NFL Crunch Time!
June 21st, 2008 at 9:59 pm (Humor, Sports, Video Games)
REVIEW: Rogue Trooper (Xbox)
June 9th, 2008 at 12:25 pm (Video Games)
Who is the Rogue Trooper? Just about any comic/SF nerd in the UK could answer that question in a heartbeat, steeped as their subculture is in the long and storied history of 2000 AD, Britain’s premier SF comic. For those on the western side of the pond, however, Rogue Trooper can be summed up fairly succinctly: a genetically enhanced clone, the last of his kind, hunts the wastelands of a futuristic battleworld for the Traitor General, the man whose duplicity cost the lives of the Rogue Trooper’s brethren.
It’s a bit more complicated than that, but luckily Rogue Trooper the game does an excellent job of bringing new fans up to speed quickly. And fans they will become, because Rogue Trooper is not only a great little game, but a terrific-looking and -playing showcase for its main character and setting.
The Punisher
May 27th, 2008 at 7:11 am (Comics, Roleplaying, Video Games)
I recently finished playing The Punisher for the umpteenth time — What can I say? I like it. — and it got me thinking about FASERIP again. Stats from the old Marvel Super Heroes game are wildly out of date, as TSR lost the license in the early ’90s. A few online resources have stats for him, but while they may work as a kind of generic template, I wanted something that would reflect the Punisher as he appears in the game and, by extension, Garth Ennis’ lengthy comic-format exploration of the character.
So I noodled around with my copies of old MSH stuff, adapting some of the extant material and rejiggering the rest to fit what I feel is a more accurate portrayal of the Punisher now. Here he is.
The harder they are.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:23 am (Video Games)
I have a metric ton of PS2 and Xbox games that remain either unplayed or unfinished. Recent reviews of Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefront II are the byproduct of my attempt to methodically proceed through these games, finishing them definitively one by one. Right now my project is Sniper Elite.
I have a tortured history with this game. First there was the hassle of just finding it, as it’s a fairly obscure title from the UK developer that also made the excellent (but likewise unheard of) Rogue Trooper. Once I got my hands on the game, I discovered just how incredibly, mind-bendingly hard it can be.
First things first: I have an ongoing fascination with snipers and sniping, and it’s not just because I live in the home of the Beltway Sniper. I was no more than one hundred yards away when Iran Brown was shot, which was more than a little creepy, but that’s neither here nor there. I come from a military family. My father was a United States Marine and a Vietnam vet. I grew up in San Antonio surrounded by military men and women, and among these people snipers are a special breed and their exploits are legendary.
Sniper Elite is the most detailed sniper simulation out there, and having done more than my fair share of time behind a virtual scope, I thought I was prepared for the challenge the game presents. Boy, was I wrong. In Sniper Elite, everything that affects a sniper — in terms of the shot, if not the physical and mental stresses — comes into play, from heart rate to hand tremor to wind and gravity. Each element can be toggled on or off individually, but even at its most basic Sniper Elite is a profound challenge.
REVIEW: Star Wars Battlefront II
May 12th, 2008 at 11:38 am (Video Games)
Star Wars Battlefront was the best-selling Star Wars game of all time, and for good reason: it finally allowed players to engage in an approximation of the pitched battles that appear in every Star Wars film. Solid play mechanics, attractive graphics and an easy-access online mode via Xbox Live sealed the deal. Star Wars Battlefront II is the inevitable follow-up, and while most aspects have been improved, there are a couple of areas where the sequel takes a step back from the original.
Anyone who enjoyed Battlefront will love Battlefront II. That much is inarguably true. Most of the battlefields from the first game make their return in Battlefront II, while others are supplanted by new locales like Mygeeto (briefly glimpsed in Episode III) and Dagobah. Not missed is the meat-grinder Bespin Platforms level from Battlefront, but its Cloud City companion is a lamentable exclusion.
