Here’s an in-store tip. Shop around! How often have you heard that before? Seriously. Have in mind what you want, go to some place that they know their stuff, learn more about it, check out their prices, then go to a couple more places. Once you’ve found that same item in another store at a lower price, record it, and if you’d rather not get it at that store, go back to that first one and see if they will lower their price for you. Sometimes they may mark down some of your other items just so you’ll shop there with them. A sale is better than no sale to some places. Not all places will do it, but it’s worth a shot. The worst they can say is “No” after all, and then they lose your business as you walk out the door. Yes, it takes more time than just going to one place to get everything, but believe it or not, some places are less expensive than others! And we’re not just talking about a box of cereal.

Do not forget to shop online–there are some fantastic deals there as well! Some stores may have a good price in the store, but check their website also, because sometimes they have “Online Only” specials on their merchandise. Some internet-based stores are excellent places to go for your holiday shopping needs, like Amazon.com or if you like to take chances, try Craigslist.org or eBay.com.

Hope something in here sparks an interest in your holiday shopping needs. Maybe some of the best deals are happening right now AND during the intense holiday season? I do know one thing: if you get on it now, it’s better than the hassle of the shoppers traffic, and headaches, just to find out they are sold out of something.

The remake, Bionic Commando: Rearmed (Rearmed! Get it?!), features the same story and gameplay as the the original, but enhanced with modern graphics and sound effects. Fans of the original will recognize levels and bosses throughout the game, as well as some nostalgia-heavy cutscenes. The remake is still a 2D scroller, and you still can’t jump (forcing you to rely on your bionic arm swinging abilities).

First, the positives. This game is absolutely beautiful. Everything from the stellar 3D characters with full ragdoll effects to the campy back and forth dialogue to the modernized 8-bit soundtrack are incredibly gratifying. It’s so much fun to combine the nostalgia of playing a side-scrolling shooter with the graphics of modern gaming machines. The visuals of this remake are at times better than those of modern original titles.

BCR also features split-screen multiplayer campaign as well as up to 4-player versus modes. The campaign can be a lot of fun, since the opponent AI alters itself to require teamwork. However the versus modes are only fun for a short while and quickly become repetitive and boring.

Where BCR suffers is in gameplay. The original Bionic Commando is known for being somewhat difficult to master, and I found the remake to hold true to that assessment as well. It took me a long time to master the swinging technique needed to traverse even the earliest levels, and many of the areas you encounter feature spiked floors or lava that will kill you almost immediately. After struggling to get through the first few levels, I went back and lowered the difficulty level to the easiest setting. This blocked off the traps on the floor and made enemies easier to defeat, thus refocusing gameplay on navigating using the bionic arm, which is where this game really shines.

For a remake, Bionic Commando: Rearmed is a stunning success. Original gameplay is left mostly untouched, with stellar graphics and soundtracks added and enhanced to really make this one of the best $10 video games out there. I definitely suggest this game for any fans of the original Bionic Commando, or for fans of retro gaming in general.

Technorati Tags: Bionic Commando, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Grin, Capcom, XBox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, PC Games, Nintendo, NES, video games, video game reviews

The concept is simple, you play the roll of a stone, bronze or iron age racer equiped with the latest in fast moving vehicles.  You plow your way around the track racing against three others in an attempt to come in first.

There are 9 different tracks to choose from, each with their varying levels of ease and obstacles.  You can choose from 11 different vehicles and also grab a number of power-ups as you race around the track.  These range from weapons you can use against other racers (bone bombs, bottle rockets and torpedos to name a few) to better suspensions or turbo shots.

Cro-Mag Racer makes use of the iphone as stearing wheel.  To turn to the right, simply tilt the phone or pod to the right.  Acceleration is handled by the F or R arrows (forward/reverse) on the left side of the screen.  Power ups are activated on the right hand side of the screen.

I found that after the first race, steering had become quite natural.  Apparently it was not always so with this game but an update from Pangea made it much more manageable.  I didn’t have a problem with it once I became acclimated.

For the device it’s on, the graphics are good – not stunning but certainly no eye sore.  The controls are fairly intuitive but I did encounter several minor issues. The first is something that’s bound to happen on any game like this for the iPhone or iPod Touch.  The accidental pressing of the one button on the device.  In the heat of a close race, I nicked the Home button and just like that I was staring at a sideways version of my home screen.  That was a bummer.  The other issue I encountered was a bit of hand strain after about 30 minutes of playing, particularly on my left hand.  Or it could be that I’m just getting on in age.

I’m on day three with this game and I haven’t tired of it yet, which really says something about it.  It’s a great casual dip into racing that’s varied enough that I look forward to playing it and causual enough that 10 minutes is good for a few games.

My favorite track – Atlantis even drops the racers in favor of subs and ads a third axis to gameplay, up/down.

Cro-Mag Rally goes for $5.99 and is worth it – a far better deal than more expensive games available through the App store.  Note also that in both screen shots, I’m in last place.  It’s damn hard to play this game and take a screen shot.

Technorati Tags: review, iphone, ipod touch, app store, cro-mag rally, video games

A free demo of Too Human was put up on Xbox Live a few weeks ago, and I’ve spent some time playing both of the available classes (there are five character classes in the full game). The combat in the game is similar to that of the Devil May Cry and God of War series. The player employs a combo system to defeat waves of monsters while advancing through the level. The combat system is touted as being complex and requiring more effort than simple button-mashers, but I found that a single blow was enough to defeat most enemies. Pointing the right analog stick towards an enemy causes the player to slide across the ground to attack them, usually killing them in one hit. There exists a mechanic in which the player is able to toss an enemy into the air and then fire ranged weapons at them, but I was never able to experience this because my opponents died too fast. Every fight degenerated into me just pushing the right analog stick towards the nearest enemy until they were all dead. Hopefully later levels in the game will feature more complex fights where the combat system can be better incorporated.

The combat system is further enhanced by a steady stream of weapons and armor that drop from monsters. Players can customize their equipment to enhance damage dealt, but again, the system did not quite live up to expectations. The duration of the demo is only a single level, and of the pile of equipment I amassed by the end, I was only able to use one or two items. As players level up, they gain skill points that can be invested in a tree of skills (reminiscent of World of Warcraft talents), further developing and customizing their character. However, the duration of the demo only allows the accumulation of a few skill points that do not show a significant difference in gameplay. Hopefully the full game will better explore both the equipment and skill mechanics.

The primary redeeming quality of the Too Human demo was the storyline. Conversations between characters hint at a massive mythology that will be (hopefully) explored in-depth throughout the trilogy.

Too Human also incorporates a multi-player aspect over Xbox Live, but this was not present in the demo.

The Too Human demo is fun to play, but I have a feeling the full effect of the game is not really available in the short demo on Xbox Live. The demo has left me somewhat apprehensive, but hopefully the full game will flesh out the gameplay mechanics and deliver the promised complexity. Too Human hits store shelves on August 19.

Technorati Tags: Too Human, Silicon Knights, Xbox 360, video games, review

In my experience, the worst feature of action games based on movies is in-game combat, but the Quantum of Solace video game is incorporating the Call of Duty 4 engine, which is at times evident in the gameplay footage.  Significant work has also been put into player movement through the environment and in-game physics.  The environment appears largely destructible and the character moves through it gracefully and deliberately, much like you would expect James Bond to do.

The game utilizes both first-person and third-person combat.  While running around, the player views the environment through the eyes of James Bond, but the player can also take advantage of a complex cover mechanic to hide behind barriers and shoot at opponents.  In these situations the camera pulls back seamlessly to provide a wider view.

Quantum of Solace is the first Bond film to be a true sequel, as it picks up Bond’s story only an hour after the events of Casino Royale.  The Quantum of Solace video game will include the stories from both films, and is planned for a release on all major consoles as well as the PC coinciding with the release of the film on October 31 in the UK and November 6 in the US.

Technorati Tags: bond, video game, quantum of solace, tie in, geek, games, fps

I’m finding myself feeling initially more and more defeated after things like this happen, and then numb and indifferent. It doesn’t make me proud, but I feel exhausted, “Oh God, what now?” I’m one more incident away from becoming a vengeful ninja than a calm Buddha.

To go into my chrysalis state I popped in ‘Indigo Prophecy’ after I had visited the various game sites and read what gamers had to say about it. Over all the score was pretty high and the lowest rating were from people who wound up offended before completing the game. It does play out like a movie and brings back the love of those books we read when were younger where we got to pick our our path. One decision can change the outcome making a do-over worth it.

The simon-like movements (various color positions on the screen to mimic to assist in the mission) were annoying at first, “I pressed both of them at the same time! Damn my controller!” until I figured out how to outsmart it. Actually it wasn’t outsmarting it as much as figuring out it was forgiving (hint: if it calls for a double movement of the same color, only one will suffice). The story line is interesting as well as the characters.

You find yourself initially in a diner having just murdered someone and having no memory of it. Your first step is to get the hell out of there because there’s a cop in the diner and you’re covered in blood. The next piece is that you wind up being a detective (and you get to bounce between the two partners). You’re the murderer AND you get to solve the murder. What makes it interesting is that all parties are trying to figure out why, and solving the puzzles between all characters assist you in figuring out ‘why’.

The suspect is guilty although not completely, and it’s also your job to show the cops that it’s not a cut and dry homicide. There’s a supernatural force brewing beneath the surface that spans quite a few years.

