sometime making movement slow. The C Stick can be used to do a quick 180 degree turn, but sometimes it still takes a while to go where you want to.
The graphics, like I already said, are spectacular. You simply have to see it once to know that this game not only has one of the best graphics of any Gamecube game, this game has one of the best graphics this gen. The sound, while impressive, is not perfect. The voice-overs are great, but there if often a lack of music, that can make exploring the mansion a little dull. Usually when you encounter a zombie (or are about to), some scary, fast paced music will switch on. But if you’re just walking around, there is often no music on.
This game is long enough to play through with just one character, but when you add there are two characters, each with multiple storylines and difficulties, the replay value of this game goes up quite a bit. Especially, if you have not played the original Resident Evil, you may have the desire to play through this game more than once. Even if you have, there are a number of differences between the remake and the original, so you may still find a few new surprises around the corner…
Overall, this game rocks. So, if you have a Gamecube, then buy it. And if you don’t have a Gamecube, get one. This is just a great remake and a great game, with some really strong aspects that make deserving of the title “must have Gamecube game.”
Written By: Will Schaeffer
Welcome to Havana, Cuba in the year 2009, Cuba no longer is under the thumb of Fidel Castro, and finds itself in big trouble. A “drug-funded warlord” is intent on sabotaging the country’s first real election in half a century. This is where you come in, part of The Ghosts – an elite division of the U.S. Army Green Berets – your mission is to stop the warlord from taking control of Cuba and becoming the next Castro.
Ghost Recon: Island Thunder (GR: IT) could possibly be the best squad-based shooter online experience ever. With the inclusion of Xbox Live onto the title, it certainly becomes one of my favorite games for the Xbox. Just like any other Xbox Live game, you can use the headset and have a friends list spanning every Live-Enable Game. The ability to work as a team against an enemy is exciting, and creates a sense of realism and comradery, which is just about unparalleled.
The 13 multiplayer maps (12 before the addition of a thirteenth level a week ago) span everything from jungles to urban to desert to an oil refinery. These maps allow you to vary the types of guns you can use from the four different types of soldiers (Rifleman, Support, Sniper and Demolitions). Each of which have about ten weapons, ranging from snipers (Sniper) to heavy machine guns (Support) to light machine guns (Rifleman) and even to anti-tank weapons or grenade launches (Demolitions). Each weapon has a “sub-weapon” you can choose with it, these vary for each type, (Like only the Demolitions Expert can carry anti-tank rockets or Demo Charges) but almost all generally include options to choose extra ammo, grenades or a pistol. The many variations let teams set up a diverse unit (Made of three guys) that’s much more powerful than one with only M-16s.
As always, you can find games with either Opti-Match or Quick Match, or you can make your own. There are a ton of options when setting up your own games, such as the cycle of levels, “kit restrictions” (ie: no guns or sub-weapons (kits) are allowed to contain explosives, which may lag the server) and other stuff. You’ll also be able to choose from three different types of games, Cooperative, Solo or Team. Solo and Team are all human players attempting to destroy each other, In Solo its every-man-for-himself, and in Team your Team must destroy the other team (Duh). In Cooperative you are on a team with other human players, and must face a very smart AI. You do this in one of four modes, Mission (Complete all of the objectives), Firefight (Destroy all of the enemies), Recon (Get to the evacuation point without losing anybody), or Defend (You have to guard a circle from the enemy, if one of them reaches the center of it, you lose). With all of the different types and modes of game play, and the many different kits, game play is extremely varied, and doesn’t get old. Also don’t forget that there is Split-Screen play and the ability to link up Xboxes for when your friends aren’t online or you have visitors.
Controls for the game work very nicely. You can use the D-pad to make your character stand, crouch or lay down. The R-Button fires, The L-Button brings up a map (Except on Split-screen play, which is for 2 players), the black button switches your rate of fire, during online play, the white button allows you to speak, X turns on night-vision, A reloads, B switches to your back-up weapon, and Y switches between characters or re-spawns you after you die. And of course, the right trigger fires your gun. The only problem I had is switching between weapons, it takes a second or two, so if you’re under fire, you might want to run for cover before switching. Also, if your being shot, then you can’t move, crouch, stand or switch weapons, but that just goes with the whole point of the game, which is not to be shot at all.
Game play is downright awesome for this game, the single-player is still fun even after you beat it. However, it just doesn’t compare to multi-player, which is why this game isn’t worth buying for the other systems (Sorry for those of you who don’t own an Xbox). Multiplayer game-play freaking rocks, it can be fast paced, or a tactical hunt so that no one on your team dies. As mentioned above, the amount of options (Did I mention that you could have woman soldiers as well?) never allows the game to get old. Though don’t expect a normal FPS even though it is from the first person view, running into a group of bad guys will do nothing but get you killed, especially because your aiming goes down drastically when your on the move. There really isn’t much of a health meter, which adds to the realism, you’re either healthy, wounded or dead (Green, yellow or red on the guy down in the bottom left hand corner). A threat meter shows you where enemies are, this is done buy making the top, left or right side, or bottom turn yellow, so that you don’t know exactly where the enemy is, but you have a good idea, and when you get close enough, the center turns red so you know enemies are in the area.
Graphically speaking, this game can hang with the best of them. While the textures are very detailed, the environments are big, and filled with lush trees and bushes. Draw distances is horrible though, it tends to make you angry when buildings and bushes pop up out of nowhere, or when you know you can shoot farther than the draw distances allows (Mainly only in the Oil Refinery level, which is the new one). Overall though, there really isn’t anything too wrong with the graphics, and the game is generally too dark to see them, because as any Tom Clancy fan knows, the dark is your friend. When you fire a bullet though, it tends to look like its not going where you aimed at, but its not that big of a problem. Though the ground will kick up dirt when you shoot at it, and the bullet holes look realistic, I guess (I’m not sure how a bullet hole from an M-16 should look inside a voting center). The sound of the guns is realistic, and you can hear the bullets fly past you, or hit the ground.
In summary, GR: IT is probably one of my favorite games for the Xbox. The amount of options and awesome game play make it a really nice experience, though I think finding a game on Xbox Live can be a pain, and there should be an option to turn the threat meter off in Split-Screen (Like there is during Live play). It’s also for the PC, but I like the comfortable environment of my living room and the ability to talk in the Xbox version. This game definitely deserves a rent if you don’t have Live, and deserves to be bought if you do.
