A 50/50 chance of Awesome: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars

Image by Colony of Gamers via Flickr

The name’s quite a mouthful, I know. I’m not sure what’s going on in Ubisoft’s head (or Tom Clancy), but I don’t really need to have the name of the creator of the developing company in the name of the game. Now, the 3DS launched with 2 Tom Clancy games. One sucked horribly, and the other one didn’t. That, however, is not the reason for the title. You see I bought my 3DS in a bundle, and came with a choice of 1 of two possible games. I, with no previous knowledge whatsoever, picked Ghost Recon over the other not-so-impressive Rayman 3D. I don’t regret that decision in the slightest.

This is my first experience in the series of Ghost Recon. In case you didn’t know, the Ghost Recon series is a series of shooting games, most based in the not-too distant future. You with/as an elite squadron of soldiers, called Ghosts. In this Turn-Based strategy game, you play as 6 soldiers, all of which are of different classes., and have different advantages and disadvantages. There is one of each of:

• Commando (Duke). Equipped with an assault rifle and a secondary weapon of a shoulder-mounted missile launcher.
• Sniper (Haze). He shoots people. From a long distances. His secondary is grenades.
• Gunner (Richter). He has a big gun, secondary is grenades. Due to his big gun he can’t move as far per turn.
• Medic (Saffron). Heals people, carries a pistol as a secondary.
• Recon (Banshee). She’s invisible, and hard to attack. Carries a silenced SMG as a primary and either EMP grenades or a knife for secondary.
• Engineer (Mint). Carries an assault rifle as a primary, and either a deployable turret or drone as a secondary. The turret is beastly in defence levels.

Unfortunately, your enemies also have those classes (except for recon), and also have things like mortars, rocket launchers, normal soldiers (commandos without annoying missile launchers) and civilians.

The gameplay mechanics are a big thing. Being turn based, every unit has an amount of squares on a grid they can move along, and a number of those movement squares can be used to shoot or do other actions. The larger or smaller the amount of squares between you and your enemy, the more or less your weapons do (eg the gunner does more from close ranger, and less from long-range, while the sniper is more accurate from a long-range than a close range. There’s also an intricate cover system. If you’re in a tree or bush, you’re considered to be in level 1 cover (which is -25% damage off the top of my head), and a building is level 2 (-50% damage). There’s also a line of sight system. If you’re behind a tree or not at the closest side of a building, an enemy can’t shoot you as they aren’t in line of sight. The combat system moves even further along with a return fire system- if an enemy attacks you while he’s within your range and vice versa, you will be hit with 50%-100% of their weapon power (depending on the gun- i.e. Richter usually gets 100% return fire while a sniper gets none), and Banshee doesn’t take any return fire because her gun is silenced. The game also has RPG elements with points received at the end of every mission which can be used to upgrade units to get better guns and perks. Each character has a choice of two different guns/secondary weapon, each with their advantages and disadvantages.

This really allows for a sense of procession throughout the campaign. The story revolves around an increasing movement in the Ultranationalist party, and a secret organisation that is stirring up trouble in Russian interests (Oil pipelines mainly) to try to provoke Russia to invade neighbouring countries. The Ghosts are sent in to stop this.

The 3D effect in the game I would describe as underused, as compared to other games. There’s the nice effect you get when looking down a chasm or something else like that, and with buildings the depth really makes it more impressive (oh yeah, and there’s a sweet bit where you blow up a train in jaw-dropping 3D). When it comes to the 3DS’ other additions, you have no wireless multiplayer, no StreetPass or SpotPass and no online multiplayer. The only multiplayer option is passing the one controller around for 5 different missions. The replay value of the campaign is also very low, with the changes is difficulty. Once you’ve played through the campaign, I’ll bet you just put the game down and move on, like I did. The single player skirmishes are uninspiring, and the campaign also eventually feels like a grind towards the end, with the entire final stages (bar one) being inside, removing the possibility of many  of the game’s mechanics.

You still have to remember that this game is only a launch title, and for a launch title, this game is really good.

My Rating

Music: 8.5

Gameplay: 9

Creativity: 7

Graphics: 7.5

Other: 7

Total: 39/50

First Game Review: Spiral Knights

Ah.. Spiral Knights. A free game made by Three Rings.. or is it?