Although I am 3/4 the way through, I can already give it a 9 for giving me a change of pace, likable characters, keeping my interest and turning me on to a new game. I’ve been such a naysayer to games thrown my way for the past year or so (with the exception of Soul Nomad and the World Eaters and Lego’s Star Wars 2), that it’s nice to enjoy game playing again.

Indigo Prophecy hit shelves a few years ago, but if you’re like me and it was released under your radar, go ahead and give it a shot. Once you make it past the ‘Hide and Seek’ level, you might find yourself hooked. Give it a shot if you like mysteries, thrillers and solving crimes. If you only shooting people, stealing stuff and blowing things up… this might not be the game for you, which is fine because I’m really only interested in games I’d like.

A 2D platform game that has me discovering somewhere along the line I had traded my fingers for thumbs. It’s the jumping… I cannot do the jumping. Think Mario on acid.

I don’t know if I like it or hate it. The levels progressively get more difficult but the tasks have no rhyme or reason. WHY am I jumping and dodging to end a level that gives me no idea WHY I screamed and cursed at the screen through out my multiple demises?????

This game is for kids I guess and I want to pound on the kids who can breeze through these levels. Monster kids who were born with a controller in their hands and they must be stopped at all costs!

Each character I’ve played so far has no ability that distinguishes it from the last. The “toy factory” isn’t like any toy factory I’ve ever been in… (okay, I’ve never been *in* a toy factor or have ever seen a toy factory. As far as I know they’re all hellish evil playgrounds for demonic Care Bears.)

I will continue to play because that’s what I do, but as far as a relaxing game to give me a break from the more intense games I’ve been playing, it fails!

You know if most games forced you to jump as much as this one does- I may have traded my consoles in for… books a long time ago. >:-|

I can’t give you the traditional rating system because I’m not even half way through and I’ve no idea what I thnk of it over all. My ego is crushed as a young boy is pointing and laughing at me each time I poof my character and yell “CRUB!!”

Sins of a Solar Empire is one of those rare games that has the ability to really capture my attention, draw me in and keep me in front of the PC for long periods of time. I’m a sucker for galactic expansion games and even though I don’t go bonkers over RTS games in general, this one in particular has just the right blend of strategy and real time to keep me happily clicking away. Sins is really an RT4X Game – Real Time, eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate.

The game flows, it’s engaging and it moves at a pace I can enjoy and that allows me to tweak my empire as I see fit without feeling like I’m listening to the Jeopardy theme song. What exactly have they done right? Here are some bullet points of things I love about this game.

* User set pacing – slow, medium or fast. A boon to those who aren’t into twitch RTS games.

* you can zoom in and out at will. Take a look at the whole star system! See that zit on your commandant’s nose!

* The interface, after about a half hour of use becomes very easy and intuitive. This is incredibly important for games of this type and they’ve gotten it right.

* Tree. I’m getting to really love this easy to use, explorer style menu of systems, ships and structures.

* It’s pretty and it sounds good.

I’ve wended my way through the tutorials (which I’d highly recommend) and then played several different scenarios, including a map I created sans pirates. If I had one complaint, it would be pirates. I don’t think they are necessarily implemented badly and I can see their point but I just don’t like them. Thankfully the map editor (really more of a series of choices you can make) is simple. It took me all of five minutes to create and start playing on a pirate free map. With a new updated issued by Stardock, more pirate free maps are now available as well.

The game starts with the player in control of a single planet, a frigate factory for creating ships and two construction drones. Resources available to you are in the form of asteroids that contain either metals or crystal. From this beginning you create your empire.

Ships that are available to you come in three sizes. Frigates, which include your scout ship and several other basic designs, including bombers, anti-fighter, coloney and standard ‘destroyer’ type ships are at the smaller side of the spectrum. Cruisers generally encompass small command ships, small carriers and all around warships. The last level of ship is the capital ship. These are huge warships, which can all generally do a lot of damage but each have specific roles as well, from carrier to command vessel.

Capitol ships, the largest you’ll get, can be improved by bringing them into combat and having them gain levels. As they increase in levels they can acquire and improve special abilities. Depending on the ship and the race you can develop everything from more powerful weapons to the ability to psychically control the population of the planet you’re invading.

The game encompasses three races, the TEC (humans) the Advent (post-humans) and the Vasari (aliens). All three of these offer unique tech trees you can advance through. Each race has it’s strengths and its weaknesses. Playing them will help you to understand these, as will fighting against them.

The map can be as simple as one star and a few planets, or encompass multiple star systems with up to 100 planets each. The further away a planet is from your capital, the lower it’s loyalty rating and the longer it takes to build this up. Distance is a factor also in travel time – the longer the phase lanes (the method used to travel between worlds) and the further the star systems, the longer it takes to move ships around. This becomes key to developing your strategy as it’s possible for opposing fleets to pass each other without interacting (in a phase lane), thus having two large fleets end up at two relatively undefended planets. It’s all in good fun though, figuring out your fleet placement and bottlenecks is just another part of developing your strategy.

Speaking of tech trees, I like the way they are implemented here. You’ve got military technology, civilian technology, logistical upgrades and artifacts (which can assist an many different areas). Your ability to advance through your military and civilian tech trees is based on both resources (of which there are three types) and the number of research stations you’ve built throughout your empire. Ship crews and fleet sizes can also be upgraded at a cost.

Research allows various types of ships to be constructed, weapons to be upgraded and technologies implemented to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Some tech areas can be researched more than once to bring additional benefits. While the three races share many of the same technologies, there are enough differences to keep game play interesting.

Like all good strategy games, you’ll have to adapt to your current tactical and logistical situation, which means constantly evaluating where to spend your resources – technology, ships, planet improvements or orbital construction. Fortunately the way the game plays, it can be a bit frantic at times but not overwhelming.

Back to the pirates, while I’m not a big fan of them, they do offer a neat function in the game. You can wage a proxy war on your enemies by paying the pirates to attack them. Of course, they can do the same to you. In addition to this rather brutal form of diplomacy, you can also form alliances with other races (or players in multiplayer games).

There’s a lot of depth to this game – of which I’ve just touched the surface. I can easily see where replayability will not be a problem, through the creation of unique maps, the fact that games like these just play differently each time and that user created mods are encouraged. If you get bored playing against the AI, then hop online and find a game through Ironclad Online.

One more tidbit that I find wonderful about this game. There is no DRM involved. When you purchase it you’re given an activation code which allows for updates, patches and upgrades but you’re never treated like a criminal by the folks who are selling you the game. Way to go Ironclad!

Now that I’ve played several complete games as each of the races offered, I’ve a much better feel for the game. And I’m still loving it. With the ability for player mods to be created, a new tool for creating your own maps available for download and continued updates which feature new content as well as bug fixes and game tweaks, this game will be on my to-play list for quite some time to come. Reminiscent (although different) of great games like Masters of Orion 2, Sins easily qualifies as my favorite game this year.

The Good:

Graphically this is a great RTS, with stunning ship detail. Combat looks great.

Fast paced, fun, always interesting and always just a bit different. High replayability.

Pacing is just right.

No DRM. Thank you, Ironclad and Stardock!

The Bad:

Lengthy game times – even a ‘small’ game will take hours to complete.

Overall Score: 9.25 out of 10

Gameplay: 9

Experience (Sound/Graphics): 8

Replayability: 10

Fun Factor/Price: 10

Technorati Tags: video game, review, sins of a solar empire, stardock, ironclad, rts, 4x, strategy, space

This game reviewed on an @XI Gaming Rig.

<!– @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –>

I mean, “Puchi Puchi”? Sure, the story features a dashing Anime doctor named Kevin A. Longfellow, a cutsie nurse named Nurse Honeydew and a giant chicken named George, but “Puchi Puchi”? I put the package aside and allowed my skepticism to win over me for a few hours. Then, after most of the family was in bed, I grabbed the game and plugged it in. Several hours later, all I can say is Puchi Puchi indeed!

This game represents NIS America’s foray into casual gaming. But don’t be fooled, this is as addictive as Soduko or any other well laid out puzzler and it has a few unique properties to make it interesting enough to keep me coming back.

The official line:

Long ago, there was a quaint planet much like Earth. It’s people were dull, but kind. One day, a strange virus called the “Puchirus” appeared and infected everyone on the planet! The virus somehow turned people into wild, aptly named creatures.

Dr. Kevin A. Longfellow quickly decided to help return his kinsmen back to their common selves. Kevin worked tirelessly with Nurse Honeydew and George the Giant Chicken to find a cure.

The trio came up with the “Puchi Buster DS” to treat anyone infected with too much zaniness. This odd, sleek device uses dangerously high doses of pure awesome to destroy the disease! Go, Doc! Save the world from that crazy virus!

I have to admit, with the phrase “dangerously high doses of pure awesome” I felt that I would like this game. (You get to read this introduction as the game starts). I’m not sure about the nurse and the giant chicken, but pure awesome? Count me in.

Patients come to you as a series of case files. Those you haven’t solved yet are there, waiting for you. Those you have solved you can review (and replay) at any time. The more case files you solve, the more that are opened up to you.

Game play is simple, yet addictive. When you go in to de-puchirus your patient you’ll be presented with the game screen, full of several different colors of virus. Tap a virus to lock it. Tap three of the same virii and get yourself a triangle. Tap one of them again and the triangle ‘bursts’ along with the locked virii.

After a certain amount of time, puchirus will congeal and turn into a solid virus. These you can’t tap to lock. But you can return them back to normal virii by creating and bursting a triangle around it. Careful though, leave the triangle alone for two long and the virii will still solidify.