Spiral knights is a game where you are basically an adventurer who’s fighting off fiends, beasts, jellys, and more to get to the core. Each gate to the core has three tiers. You must get to the tier two barrier on each gate and have a set of two star or better gear to be eligable to do tier two. To be eligable to do tier three (the last tier), you must get to the tier three barrier on each gate and have a set of four star or better gear. While you’re doing this, you’ll find minerals to collect. After you’re done dungeoning, you can deposit these minerals into the gate that you want to appear next. This is in fact worldwide. The gate that has the most minerals will be the next gate to appear. You’ll also make recipes which are bought with crowns, the currency in this game, and made with energy and crowns.

Let me just say that the music in Spiral Knights bypasses any other flaws of the game by far. The music goes with anything that’s happening in the game, like an ambush will have random baddie music and once you’ve completed it, it’s over and back to the kind fun happy music. I had heard about how epic the music was from a few youtube videos, but once me and my friends were really playing the game, we were just amazed. “Wow.. that music is pretty damn good..” The menu music is best though, it makes me just want to stay on the menu screen and just continue with my day, with that endless loop of music.

And as always, the bad part of the game.

I’d honestly only recommend playing this game if you’re alright with only one hour of gameplay a day. It’s horrid. The “energy” goes out so fast in this game because energy is now used for basically.. everything. Now, you start off with 100 energy. Making recipes take anywhere from 10 energy (1-star equipment) to 800 energy (5-star equipment), going farther into the dungeon takes 10 energy each time (unless you get to a terminal which is like a tiny rest area to get recipes and full health), there are random energy gates scattered in each dungeon that justwipe out a bit of energy, and you can’t just avoid them due to them being on the path, and lastly, if there are any dangerous areas that you and your group have the chance of going into, it’d cost energy for the member who opens the gate. But ofcourse don’t fear! You can always buy more energy! But how much does it cost? Well you can buy 100 energy with crowns (the currency in Spiral Knights) for the current price of 4,890 crowns which rises more and more each day, or you could buy from energy which goes from $2.45-$49.95. And getting crowns just isn’t that easy. Considering that just playing a few dungeons with yourself would be difficult unless you had some 5-star stuff, you’d be with a group. There’s always a lootshare and the only real time you’re getting good crowns is when you come around an arena when is mad difficult and makes you want to quit the game multiple times. Now if you completely refuse to pay a price, there’s ALWAYS waiting about 24hours to have your energy replenished. Yeah, boring.

Basically, the conclusion that me and other Spiral Knights players have come to is that Three Rings really just wants money. I heard from past players that before it had gotten on Steam, ofcourse it was on it’s own website. Well the Steam benefits are there too. Achievements were included :D. No “:D”? Well not for the older players who never had Steam. Although you could log in with your Spiral Knights account, the achievements would have to be redone by all of those veterans. Like the Master Miner achievement where you deposit 10,000 minerals into a gate. Just think if someone had done that and now had to redo that. And yes, “mining” on Spiral Knights isn’t as simple as buying a pick axe from a little roleplay store in the game and mine as much as you want. No. You can only get a mineral from a dungeon level, and the amount of the mineral you get is determined by the size of the mineral which is totally randomly generated, though big minerals come rare. The values go from 1-6 of a mineral.

Oh, and there’s an auction house that basically destroys the purpose of an auction house. Once the auction house was added, it also changed trade. You aren’t allowed to trade/auction any 4-5 star items. Not even 4-5 star materials. That’s a tad harsh. Just a bit. I mean it’s not like there were any RWT (real world trading) issues in the game, why such drastic measures? I mean the end game when you are all bored out of tier 3 things used to be to make high level things and sell them off to people who need it most, but now, there really is no end game. So what are the high levels to do now?

What sucks the MOST is that once you equip an item, you’ll never be able to sell it or trade it. Some think a reason for that would be so that way a new player wouldn’t be able to get a full set of (for instance) maxed out 5 star gear from a friend. I don’t really agree with that. If a friend wants to hand over their gear then let them! I mean it doesn’t have to be kept at their same level! They can be reset upon trading or something clever like that. You can’t deprive a bunch of players like that! Especially the ones who had a friend refer them to the game.

On the good side…

The game is SO intense that it’ll make you want to buy more and more energy! It really is a fun fun game! But for people like me who actually nolife and play a game even til it’s past completed, we can’t really do that. The overpowered enemies and what now keep the game interesting and force some teamwork habits.. XD The fighting is pretty nice after changing up the controls too. And wow, the graphics are beautiful. They’re so crystal clear. I love it. I thought this would be some low grade looking game but for something free, it’s got some look to it. It’s worth playing for this reason especially if you’re a graphics freak. The weapons are very unique and all have their good sides and bad sides. It’d be hard to recommend weapons mainly because well, everyone has their own opinion on the weapon to get. There’s weapons from swords and guns to crossbows and angel guns. It’s fairly creative.