You can also create chain reactions by creating a triangle, and then overlapping another triangle by either including an unlocked virus in it, or making two triangles that overlap. Burst the first triangle and they both go. Here’s a graphical representation from the manual:

You have a body monitor which shows the relative health of a patient, as well as the infection level. As the monitor gets redder (it fills from foot to head) the virii become more active – the literally move about making triangles slightly harder to form.

In addition to this, you also obtain pills. Clear 50 virii, get a pill. Pills turn congealed virii back into regular old, triangle forming and bursting virii. It works in stages. For the first 50 virii, your pill will uncongeal stuff on the left and right. Don’t use the pill and power it up to level 2 and you get top and bottom. Level three is all sides of the square. Level 4 is a wider range and level 5 is the whole shebang.

Puchi Puchi Virus can be played in single player mode, or with another opponent via ad-hoc wireless. It also features a neat mode where someone who doesn’t own the game can download load battles or a demo and play temporarily.

The bottom line is that this game is deceptively simple. Play is very addicting, if you enjoy puzzle games. Each one will take you between 5 and 15 minutes to complete, depending which means casual gaming – what they were aiming for – is very achievable. Just don’t expect to want to put it down. It’s games like this that the DS was created for.

The one problem I did have with it was a slight tendency to mis-tap virii when trying to create a triangle. Not only do you have to plan your strategy, but the game seems to have trouble from time to time discerning exactly where I tap, even after a touch screen calibration. It wasn’t consistent and didn’t happen often enough to discourage me or really effect game play though.

Although not up yet, you should be able to get more information at the Puchi Puchi Virus site soon. Expect the game in early May.

Overall I’m enjoying this game very much. So much so that i’ve had to put my DS down for a solid few hours of recharging, something I haven’t had to do with one game since I got it with Brain Age 2. If you enjoy puzzle style games and want a new twist on it with some tongue-in-cheek added for style, you’ll like Puchi Puchi Virus.

The Good:

A nice entry into casual gaming – play for 5 minutes, play for 5 hours.

Innovative design (with giant chicken named George).

Inviting game play and puzzle solving which keeps the player engaged and wanting more.

The Bad:

Minor touch screen oddness.

Rough on people who dislike anthropomorphic giant chickens.

Overall Score: 9.25 out of 10

Gameplay: 10

Experience (Sound/Graphics): 8
Replayability: 9

Fun Factor/Price: 9

Technorati Tags: puchi, puchi, virus, george the chicken, ds light, games, video game, review, nintendo, nis america

19.95- for lipstick that’s a little spendy. For socks, they had better be durable for that price, and for a video game, it’s a steal.

I must admit that when I began to play it I completely age regressed. LEGO’S! IN ACTION! With working light sabers and shooting guns- HOW AWESOME! It was more than that though. It’s not a kids game, it’s for the kid at heart.

The areas were large enough to keep me interested, secret areas are challenging and special features that you unlock as you go along- forcing you to revisit the levels as different characters so you can nab the special prizes. I can’t wait to join the dark force so I can see what I’m missing!

Simple game play- Basic jumping, shooting, running, tip toeing. This game gradually gets you adjusted to the different types of characters and their abilities. Pretty soon you’re swapping the characters around to make the most of the situations placed before. Light saber action, blasters, and droids, they all have their importance and you can easily swap the characters while playing in order to make it a smooth level.

It combines combat, air combat, puzzles and most important- LEGO creations! You earn kits and laughter. The cut scenes are humorous and this game plays a great tribute to the original Trilogy. With three stories and each one houses quite a few levels, it keeps your attention and with the drastic change in environments, you don’t tire of the game play (or at least I haven’t yet). Even in the middle of the game you’ll find an area that has carnival type of challenges that cause you smile should you choose to break free for a moment to gain extra points and a breather.

One of my biggest gripes with games that are based on films- the game typically lasts as long as the film, and requires less skill to watch the film than to play the game with a few exceptions of course and this one of those exceptions.

You even get to don a Stormtroopers hat to *blend* in- which is quite hilarious when you have a tiny Storm trooper helmet teetering on the top of Chewie’s head- one wrong move and they’re onto you… lasers galore!

If you’ve been passing this game by and you’re a fan of LEGO’s and Star Wars, this is a definite must have. It’s genuinely fun, it doesn’t take itself too seriously and it completely lives up to the spirit of the films that helped push us into the love of the Sci-Fi genres that were out of this world.

The Good:

It’s fun, quick to get the hang of it. There’s always something to explore and discover.
There are at least 2 characters you can utilize at any time- six at the most and if you want your favorite person along for the journey, it can be a two player game as well. I tried that and I wound up frustrated, “You’re not using the force right!”

The Bad:

Highly addicting and it makes you want to go out and buy a ton of LEGO kits that can be rather spendy.

Overall Score: 8.9

Gameplay: 8
Experience (Sound/Graphics) 9
Replayability: 9
Fun Factor/Price: 9

Once again we find ourselves in the future, as the last remnants of the human race struggle for survival. After the world has been decimated by continued war, humans were forced to move into giant domes where they would eek our a living. After some time, only one dome was left – the Federation dome.

Working against the unaltered, dome dwelling humans are the Raak-Zun are what’s left of those humans who weren’t allowed into the domes. They’ve mutated into a bunch of blood-thirsty, human hating er. . . mutants. Arriving a bit late to the show comes the Sentinal – extra solar robots with a passion for killing people. And mutated people. Heck, killing everyone. At this point you should expect some camp from this game and you won’t be disappointed.

For all three, the units are well designed visually with some neat effects for 2D sprites. In game play however they are fairly limited. Each faction has access to a relatively small number of units, although they can be upgraded as the game goes on.

It’s an interesting balance of not being completely balanced that actually enhances game play. There are four different types of damage in SunAge – Bullet, Explosive, Flame and Laser (BAFL?) as well as four different types of armor to defend against these – Flak, Plated, Synthetic and Structural (FPSS). These don’t match up exactly, leading to plenty of situations where one side or the other is not properly equipped to deal with a threat. This can be considered a good thing, as it forces the player to think about tactics rather than simply build and throw.

SunAge also employs a different take on building. Every building you create requires a connection to the power grid or energy network. In essence, you have to connect a series of energy points that all link back to a central power system. These connect to each and every building you have. It’s interesting because if you build these up you can place buildings essentially anywhere on the map and deploy around enemies quickly. Of course, they can do the same to you.

There are some quirks to grouping your forces together, and some interesting ways of queing up builds so you don’t waste time on every individual energy pylon. Most of these can be overcome with hotkeys or simply taking the time to familiarize yourself with the mechanics.

Overall SunAge is a nice throwback title in a pretty package. There are still some issues (the AI has a tendency to not be able to walk around things) and a patch or two more above and beyond the 1.06 patch would be great. As a throwback game, it’s decent and at $29.95 suggested retail it’s not horribly expensive. If you’re looking for a modern RTS however that will put your system to the test with the latest graphics and AI, you may want to look elsewhere.

The Good:

If you like traditional RTS from the 90′s with some slightly updated graphics, you’ll like this.
Low system needs as it’s 2D and sprite based.

The Bad:

If you like traditional RTS from the 90′s, you probably own more interesting games.
AI is a bit kludgey – pathing issues abound.

Overall Score: 5.5

Gameplay: 6
Experience (Sound/Graphics) 6
Replayability: 5
Fun Factor/Price: 5

Technorati Tags: review, video game, sunage, lighthouse, rts, real time strategy

Now the RTS genre is not my first pick for game play heaven but the folks at Ironclad have done something right here. Really, the game isn’t just an RTS – it’s an RT4X game (real time + eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate).

The game flows, it’s engaging and it moves at a pace I can enjoy and that allows me to tweak my empire as I see fit without feeling like I’m listening to the Jeopardy theme song. What exactly have they done right? At first blush I can list several things I really enjoy about this game.

• User set pacing – slow, medium or fast. A boon to those who aren’t into twitch RTS games.
• you can zoom in and out at will. Take a look at the whole star system! See that zit on your commandant’s nose!
• The interface, after about a half hour of use becomes very easy and intuitive. This is incredibly important for games of this type and they’ve gotten it right.
• Tree. I’m getting to really love this easy to use, explorer style menu of systems, ships and structures.
• It’s pretty and it sounds good.

I’ve wended my way through the tutorials (which I’d highly recommend) and then played several different scenarios, including a map I created sans pirates. If I had one complaint, it would be pirates. I don’t think they are necessarily implemented badly and I can see their point but I just don’t like them. Thankfully the map editor (really more of a series of choices you can make) is simple. It took me all of five minutes to create and start playing on a pirate free map.

The game encompasses three races, the TEC (humans) the Advent (post-humans) and the Vasari (aliens). All three of these offer unique tech trees you can advance through.

Speaking of tech trees, I like the way they are implimented here. You’ve got military technology, civilian technology, logistical upgrades and artifacts (which can assist an many different areas). Your ability to advance through your military and civilian tech trees is based on both resources (of which there are three types) and the number of research stations you’ve built throughout your empire.

Research allows various types of ships to be constructed, weapons to be upgraded and technologies implemented to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Some tech areas can be researched more than once to bring additional benefits.

Then there are the ships. Capitol ships, the largest you’ll get, can be improved on by bringing them into combat and having them gain levels. As they increase in levels they can acquire and improve special abilities.

There’s a lot of depth to this game – of which I’ve just touched the surface. I can easily see where replayability will not be a problem, through the creation of unique maps, the fact that games like these just play differently each time and that user created mods are encouraged.

One more tidbit that I find wonderful about this game. There is no DRM involved. When you purchase it you’re given an activation code which allows for updates, patches and upgrades but you’re never treated like a criminal by the folks who are selling you the game. Way to go Ironclad!

I’ll be sure to have a full review of this title, building on what I’ve written here in the near future – that is if I can find time to peel myself away from the game to write about it. If you don’t want to wait, go grab yourself a copy!

This game reviewed on an @XI Gaming Rig.

Technorati Tags: sins of a solar empire, rts, rt4x, video games, reviews, geeks, technology, pc, computer

About once every year or so a new computer strategy game comes along that’s novel and interesting enough to capture my full attention and keep me playing it. As a rule these games are at least loosely turn based strategy games, often 2D, with great replayability, great AI and the ability to capture me and keep me for hours at a time.

American Civil War -Blue and the Grey is one such game. While the timespan isn’t measured in centuries but rather in the course of four years the game is captivating enough to keep me engaged for hours. AMC-BaG (I also have an affinity for creating acronyms) is a deep strategy game with plenty of elements to keep a you busy during your turn but crafted well enough that you don’t become completely overwhelmed with minutiae.

For a 2D game, the maps and playing pieces are well crafted and easy to look at. It is indeed like playing on a some massive, well detailed game board. the pieces which represent your troops (from a complete army right to the brigade level) are well detailed and with a few clicks of your mouse you can get all of the information you’ll need about them.

The game itself takes place on a massively detailed map of the United States from the Mid-West right through to the East Coast. The map is quite large, offering plenty of room to scroll about and enjoy the scenery. There are no hexes or squares – instead the map is divided into regions. Moving your troops is as simple as drag and drop from region to region.

The game is turn based, using WEGO – you and your opponent plan out your moves and then they are enacted simultaneously. Gameplay can be pretty involved – if you’re a casual strategy fan then you may not want to look into this unless you plan on moving up a few notches. If you’re like me however and can lose yourself for hours in game play, you’ll love this game.

It should be noted that there is no direct control of battle here. ACW-BaG looks to put the player in the position of the leader of his or her country. You can make your plans and give your orders but it’s up to the individuals whom you put in place to actually undertake them.

You can play the game historically – where your generals and other notables are pretty much what you’d expect or you can go for a more open ended recreation of history, where there stats are randomly generated.

It can be time consuming tracking every aspect of your forces – if you’re not really into the minutia of war games you may not find this title as appealing. If you do like to have a hand in virtually every aspect of your war – from political to troop movements, you’ll get a lot out of this game. You’ve got to not only plan your battle strategy but worry about national morale, economic pressures, even international relations.

To sum up – if you’re a casual war gamer looking to spend a few hours a week in game then you may want to look elsewhere. If your serious about your gaming though and plan on playing longer sessions, with an eye towards strategic detail you will enjoy this game.

The Good:

One of the best game maps I’ve ever seen.
Great integration of WEGO system.
Just plain fun.

The Bad:

Music score will force you to turn the sound off after hours of play.
Large time investment required.

Overall Score: 8.5

Gameplay: 9
Experience (Sound/Graphics): 8
Replayability: 8
Fun Factor/Price: 9

This game reviewed on an @XI Gaming Rig.

If you’ve got a (possibly hidden) fascination with B grade SciFi movies, a love for Anime, Tom Cruise burdened movies about the end of the world and a wish to see western civilization’s gods of yore thriving again, then Universe At War by Sega is the game for you. Provided of course you’re looking for the latest in RTS technology.

Universe At War is a slightly new take on an old game format with fairly predictable results. They’ve cranked the camp up to 11 in this case and also thrown in some interesting play styles for those who don’t want to get to comfortable with the old build-a-base, walk-to-the-enemy way of playing.

In Universe at War, the Hierarchy, an alien force who can create REALLY HUGE ambulatory bases that can wade their way through entire cities have arrived out of no where to make us Earthlings miserable. They don’t really distinguish much between raw materials and raw earthling, scooping up both in the name of progress. Well, their progress anyway. Just when things have gone from worse to totally worse for us Earth folk, a second alien race appears.

Enter Novus, sentient robots who’s progenitors (with the exception of one, lone lady) were previously wiped out by the Hierarchy. As such, they’ve programmed themselves to stop at nothing in their attempt to in turn wipe out the Hierarchy. They’ve since waged a guerrilla war against them, appearing wherever the Hierarchy are. Where the Hierarchy have these HUGE walking structures, seriously, they’re big, Novus uses a connected network of street lights to zip back and forth across the map at speeds that are a lot faster than HUGE ambulatory bases.

As these two factions are having at each other and squashing the occasional human who gets under foot, another faction makes an appearance. Everyone say hello to the Masari, gods of old/higher life forms who created the Hierarchy in a fit of lower life form stupidity and have regretted it ever since. They’ve been dormant and hiding on Earth for millennium. When the two whippersnapper factions arrive and start making noise, the Masari once more step forth to do battle, what ho?

The Masari don’t really use resources, having mastered the ability of snapping their fingers and getting whatever they want. They can also turn their entire forces into Light or Dark, depending. Light means fast and hard striking ability, Dark means slow and great on the defense. The finger snapping comes with both.

The first real difference I noticed in UAW was not the cut scene of the square jawed, chain gun toting marine type guy. Hey! Could this be Duke Nukem back from the dead? No? Anyway, it’s the way resources are handled. Sure the Hierarchy and Novus need resources, but unlike previous incarnations of RTS games where you’ve got to tell your resource gnomes or slaves, or whatever to go get it, it just happens in UAW. Little drones pop out and go get the stuff for you. It’s like having a butler, or a kid. And the Masari? They don’t even worry about resources. They can build anywhere that a building will fit and effectively create stuff indefinitely.

I do like how the different factions are handled. Instead of being the same units dressed differently, there are complete different play styles associated with the three factions, necessitating a shift in thought when you jump from one to the other and also allowing for a slightly higher amount of replay in this RTS.

Game play with the three factions is surprisingly well balanced. Despite the camp level I found myself enjoying the game but for one major flaw. You can’t really zoom out. That’s a big flaw in my book because I’m not the most organized person to begin with – and having to keep track of everything in an RTS without being able to see more than the immediate area just makes it hard on me. The mini map is great for getting your bearings but useless for finding your units and heroes. Another minor flaw, particularly with Novus is the click to enable abilities. I spent more time clicking on those than the map in a few cases.

There’s also tie in to a world domination aspect, which brings a risk-like globe into the fray, connecting battles and showing you your progress. And of course, online play, although that’s exclusively through Microsoft’s Live.

The Good

1. A new take on units and differences makes the game more fun than your average RTS, including REALLY HUGE WALKING BASES.
2. Updated graphics look sharp.
3. A fun game to play, as long as no one else is watching.
4. Campy.

The Bad

1. Zooming out! Something this game badly needs.
2. Campy.
3. Microsoft Live network is the only way to play online.

Overall Score: 7

Gameplay: 7
Experience (Sound/Graphics): 8
Replayability: 6
Fun Factor/Price: 7

This game reviewed on an @XI Gaming Rig.

Technorati Tags: pc, video games, review, technology, geek, universe at war, sega, RTS, real time strategy, HUGE MOBILE BASES

One of the other features for educational purposes (or if you don’t understand a joke and you need someone to explain it to you), you will have the ability to write down notes as you’re viewing and access it later. There is also the option of letterbox or full screen; well, as much of a full screen you get on such a small device.

From my understanding of translating the main Nintendo site, it seems dependent on a signal and most may not be able to get reception. I’m having a difficult time finding all the stats and features in English at this time, but if it’s worthwhile, I’ll do an update after the release.

The video isn’t in English, but sometimes you needn’t speak a language in order to understand the coolness.
$89.00 US

Technorati Tags: Nintendo DS TV Tuner, WanSeg

I first began this game weeks ago and unfortunately regular life gets in the way so that I may afford the electricity to power up my PS2 and purchase food so that I’m not balling up in pain whilst playing the game. When life calms down a little allowing me to have some quiet time, you can be certain that I’m sitting with a controller in hand and my brain is bouncing all over the place while I’m reloading and regrouping.

Currently I’m stuck on a level (I won’t say which as I’m slightly embarrassed- but it is in the double digits) and strangely I’m not discouraged. In most games that I get stuck on, I wind up feeling like there’s a glitch in the game and I become disinterested. In this case, I know it’s solely due to me. I visualize many people beating this particular section with ease. For myself, it gets my mind in motion trying to figure out a decent strategy so that I can conquer and succeed. To me that equates an awesome game. The writers and developers actually put some thought into this and I truly see and feel it.

Let me back up a little- I haven’t played an RPG game in YEARS (with the exception of Kingdom Hearts II). I’m typically a gun toting, martial arts butt kicking type of gamer. Give me terrain, baddies and a few puzzles/situations to solve cerebrally and I’m happy. It’s all about in your face action, explosions, and feeling beaten down yet proud when you beat a level. RPG seemed a little too slow paced after many years of preferred genre.

When I received this game I was a little skeptical. Okay, I was a lotta skeptical, but after the first half an hour I fell prey to their agenda and I’m hooked. I’m a junkie and I don’t care!

Allow me to bottom line it:

The Good:

A decent story. Great characters (because the main one is ME as I was able to choose my own gender and name). Great squad building, battle strategy, plot, etc. Gig, the character who shares your body- a power hungry trouble maker, yet the one person who can assist you in your fight against the world eaters (please read the About section) he keeps me gasping and amused whilst thinking, “Omg, he didn’t just say that… did he?”