Plus, there are just so many emotes you can do in this game, I was surprised XD. Most of them aren’t emotes that really just make you do emotes (such as the /dance command just goes “(player name) has the urge to dance!”). But it was still cute.

Gameplay: Poor Good Great Excellent Awesome

Graphics: Poor Good Great Excellent Awesome

Music: Poor Good Great Excellent Awesome

Creativity:  Poor Good Great Excellent Awesome

Extras: Poor Good Great Excellent Awesome

Genre Clash: Turn-Based Strategy vs Real-Time Strategy

(I’ve had this post lying around for a while, unfinished. It’s finally finished now though!)

Probably the biggest reason why I haven’t been posting here is because I got back into playing Age of Empires 3 on their online service, ESO. It got me thinking, which strategy genre is better, TBS or RTS?

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll give you an example.

Chess is a turn-based game, and Snap (the card game) is a Real Time game. In Chess you go move by move, taking it in turns. In Snap it’s anyones game. If chess were to be in real-time, it would be utter chaos and most of the strategy would be out the window. Snap, on the other hand, would be impossible and incredibly boring. You get it?

Comparing games in different genres is hard because of the differences between game in the genre. The games are designed around that genre, and work for that genre. So the comparisons will not be revolving entirely around games, games will be used more as an example.

Let’s look at one example of both TBS and RTS. For TBS, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars on the 3DS (maybe a post on this later if you’re lucky), and, of course, for RTS the Age of Empires series (PC only, as the DS one was Turn-based)

Turned based games generally allow for more time to ponder the decisions, while RTS focus on fast-paced decision-making. If you’re a quick thinker, RTS is for you, but if you like to take your time making choices, maybe TBS is for you.

TBS fans tend to criticise RTS gamers that RTS is a click fest-rush fest, while RTS fans criticize TBS gamers that it is for people who can’t make fast decisions. Shadow Wars is a brilliant game for strategy. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that TBS games offer more large army strategy- they’re more large-scale, while RTS games tend to be a lot faster paced (Age of Empires supremacy anyone?) and more focus on a small battle with less units.

RTS games are often very repetitive, with players each having an idea of different build orders for units and buildings that they stick to from game to game, while TBS tends to be more touch and go, and strategy-orientated.

Either way, RTS is still for me. So if you’re into short burst of action and not into long, brain bending strategy fests, then RTS games are more your forte. If you like busting your brain, Turn-Based it is.

Pokemon Black- Endgame Thoughts

Well, I finished Pokemon Black Version on Sunday. I will give my criticism of the storyline in a different post, due to it containing big spoilers (you’ll only find little ones in this post).

So, Victory Road. It’s pretty cool. It utilises the movable camera, but it just feels too small. Victory Road in other games just seems bigger and better, whilst Victory Road is half inside half out, it still is pretty cool though.

Oh, and leading up to that is the Badge check. You then go through 8 different gates (red and blue styles) which are pretty cool. The Elite Four has no set order. You can tackle them in any order you please. It’s a nice touch and quite a big change.

The credits are boring. Normally something happens in the background, but all you get to do it look at the legendary Pokemon’s eye. Great fun (rolls eyes)- but the endgame music is awesome. The story takes a few twists and turns at the end, but still seems.. weird.

Game Freak has mixed a few things up. You know when your Pokemon gets poisoned, and it gets hurt as you run? You know how TMs can only be used once? You know how your lead follows you around in HG/SS? You know how (nearly) every region has a gambling place? You know how there’s this Contest Place where you move up ranks and stuff? The previous things have been changed. Your Pokemon just stays the same not in battle. TMs never go away. No lead following you around. No place to gamble. All we get is this Musical thing which consists of dressing up. Fun, I’d rather the original contest any day. Small stuff, I know. But same is good… Sometimes.

Overall, Black is an all round good game. Better than Diamond/Pearl/Platinum/Heartgold/Soulsilver… In some aspects. Not many, just a few.

My Rating

Music: 10

Gameplay: 9.5

Creativity: 9.5

Graphics: 9.5

Other: 9.5

Total: 48/50

NINJA EDIT: Need help with Pokemon Black/White? Feel free to drop me a question and I’ll be happy to help.