The Bad:

The beginning started out a little choppy and I had almost lost interest. Once you get past the needed background of the story, it does get better. Unfortunately when you wish to start a new game, there’s no way to by-pass the multi-hundreds of years of story. In some areas you can opt to skip scenes but not all. It makes it a little frustrating if you don’t save in the correct area and you need to relive a long winded section of dialogue.

The colors and visuals are a little limiting, but you truly get so into the game that the aesthetics seem like a minor issue.

You can forget about having a life as it winds up consuming a large portion of your free time and you tend to forget you have family and friends. It truly sucks so close to the holiday season as I have a feeling I’ll be dropped off many card and gift lists.

Overall Score: 8.25

Gameplay: 8
Experience (Sound/Graphics): 8
Replayability: 8 (although I don’t know when I’ll get to the end to replay it)
Fun Factor/Price: 9

I didn’t quite know how to sum up what it’s “About”- so I borrowed the following from the info Nazi site (long story) “Wikipedia”.
History of Prodesto
At the end of a long war-shattered age, one man brought all the countries in the Continent of Prodesto together under his rule: Lord Median the Conquerer. Though only one man, he became renowned throughout the world for his heroism, and had even managed to slay the god of death. However, within ten years, the empire Lord Median had created collapsed with the death of his son, quickly followed by his own death. With no apparent leader, the continent collapsed once more into civil war. Fifteen years later, Lord Median’s daughter had proven herself as a true leader, and convinced the remaining countries to form peace treaties, establishing peace once more.

This peace collapsed however, when the “Master of Death”, Gig arrived with three giant beings known as World Eaters under his command. They quickly devastated the land, annihilating entire nations in a matter of days, and it wasn’t long before nations began abandoning their alliances and allying with the World Eaters in an attempt to save themselves.

When things looked their darkest, Layna gathered up what remained of her forces and made a direct assault against Gig, a battle which apparently killed both of them. With their leader gone, the World Eaters fell silent, apparently having gone to sleep, remaining as monuments of the destruction that occurred.
Starting Your Journey
The year is now 800 in the Tamaito calendar. 200 years have passed since the defeat of the shadow at the hands of the technique user Layna. Ever since that day, with the shadow’s defeat, the giants known as “The World Eaters” have retained their silence in the continent. The body of one of the giants remains in the peaceful country of Raide, and serves as a symbol of fear to those who pass by it.

Within the country of Raide, there exists a small secluded village that refuses to acknowledge the existence of those from outside world. It is known as the “Hidden Village”. In that village lives the protagonist along with his friend Danette, and other members of the Sepp race. Along with Layna, whose age now exceeds 200, the protagonist helps to protect the village.

One day, the protagonist and Danette are called forth by old lady Layna and given weapons to help guard the village. Danette, who has always dreamed of protecting the village, is overjoyed and is given twin daggers. The protagonist is given a long black sword.

The moment the protagonist takes hold of the black sword, it begins to insult and swear at Layna. Both the protagonist and Danette are profoundly confused at this point. It is revealed that 200 years ago, Layna destroyed the shadow and sealed its soul into the black sword. The shadow goes by the name of Gig. To utilize the power of Gig, Layna chose to give this sword to the protagonist.

The protagonist is infused with the soul of Gig, gaining control of his power, and is now able to fight against the World Eaters, who have now reawakened. With Gig residing in his body and Danette, who has been his friend since he was young, the protagonist departs into the country of Raide to defeat the World Eaters.
Gameplay
A key element of the game is customization, giving the player many more options to choose from when progressing through the story. When the game begins, the player chooses the gender and name of the main character, a change from other Nippon Ichi games.

At the very beginning of the game the main character can become powerful enough to destroy even the final boss, but relying on Gig too much would be the equivalent of just letting the world be destroyed. Instead, the player is expected to build and train an army of units capable of handling whatever comes his way, relying on Gig’s powers as little as possible.

The player is given the ability to create and command squads, which, after enough time, will become an army capable of destroying the world he is trying to save. Up to 25 different character types can be created, each filling a unique position in the squad with its own strengths and weaknesses. Characters’ individual abilities can do such things as increase the range of an effect or give each unit a bonus to its inflicted damage.

Tedious tasks like visiting the same area over and over in order to level new characters (a staple of older Nippon Ichi titles) are no longer necessary as any character’s level can be set to that of the main character. Also, unlike the older Nippon Ichi titles, the player is not allowed to return to older levels. Squads can also be merged together in order to increase their power.

The game includes more options for interacting with NPCs than previous Nippon Ichi games. It is possible to steal items from shops or NPCs instead of buying them. Additionally, the player can attack the towns and fight against the NPCs inhabiting them. Alternately, the player can recruit NPCs into his army.

Technorati Tags: video games, soul nomad and the world eaters, frpg

Peter Parker, I’m breaking up with you. It’s not me, it’s you. Ever since the tepid release of what you call your third installment of a “film” with an equally lame game that came out around the same time, I began to lose interest in you. I love the comics. Your old tv show was campy fun and the cartoons at times were “interesting”.  My heart was won with the first and second movie that holds your superhero name and the games… wow the games kept the relationship going. A decent first and second installment, and then the Ultimate Spider Man made me feel all tingly inside… spidey tingly. Now it feels as if you’ve turned on me.

After your fiasco in May I stuck it out. I truly stuck it out hoping things would change. Deep in my heart of hearts I felt that you’d redeem yourself in “Spider-Man: Friend or Foe”. Oh how I was wrong.

The Good

Wonderful voice acting and a witty script gave this game promise. The dialogue was amusing and the graphics (although on this engine are a little choppy) over all I thought they were pretty decent. The selection of obtained characters (New Goblin, Prowler, Black Cat, Scorpion, Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Iron Fist, Rhino, Lizard, Venom, Blade, and Sandman) was exciting and some of the fighting moves and sequences had me saying “Wow, this is pretty cool!”

The Bad

Then like all good things, it came to an end. The areas; Tokyo, Tangaroa Island, Cairo, Transylvania and Nepal were visually appealing, yet the game play grew rapidly stale and the lack of camera control took the experience down a rung or two.
The premise was interesting. You are taken to The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier where you are briefed by Nick Fury that your friends and foes are being symbiote mind controlled in order to assist an evil genius bent on taking over the world. The mission should you continue to play: You must go to each location and fight the friend/foe, break them from the control of the symbiote shard, enter in an entertaining exchange, and then have them join your team. After each level and sublevel, you are able to go back to the Helicarrier and upgrade everyones abilities. Now say you find it’s unfair that you’re suffering alone, fret not! At any time during the game play you can have a second player join and plow through the scenes with you. Unfortunately the levels remain consistent in difficulty and you find yourself plowing through each level in about fifteen minutes or less.

Bottom Line: You beat a bunch of baddies and continue through- rinse and repeat.

The boss fights seem difficult initially until you spot the pattern and rather quickly you find yourself with a new friend/foe on your side.

I kept thinking, “Okay I know what they’re doing- this is so freakishly easy (almost insultingly so) because you need to hurry and rally the troops, gain the tokens to upgrade, and once everyone is obtained… then the real game begins!!” I finished the game this morning and my hopeful thinking was WAY off. Beating the final boss was no different than any of the other levels and then it was over. Poof Finis… No mo’. I sat there in disappointment waiting for something else to happen, aside from the credits rolling, nothing did. As Spider Man was transported back home, Nick hinted at a second installment, but if that’s the case, please don’t force people to pay for a teaser of hopefully a better, smarter, and more interesting game.

The thing that truly gets me is that It claims to be inspired by the Spider Man movies, it’s apparent that they drew their inspiration from the third one. Seriously, if the makers were shooting to create and release it so people will get hyped up over the October 30th DVD release of SP3, please don’t insult the fans. We’d rather wait for a quality game. 2007 is the year Spidey lost his webbing.

Overall Score: 4.75

Gameplay: 5
Experience (Sound/Graphics): 8
Replayability: 3
Fun Factor/Price: 3

Maker: Activision
Price: Around $39.95 USD

Technorati Tags: Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Stan  Lee, Marvel, Video Games, AcTiVision

Video Games
Juiced 2 (FINALLY a racing game I can get into)
Soul Nomad and the World Eaters- A FRPG that breathes life back into a genre I had nearly forgotten about,
Spider Man: Friend or Foe
Literature
World War Z- Z is for ZOMBIE!! (are you scared? I hope so as it IS that time of year, although any time of year is the right time for zombies)
and Lego Mindstorm (my world domination plans now includes toys).

My time has been spent wisely as I’m a girl in a geek store who is bouncing from a myriad of delights that I can’t wait for a little more progress on my part to share with everyone as to what’s worth playing, worth reading, worth constructing and worth starting your first winter blaze with.

Feel free to request other items of general geeky interest for review that can benefit the masses and divert us from complete global domination (it WILL happen).

Ghic Chic

As you progress through your journey other characters can join your party and bring their strengths with them. You can decided who will lead your party while walking through the world map, as each character also has different abilities. Once character may slowly heal your party as you travel through the world while another will help you travel faster.

The game is divided into the world map, in which encounters happen and the characters gain experience and levels and the city maps, in which Valen can wander about purchasing items, making new things and progressing the plot line.