User-created content: The way to go?

User created content. Not every game has it. Not every game does it well. Not many people actually make it. Game in which you are constantly playing on maps or in situations created by the game developer. Sure, they’re great fun… But user-created content is far more. A lot of the time, you will find that games with user-created content as standard, like Trackmania Nations, where every track (more or less) is made by a game player. In some situations, the content can be horrible, but it adds variety!

So, next time you play a game with a scenario editor, or map editor, or whatever, try it out! It’s good to have a little bit of creativity and difference in a game!

Mario Galaxy 2: A Review

Image by Elger van der Wel via Flickr

Ah, Mario. One of the best platforming games since the NES was released. Its simplicity and little storyline was brilliant, as well as the music and gameplay. Years later, Mario Galaxy followed along that same formula, but being creative with a revamped physics engine.

Galaxy 2 is, obviously, a sequel to the first one, but the plot follows along in a parallel universe in which you head to Peach’s Castle at the star festival, like the first one, but different things happen. A giant Bowser appears and runs of with Peach. No big surprises in the storyline as yet. So then you blast off into space just like you did 500 thousand times in the first one, and off the game goes.

So the gameplay is similar to the first one, with you jumping from planet to planet to finally reach the Power Star. 70 stars will finish the game. Getting the first star requires you to beat the boss, and then you are taken to a world map of sorts.

How is Galaxy 2 different to the first one?

I’m glad you asked. Galaxy 2 contains many new levels (Galaxies), and the plot is different.

Oh, and I forgot to mention Yoshi.

It also includes new power-ups and music.

So you have the awesomeness of Galaxy 1, and added Yoshi. Brilliant.

Power Ups- Old and New

New Power-ups

Cloud Flower: Shaking the remote places a cloud below you (max 3), and lets you stand on other clouds without falling through. Great fun and really opens up some levels. Not to mention good at saving your bacon when you fall of the edge.

Rock Flower: Shaking the remote lets you bash through all kinds of things, rolling along causing chaos. It has the perfect balance between control and insanity.

Drill Mario: Lets you drill through dirt and go to the other side. Really good for the 2d platforming levels.

Yoshi Power-ups

Blimp Yoshi: Fills up like a balloon and then blows the air out, pushing you upwards. Not the best power-up, but still good fun.

Dash Yoshi: Great fun. Yoshi runs along at a great speed, allowing you to run straight up walls and over water.

Light Yoshi (I think that is the name of the power-up :S): Yoshi is a moving light bulb and reveals hidden paths. It runs out though.

Old Power-Ups Returning

Bee Mario: Hold A to fly. Personally I think back-flips are better, but flying is still fun.

Fire Mario: Wait… You don’t know what this is? Get out. Now.

Boo Mario: Boo Mario can float and go through some walls. A blast, and a real pity it is only in one level.

Spring Mario: Yuck. Thankfully it is only in one level this time.

My Rating

Music: 10

Gameplay: 9

Creativity: 10

Graphics: 8

Other: 9

Total: 47/50

Analysis of Tower Defense

So in my RTS topic last week I mentioned tower defense games. I left them out, really. So this must not be. Somethings awesome as this has to have some discussion and recognition of its awesomeness.

So here we are.

What is this “Tower Defense”?

Tower defense is a sub-genre of Real Time Strategy games. It involves making towers in an area to stop enemies from getting from point A to point B. Each time you kill an enemy you get some kind of currency or resource which can be used to upgrade or build new towers. Many games have different types of enemies which are countered in a rock-paper-scissors way. Others add flying units which can only be destroyed by specific flying-countering towers.

What are the types of Tower Defense?

Generally there is two different types of tower defense games. The first is where enemies follow a set path and towers are to be built along the sides of that particular path. Like so.

The other is where the enemies’ path depends on where you place your towers, in which strategic placement is required. Like so.

Of course, there are other game developers who set out to destroy my nice little classification, like 5th Cell’s Lock’s Quest (below)

I’m not complaining, it is a really good game, but it included a hero which can go around fighting the enemies as well as building towers and walls.

Sounds like fun. What Tower Defense Games do you recommend?

Seeing as a company put a trademark on the term “Tower Defense”, and such good things should be enjoyed for free, I am going to recommend flash games.

Desktop Tower Defense

A brilliantly made game that is highly addictive and fun to play. A must for any newbie to the genre.

Bloons Tower Defense 3
A bright, fun and hilarious game with the best tower being a monkey with plasma vision.