Each character, including Valen have skills broken into three categories, Field, Battle and Dragon skills comprise these categories. Field skills help the characters move faster through the world map, assist in exploration and help in other ways. Battle skills are those which assist the party in the heat of battle, and can include skills that heal other party members or alleviate ailments. Dragon skills are used in concert with various Dragon Orbs that characters collect and keep in their inventory. The Dragon Orbs impart damaging elemental abilities to each character, which can gain levels and potency with frequent use. They can also be used to exploit particular weaknesses in the various enemies the characters will face. Skills use is based on mana points. Mana is collected in battle by defeating, blocking, attacking or using an item. Mana points are required to use the skills themselves.

This is the core of the battle system in Dragoneer’s Aria and it can be a bit frustrating at times, particularly as your character gains levels. Mana is needed to use skills, and higher level skills which would be most useful to characters and require the most mana can be used the least as you are constantly finding yourself short on mana – with only enough to enact simpler skills. You find yourself working towards skills that ultimately you won’t be able to use much. Mana is fueled by points you collect through defeating enemies. 100 points translates into 1 mana point, and defeating enemies translates into 50 points.

At it’s heart, Dragoneer’s Aria is a hack and slash game with an interesting item generation scheme and a level/grind/level format, which can be ultimate frustrating as each encounter is represented by a generic floating monster sprite. As you wander through the world map you can see various encounters on your radar or floating in front of you but you have no idea what it is you’ll be encountering until you actually enact the encounter. Often, encounters will enact themselves as the generic encounter icon chases you about the world map until if successfully grabs you and draws you into battle.

Battles are protracted affairs in Dragoneer’s Aria. It’s not uncommon to spend an hour going through only four or five encounters, which makes the level/grind/level basis of the game a bit hard to take after several hours of play.

There is an interesting item making scheme, in which characters can purchase recipes to make neat new things out of the piles of junk that they’re hauling around. Unfortunately it means that your characters will be hauling around a massive pile of acquired items, hoping for a recipe that will fit some of what you have.

The graphics in Dragoneer’s Aria are good although they’re not amazingly wonderful. There aren’t any “wow” moments in the game where the PSP’s graphics capabilities are made to shine. The sound quality is decent but again nothing to write home about. The voice acting is weak, in many cases being all together forgettable. The characters you find yourself with are pretty standard role playing fare – you won’t meet anyone new or bump into any new ideas here. All of these individual qualities combine to make for a game that, while it starts out with promise ultimately does not deliver.

The Good

1. An interesting concept with lesser “mortal” creatures interacting with dragons, which are usually seen as the pinnacle monster or ally in most role playing games.
2. Interesting recipe system in which characters can take the loot they’ve been hoarding and make new and useful things.

The Bad

1. One of the games biggest weaknesses is the mana system, which complicates and trivializes aspects of combat, rather than adding to them in an exciting and new way.
2. Character acting is not all that good.
3. Combat grind becomes very tedious after a while with individual rounds of combat taking far to long.

Overall Score: 5

Gameplay: 6
Experience (Sound/Graphics): 6
Replayability: 5
Fun Factor/Price: 4

Technorati Tags: nis, dragoneers aria, psp, game, review, sony

I’m new to the Harvest Moon family of games and this title feels something like a cross between the Sims, Sim City, Diablo and the dating game. You set up farms, construct buildings, hunt monsters, recruit monsters, do in-game dating, and a whole host of other combinations.

You awaken to find yourself in an unfamiliar village with no memory of who you are or how you arrived. Mist, a beautiful young woman comes to your aid and helps you start to build a life for yourself…on a farm. Till the land, grow crops, raise animals, catch fish and battle monsters! Battling against fierce beasts is very important for your survival, but making friends with them is essential for your farm life. What mysteries lie ahead….

Since the original Sim City came out I’ve always been vulnerable to spending large amounts of time building, managing and lording over my simulations. There’s so much to do in this open ended simulation. You can farm, hunt monsters, train monsters, meet women, woo women, mix potions, explore, fight bosses – you’ll need to spend some time with this game to come even close to doing it all.

You can’t truly explore the dungeons made available to you without the permission of the Mayor – the more you farm and the more you hunt though, the more passes the Mayor will issue to you and the more exploring you can do.

Rune factory features Rune Points (RP) and Hit Points (HP). Doing things, just about anything from swinging a scythe to swinging a sword drains first your RP and then your HP. If you HP get to 0 you can expect to pass out and spend the next day at the doctors. Your HP increase with levels and you can replenish your RP by eating, drinking potions or through the act of farming itself.

If you enjoy the Harvest Moon world you’ll be very happy with this title. It’s hard to imagine a more in-depth and play ready game for the DS than this one. You won’t be disappointed – in fact I predict many hours spent tending to your character and the world he helps create.

The touch screen gives this game a big leg up.  In previous Harvest Moon games it was tough to get the planting/farming square in the correct location.  Now, just tap the square with your stylus and you’re good to go. Same with switching items in inventory and lots of other tasks.

The Good

Hours and hours of play, with many things to do and explore

Great presentation.

A solid game without many holes.

The Bad

Cut scene dialog could use some work.

You’ll lose hours of your life to this game.

Overall Score: 8 out of 10

Gameplay: 7
Experience (Sound/Graphics) 8
Replayability: 8
Fun Factor/Price: 8.5

Technorati Tags: harvest moon, rune factory, review, DS, nintendo, ds lite, farming

Enter Dungeons & Dragons Tactics.

This PSP game offered much of what I was looking for. Turn based, characters on a hex (or in this case, square) layout for easy range and hit calculations, fleshed out universe and as a bonus, the game is based on the full rules set for D&D 3.5 as laid forth by Wizards of The Coast. And I do mean full! You can choose from any class and any of the core races, even creating characters with Psionics.

The game allows you to take between 2 and 6 characters on a variety of adventures, gaining loot and experience along the way. You can have up to 11 characters in your group from which to choose your party members.

The first thing I noticed when starting this title up on my PSP was the gorgeous soundtrack. Neo-celtic music pops out of the speakers as you begin your game play lending to the atmosphere of ancient realms steeped in magic, or a ren faire. Think Enya without the licensing fees. It’s a nice touch, although the music stutters or skips a bit when portions of the game are being loaded from the UMD.

One of my few real gripes with this game will become immediately apparent to you when you start to play. Menus! Menus are everywhere and they are not set up in an intuitive manner. Of all the aspects of this game that it’s taken me time to get used to, this was the by far the hardest. When your deep into a game it can be annoying to have to change your state of mind just to navigate through branching tree menus to equip a crossbow or pick a skill for your character. You will get used to this the more you play, and with 40+ hours of game play and a good replayability factor, you’ll have plenty of time.

D&D Tactics stays faithful to the 3.5 rule set throughout and manages to streamline much of the esoterica for very smooth game play. Kuju did an excellent job of cramming books and books worth of rules into the tiny PSP and still giving us a game that is, despite the menus, very playable. You can in many cases such as character creation or leveling up your party decide to let the game chose what’s best or take the manual route and do it all yourself. You’ll find this kind of flexibility throughout the game.

You start of by developing your main character – you can choose from a number of pre-made characters or make your own. In fact, you can create as many characters as you can fit onto your memory stick. From there it’s off to adventure.

The story line itself is divided up into a number of acts, interposed with cut scenes to drive the story forward. While the cut scenes are nothing to write home about and the dialog is at best stilted, they get the point across. Interestingly, your game play is directly affected by the alignment of your party – and can be changed with that alignment. Your decisions can move your alignment towards good, neutral or evil.

On to game play:

Your party starts on a world map with just a few options for adventures. As you move forward through the story line, the map unfolds before you giving you more and more choices as to what and where you’re going to do your thing. Like many pen and paper games, you will spend some time shopping, selling loot that you pick up and buying new weapons, armor, potions and scrolls for your party. You do this and manage your party through the world map screen.

D&D Tactics is truly a tactical game. There’s not a lot of roll playing going on here as it focuses more on the combat aspects of the pen and paper game. In many respects I think this was smart move on Kuju’s part. It allowed them to focus on the purely combat aspects of the game, taking the rules, modifiers, rolls and trivia of the D&D world and condensing them into a simple combat method. Combat takes place using a system of squares through which your characters can be positioned. Think of hexes using miniatures.

The game engine takes into account everything about the character and whatever weapons, spells or abilities they’re attempting to use. You can pretty much do whatever it is you’d like to do with your party while in combat mode within the limits of the map. You control each character individually and can have them go off in six different directions if you so choose. You can send one or two members after chests and treasure while four others take on the bad guys. It’s the flexibility of control which allows this game to shine. Combat is handled by the game engine, giving you some animations (depending on what mode you select you can reduce the animations for faster game play). You won’t find yourself frantically pushing buttons in an attempt to slice an orc with your axe.

One issue you’ll encounter is tracking in the combat maps. The PSP screen is obviously limited in size and scrolling across maps to find enemies can be a bit of a pain.

The graphics, especially when fighting against some of the larger creatures of the D&D world are quite good for a platform this size. The text is large enough that you won’t find yourself squinting and once you get the hang of the menus, you’ll find yourself hopping into combat and enjoying the heck out of it. Some of the effects are downright pretty.

If you’re looking for a pure tactics version of Dungeons & Dragons, light on the story but heavy on fighting, equipment, levels and experience then you’ll certainly be pleased with this title. It won’t replace actual table top play but will give anyone interested in the D&D world a great way to approach it when time or other players are a limiting factor.

Speaking of other players, D&D Tactics features an up to 4 player WiFi mode in which you can play cooperatively in a dragon hunt or in several player vs. player modes.

The Good:

Great control over your characters.
Tactical play is true to D&D 3.5 rules.
Graphics are quite nice.
Addicting game play.
Great musical score.
If you’re already a D&D fan, you’ll love this title.

The Bad:

Menus are clunky.
Cut scenes are stilted with no voice overs.
If you’re not a D&D fan, it may be a bit to complex and overly concerned with equipment/combat.

Overall Score: 8 out of 10

Gameplay: 8
Experience (Sound/Graphics): 8
Replayability: 8
Fun Factor/Price: 9

The graphics are absolutely nothing to get excited about and I had to double check the year this game was created (2007, not 2002 like I had wagered).

Once I got past my spoiled side, I did find an appreciation for the game. You can intimidate other drivers and it carries over to future laps when the same car tries to seek revenge. You can earn your stripes and feel your ego take over the controls as you make your way to the top.

Another feature I haven’t gotten to yet is Ghost Car- Once you record your time on all 22 tracks, you can race against yourself via different car set ups and check out your strong and weak points.

The tracks are pretty decent and car damage definitely pushes you to do better or turn that option off as sometimes you don’t really want realism to spoil your fun. Although this doesn’t differ greatly from the previous versions, it still gives an okay performance.

Cool Features
Innovative New Vehicle Telemetry Visor (VTV): Monitor your car’s telemetry and position on the track for real-time feedback of your car’s handling.

Challenging Mini-Games: Develop your racing skills in adrenaline-pumping mini-games focused on bump drafting, spin recovery, turn apex, etc.

Expanded Online Play: You can race up to 11 online racers at the same time.

The Good
Variations of game play
Newer challenges
Bullying

The Bad
No option to create a female character
Mediocre graphics
Music that causes you to want to drive off the tracks and into wall

Score: 5.75 out of 10
Gameplay: 7
Experience (sound/graphics): 3
Replayability: 7
Fun factor/Price: 6

-Ghic Chic

Technorati Tags: NASCAR 08, EA Games, Racing, Vroom Vroom

I scoured the net looking for something similar that I hadn’t found yet, when I stumbled on Dungeon Runners, by NCSoft. NCSoft are the guys that bring you Auto Assault (a fun auto-based post-apocalyptic MMORG), and Guild Wars, etc. Dungeon Runners has this to say about itself:

“As a brave hero, you’ll explore dangerous dungeons, battle ferocious monsters and discover incredible weapons, artifacts and loot.
Choose to play as Fighter, Mage or Ranger in a realm of terror, magic and adventure. Unlock powerful new skills as you gain experience on your journey into the unknown.”

You can play as a Fighter, Mage or Ranger. The dungeons are randomly generated. You can play solo, or with a pick-up group. Items are seemingly randomly generated (note: they don’t actually appear to be random, but sourced from a very large table of items. It’s rare to see a dupe). Sound familiar? The world is rendered in 3d – not isometric 2d like the Diablo franchise. The graphics are clean, nice to look at, and offer good frame rates on my modest laptop. I downloaded the (free) client, installed, made an account, and joined in the fun.

I fired up the game, and to be honest with you, wasn’t expecting much – how wrong I was. What fun it is! Very easy interface – click to walk (or hold down the middle mouse, and use the familiar WASD), click to attack, and use hotkeys. Sound familiar? In addition, each class has class-specific skills – as a Fighter, I could stomp, and send groups of monsters flying to clear the area around me, perhaps giving me time to down a health potion. The game was very easy to pickup, and I was having fun within 3 minutes of launch.

I started in a small town – and there were several NPC’s standing around, with excalmation point over their heads (WOW players will immediately find this a familiar device). Talk to the NPC, he gives you a quest, and the exclamation point is replaced by a grayed out question mark. Once you have completed the quest, the question mark turns gold, and you can finish up your quest by talking to the NPC. Again, WOW players will find this very familiar. Off to the local dungeon I went, and started my killing spree. Monsters drop loot appropriate for you level – heck, the entire dungeon is created randomly with level-appropriate challenges.

There are a few small problems – after all, no game is perfect. The camera tends to get masked behind the scenery at times, although the scenery becomes transparent, it is still tough to see whats going on. And when you are being attacked all around, you have to spend time to swing the camera around to find your enemies. Also, ‘Members only’ loot seems to be fairly common – but at the low price point offered by the game (more later), this isn’t much of an issue. Another very minor gripe is that NPCs tend to blend in with the crowd – picking them out of a group of PCs clustered around a merchant is an exercise in mouse hunting. Very minor issue, though.

Dungeon Runners offers two levels of membership – free and ‘Member’ (go figure). There is loot and other items in the game that are only available for Members to use. You can pick up these items and sell them, but you cannot equip them or otherwise use them. Another benefit of membership is access to a bank, and stackable potions. Membership is a scant $4.99 a month – a far cry from the $15+ most MMORPGs sock you with.

At the end of the day, I’m having loads of fun playing this game. I’m not currently a member, but I will more than likely join here shortly. I had to rip myself away from Dungeon Runners to write this review. All in all, it comes highly recommended by us here at ArsGeek.com.

The Good
Fun, quick and accessable gameplay
Familiar feel for old school Diablo players
Interesting loot, and random dungeons
Cheap!

The Bad
Slightly awkward camera controls
Large amount of loot is ‘Members Only
NPCs tough to pick out of a crowd of PCs

Score: 9
Gameplay: 9
Experience (sound/graphics): 8
Replayability: 10
Fun factor/Price: 9

PaRappa The Rapper

Publisher: Sony

Platform: PSP

$29.99

It’s been ten years since the original PaRappa the Rapper launched and spawned a whole new genre of video games based not on powerups, guns or power leveling but on rhythm, music and timing. PaRappa has been re-released for the PSP by Sony.

Sony recently released the title for the Playstation Portable. While I’ve never considered myself much of a rapper, PaRappa the Rapper let me jump right into the action and create horribly executed songs. However after spending a few days with PaRappa and crew I found myself doing much better, getting the hang of the timing and rhythms and having a new appreciation for 2d art and gaming addiction.

Playing a game that doesn’t involve guns, space ships, dungeons or mana is as refreshing now as it was ten years ago. PaRappa gives a great game play experience that I can enjoy in small burst or on one memorable occasion for three hours of pure rapping bliss.

You’re in the role of PaRappa, a 2 dimensional, hip hop dog who’s trying to impress the heck out of your love interest, Sunny Funny (a 2d flower being) by earning such accolades as kung fu skills, a drivers license and the ability to cook. Being a universe of music, you achieve your goals through rapping.

On the surface the game is decidedly simple. The cut scenes are funny and not long enough to lose you and the game play consists of pushing buttons in time to music. Keep in mind that simple does not equal easy and certainly doesn’t mean bad. The game is surprisingly addictive. After numerous scores of “awful” I finally scored a “good” on level 1′s rap with Chop Chop Master Onion. It’s one of those games where something suddenly clicks and your on a roll, smiling all the way.

The songs are snappy and when you get the timing down and start doing a little of your freestyle rap (in my case, I do mean a little – most of my results were not well received, but did cause me to smile) you can’t help but enjoy it. The game is eminently playable and lots of fun to beat, but the game play only lasts for perhaps three or four hours before you’ve completed.

The graphics, which at first glance struck me as a 7 year olds crayon created world come to life are quite good when you really look at them. The world is consistently made and shines on the PSP. The music is of course a major portion of the game and does it justice. Some of the voice acting in the cut scenes is a bit off, with a syllable or two being cut off at the ends of sentences.

PaRappa for the PSP has some additional content over the original game in the form of downloadable remixes. Frankly, the remixes aren’t all that hot and can’t touch the original soundtrack. It also boasts an ad-hoc WiFi mode in which you can ‘compete’ with up to three other people. Competing in this sense is simply seeing who can get the highest score. The downloads and WiFi modes seem like more of an afterthought for this game, rather than features that would really increase playability. This is true also of a third new feature, the ability to share this game as a demo version with other PSP players.
This title dropped at $29.99, which seems a bit much for a game port where the new additions are more like afterthoughts. While I’d recommend it to anyone interested in recapturing the magic of the original title or if they’ve never experienced it, playing it on the PSP, you may want to either rent it or wait until the price drops a bit before running out to grab it.

The Good

Just plain fun to play.
Great soundtrack.
Simple game play
Enjoyable for the whole family

The Bad

Playtime is too short.
Extra content isn’t all that great.
Price point is too high.

ArsGeek’s score: 6.5 out of 10

Gameplay: 7
Experience (sound/graphics): 8
Replayability: 5
Fun factor/Price: 6

Technorati Tags: video game, review, arsgeek, parappa, rap, psp, ten years gone, wifi, gotta believe

What is it? S:ILM is a single player, real time dungeon exploration simulator. Er… you go into the dungeons and kill lots and lots of bad guys to get good stuff. It’s a classic hack and slash (and nothing wrong with that) for folks looking to get a little ‘me’ time with your self created hero.

Here’s a bunch of screenshots for you. If you like the demo, you can pre-order the game now for $24.95 rather than paying full retail of $29.95 when the game is released.

Today, Arsgeek.com begins the first (of hopefully many!) game reviews. We choose games based on both our interests, and what we expect our readership to be interested in. Let us know if you find this review helpful, not helpful, or if there are other products out there you’d like us to review!