Canyon Defense
I personally don’t like Miniclip very much, but this is a really good game.

Frontline Defense

Gogo sniper towers!

Mini Tower Defense

Doesn’t the word “tanks” get people excited?

Well that’s it from me today.

The Evolution of RTS Games

With the release of Starcraft 2 on the 27th (more information) it got me thinking. I love real time strategy games (namely Age of Empires 3), I also recently discovered that Tower Defense games also fall under the RTS genre. So, with so many sub-genres and so many good RTS games, where did it all start? Who coined the term Real Time Strategy? So today’s post centres around the history and future of RTS games. First I’ll address a few things

What is this “RTS” you speak of?

The term RTS (Real Time Strategy) refers to a genre of computer war-games which do not progress in turns, in which you use tactics to gather resources, train units and manage units in combat (A.K.A. Micromanagement).

Microwhatta?

Google is thine friend. Link.

Heh. Micromanagement comes with a lot of practice and high APM.

What is APM?

I give up. Onto the main purpose.

PART THE FIRST: Dunes and Conkers

The first known game somewhat related to RTS was Stonkers (1983)

But the first time the term “RTS” was coined with the release of Dune II.

Being the brilliant entrepreneurs that they are, Blizzard Entertainment quickly caught on, with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans released in 1994

PART THE SECOND: KEKEKE! ZERG RUSH!

What is a “Zerg Rush”?

The term “Zerg Rush” came from the 1998 StarCraft RTS game. In it, a “rush” is a fast attack involving one or a few unit types. The Zerg race from that game have their own speciality:

The first infantry units of Zergs are Zerglings. They are small and inexpensive Zerg units which can be produced quickly. Zerglings hatch from eggs in pairs, although, at the beginning of a game, only three eggs can exist at one time. Thus, it is possible for a Zerg player to produce 6 Zerglings very early into the game, while the first Terran and Protoss infantry unit (Marine and Zealot, respectively) must be produced one at a time. Although weaker and easier to kill, 6 Zerglings can almost always beat two Marines or Zealots in an opened battle without support, which makes Zerglings quite deadly at the beginning of a one versus one match.

What does KEKEKE! mean?

Fair enough. Link.

Back on topic now, please.

Starcraft really made the RTS genre kick off. It contained many aspects that current RTS games now use. Oh, and the Koreans loved it. Really.

Not convinced? You know how people watch sporting games? The Koreans watch people playing Starcraft in this way. Link.

It was now that RTS games really took off.

PART THE THIRD: Enter The Age of… series stage right.

The transfer of RTS games to the world of 3D was a step that was obvious to take as console and computer graphic power increased.

The Age of… series burst onto computer screens in 1997 (Age of Empires)with a historic campaign and many new features spanned many spin offs and sequels. Ensemble Studios really hit the nail on the head with this one.

PART THE FOURTH: Starcraft 2 and Age of Empires 3

This is where I got into gaming. Personal experience ftw.

Age of Empires 3 was released in 2005. It’s community is still going strong on each individual expansion pack. Age of Empires 3 introduced a physics engine and splash damage. It introduced 8 European civilisations fighting for the top spot int the new world. The Warchiefs Expansion pack added 3 native civilisations and a revolution system. The second expansion pack, The Asian Dynasties added 3 new Asian civilisations (bringing the total to 13 civilisations).

Starcraft 2 came out on July 27th, 2010. It continues the wonderous age of the RTS.

Part the Fifth: To infinity and beyond

The future of RTS games is really looking up. After RTS giant Ensemble Studios was taken apart in 2009 many studios rose from its remains. The future for the Age of Empires series is looking good with Robot Entertainment (members of old Ensemble) soon to announce 2 new games.

The future looks good for RTS games.

Part the Last: Consoles and RTS

Consoles have always been tricky to produce RTS games on. The lack of a mouse and hotkeys makes it tricky to use and the controls rather fiddly. Microsoft put Ensemble to work and they waved their magic wand over it and made a brilliant RTS on the Xbox 360, Halo Wars. Nintendo has been at it too, with the GameCube game Pikmin 1 and 2 being brilliant, and re-releasing it on the Wii with its pointing ability destroying any problems and creating its own genre of console RTS games, like Little King’s Story, also on the Wii. RTS games really have conquered all horizons.

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What are your opinions on RTS games? Do you disagree with anything above, and what is your favourite RTS game?

Political post in the next week.