We’ll begin with Combat Mission:Shock Force (CMSF) – a game that simulates a near-future conflict between the United Stated and Syria. The game revolves around the Striker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), which is backed up by heavy infantry and armor assets. In CMSF, after years of state-sponsored terrorism the United States, with the mandate of the UN, invades Syria with the intention of cutting the country in half to prevent movement of the Syrian army. This will enable the UN forces to take control of the country.

Battlefront.com has a history of putting out good-to-great computer wargames, starting with Combat Mission:Beyond Overlord, to Combat Mission:Barbarossa to Berlin and Combat:Mission Afrika Corps. All of these games focus on World War II, and were generally received by the war gaming crowd very enthusiastically. I’ve owned and played all three – while CMBO had some teething problems, the series is very solid, and remains on my hard drive today, for the occasional game.

Thus, it was with great anticipation that I installed CMSF and activated it using the eLicense key provided, which was a very easy process. I immediately fired the game up, and started a quick battle scenario, just to take a look at the graphics, get a feel for the controls, and a quick first impression.

First impressions were favorable – the graphics are good – specifically the vehicles are very well done, the personnel are good looking, the building are average, but the terrain is slightly sub-par. There appears to be no terrain shading, so it is tough to get a ‘lay of the land’ without going to the lowest camera setting, and flying around, looking for the dips and rises to hide your assets behind. But there is something special in seeing a Javelin anti-tank missile fly downrange, or the tracers streak across the screen, or tanks fire a main gun round. The game is definitely good looking, with great atmosphere – a large step up from the earlier CM games. However, I had some serious performance issues – trees flickering in and out, and very poor FPS. Perusing the forums, I found out that I had to install a patch for Windows XP – something to do with dual core systems and power management (Microsoft KB896256 for those interested). Once the patch was installed, the game ran much better. Interesting to note that none of my other games I play and have installed required that patch.

If you are used to the controls from the previous 3 CM products, you are in for a shock. The keymapping leaves something to be desired – Battlefront went with a strange keyboard layout (several different tabs, accessed by the T and Y keys, and then a 9-block of keys for the commands). But they offer no in-game method to remap the keys to something more palatable. If you want to remap keys, you have to find the .txt file on your hard drive, and remap them there. There is also no right-click available to issue orders, as in the past games of the series. Previously, you could right-click on a unit, and a menu would pop up, and you could issue orders from there. Now you are forced to hunt with the mouse, or use a fairly complex set of keystrokes to get the same results.

Perhaps the biggest change to this CM product is the introduction of Real-Time mode. Traditionally, the CM games were played in what is known as WEGO mode. You have unlimited time to issue orders to your units, and when done, the action resumes for a minute, while the units perform the orders you gave them and you watch the action play out. WEGO still exists in CMSF, but it is obvious that Real-Time is the way Battlefront would prefer you to play the game. For an example, planning an ambush is next to impossible in WEGO. You have to get your troops to where you want them, then issue a ‘Hide’ order. You can chain the ‘hide’ order on the end of the movement command, but you have to plan the movement, then select the last waypoint, then select hide. However, even if you set a ‘cover arc’, your troops will not engage until you manually unhide them. Unfortunately, you can’t time this perfectly in WEGO mode, as the enemy might be beyond your ambush zone by the time you get to issue orders again. In previous CM iterations, you could place an ambush marker, and your troops would unhide and ambush the target at the appropriate time. In Real-Time mode, you can manually unhide your troops at the appropriate time. Unless of course, you had multiple ambushes going on, or if your focus was elsewhere on the battlefield.

Another large change is to the way Quick Battles are presented and run. You no longer have a point system to purchase your units with – you simply specify map size, and unit composition (Heavy Infantry, Armored, etc.), and the game chooses a ‘balanced’ force for you to fight with. One of my favorite aspects of the previous games was choosing the specific force that I wanted to utilize – now I am forced to use what the game wants me to. The second big change is to the map system – random maps are completely gone. You can only use pre-made maps, with pre-made AI paths built into them. Combine these two, and the replay value of Quick Battles is close to nil. Once you have played a map once or twice, you know the lay of the land, you know the way the AI is going to attack or defend. Quick Battles now only use the AI programmed by the scenario author/map creator – so if you have a poor map creator, the AI is really going to stink up the joint. This is the case with several of the Quick Battle maps that shipped with CMSF – the AI was given poor instructions, and either does not move on the attack, or moves so slowly that the mission basically ends before you even see the enemy. On the forums, the creators of those maps are giving instructions on how to fix them (by using the scenario editor), but this should have been fixed for the release of the game, and not left up to the gamer to fix manually. Quick Battles are my preferred way to play the CM series, and with their limited replay value now, I’m not sure how long this game will remain installed on my hard drive.

I started the Quick Battle that I had chosen which sets my platoon of M1A1 tanks near a bridge to defend the crossing. Immediately upon starting, my tanks start taking incoming fire from 400m away – apparently the AI setup zone overlooks my setup zone. A short sharp battle ensues, with one M1A1 dead, and many Syrian infantry lying on the ground. I call in mortar fire, and set the fire mission up. The fire mission menu system is pretty well done – you click on the mortars, then click on the type of target you want – point, area or linear. Then you click on the map where you want the fire, choose how many guns are to fire, the intensity and duration of the fire mission, and finally confirm. It is actually easier than it sounds, and works well. I then changed my mind, and canceled the fire mission. Clicking on the mortars again, to setup a new fire mission, and CRASH.

“Combat Mission Shock Force has generated errors, and will close”. My first (of many, many) ‘Crashes to Desktop’.

I fired up CMSF again, and this time chose to do the training campaign. Flying through the first two missions (one was a movement to contact tutorial, one was a firing range for heavy weapons), I moved onto the third mission in the tutorial campaign, fire support training. Click load, and CRASH.

“Combat Mission Shock Force has generated errors, and will close”.

*Sigh*. Not a good start. I reloaded CMSF, and decided to try another quick battle. I found that choosing the ‘Hills’ map will always bump you back to the main CMSF screen – apparently they forgot to include this map, or it is corrupted, and you can’t play on that map. Starting to get frustrated, I decided to load up the main campaign, and give it a whirl.

The first mission of the campaign was actually a lot of fun – you have to assault through a berm and attack a Syrian barracks, destroying at least 75% of the enemy forces. I thoroughly enjoyed this mission, and played it through to the end (a US Total Victory, if you must know). The second mission completely kicked my butt – and part of the problem is the fairly poor AI path finding in CMSF. Without giving spoilers away about the mission – I brought a platoon of Strykers full of infantry behind a large three story house. There was an entrance on the back of the house, and I instructed my infantry to dismount, and assault the house. Well, that was a big mistake – all three infantry squads completely ignored the door that I dropped them off in front of, instead choosing to circle around the front of the house to enter that way. Problem was, there were tons of enemy combatants in front of the house, and all three of my squads got slaughtered. In reading the forums at Battlefront.com, this (and other poor AI issues) is a common problem. I also had issues with vehicles crashing into each other, circling the long way round to get somewhere, or one vehicle just choosing to stop in the middle of a breach in the wall, causing the other three Strykers to attempt to circle 2Km around town to get to my ordered destination rather than waiting for the vehicle to clear the breach. Which it did ten seconds later. By then, it was too late – the three other Strykers were well on their way to the other side of town by the time the turn ended and I could issue revised orders. The AI is also fairly poor at protecting itself. Several times, I had Strykers hit by RPGs that didn’t kill the Stryker. Rather than returning fire or popping smoke and moving, they just sat there for the full 60 second turn doing nothing. Almost every time this ended up with a dead Stryker as the RPG team could pummel the Stryker until it was destroyed.

Im really getting the strong feeling that Real-Time is now the preferred method of play – in Real-Time, I could micromanage the Strykers reactions by pausing the game, ordering it to pop smoke, and reverse. However, I can’t stand Real-Time as I feel there is too much micro-management involved, and not nearly as much time watching the action. I much preferred the WEGO of the earlier CM games, to CMSF’s half-baked WEGO.

All in all this game has potential, and may live up to that potential after some serious patching. I did have some good fun when the game didn’t crash, and I didn’t need to use the broken or missing features. But in the state the game is in right now as released, it is almost unplayable. Between the multitude of CTD’s (one leaving me unable to continue with the campaign), the AI pathing issues, missing features (no smoke rounds for artillery, ‘adjusting fire’ for artillery missions doesn’t work), missing maps, the Quick Battle losing almost all of its replay value, and the near demise of the WEGO system (due to poor command ability), I can’t recommend this game. Almost every time I fire up the game to play some, I end up closing it down in frustration. In addition, there appears to be significant problems with the multiplayer aspect of CMSF – specifically there is no WEGO whatsoever for TCP/IP play, and PBEM (Play By EMail) files are too large for most mail systems to handle. However, both those issues are outside the scope of this review (I don’t play multiplayer at all, hence did not reveiw that aspect).

Perhaps a patch or three will fix the game – I will definitely be keeping an eye on that, as I really want to like this game, but can’t in its current state. Should a patch be released that significantly adds features, or fixes the issues I have above, I’ll revisit the game for a ‘sudo-review’. I won’t officially change the score (I feel that games should be reviewed on their merits on release – many game companies nowadays feel the need to release buggy games, and patch later), but will update on the progress of the game.

Score: 1.5/5

The Good:
Graphics
Sounds
Atmosphere and ‘feel’ of a combat situation

The Bad:
Very poor AI
Crashes
Missing features (smoke rounds, adjusting fire, etc)
WEGO is an afterthought at best
Clunky interface, with no mouseover tooltips.
Limited to no Quick Battle replayability, without relying on the community for quality maps