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So many games, so little time...
Vorlons in my Head
The Vorlons told me to.
in Zocalo v2.0
Well it seems all the developers have made up their mind and release just about all the games I've been waiting for one after the other. Quake 4, FEAR, and now I find out Call of Duty 2 is out already? WTF, I need to stay better informed.
Anyway, I've already finished Quake 4. The game was really long so I guess you kind of get your moneys worth. The atmosphere felt an awfull lot like Doom. Probably has a lot to due with them using very similar textures and all and the same level design style. The sky backgound images used were absolutely awfull though. They were very low resolution and looked EXACTLY like a screenshot directly out of a Space Quest 4 loading screen if anybody remembers that.
The game itself was pretty good overall. I like that it's finally the first Quake where you're not the one guy fighting off all the bad guys. You're now one soldier in what is supposed to be a full scale invasion so you get to work with other NPC's throughout the game. I like how the technicians go updating your weapons throughout the game and there are medics. The shotgun unfortunately which has alway been one of the classic favorite weapons is all but useless here. It does little damage and is so slow to reload until the cliploading mod towards the end its all but useless. They also got the flashlight effect just right. Apparently its fashionable now to make games with flashlights. Its a nice round beam with good lighting range mounted under the machine gun and pistol. Can't use flash light with any other weapons. The basic machine gun is quite effective throughout the whole game which is refreshing because its getting tiring to start with the crappy weapons always and work your way up. Like every other FPS game now they also have vehicle combat. Unfortunately this is the worst part. It feels as if it was just shoved in there for the sake of having vehicle combat. It should have been left out. It was just weak. Technically the game ran flawlessly. Its good to play games that just run perfect out of the box.
Now onto F.E.A.R. This game is a ton of fun. I'm well into it but haven't finished. This is some of the best FPS combat there is. Firefights make a HUGE mess and the AI is downright awesome. Smoke everywhere, glass blowing all over the place, chunks blown off walls and blood and limbs everywhere. The weapons are very Far Cry style. You can only carry 3 at a time and they have recoil and aiming mode exactly like Far Cry. Enemies react to were you shoot them. Shoot them on a limb and they back off to recover. Shoot them on the head and they go down easy. Shoot them in the armor and they get can get the wind knocked out of them or fall down briefly before they recover. Not the classic health based system were they just keep taking hits until they run out and die. Unlike other FPS games there isn't a handfull of bad guys around every corner. They go after you in places were they can ambush or sorround you and ALWAYS work in groups. They use cover effectively and they even shoot around corners with their guns and knock down or move around furniture to take cover when you push them into a tight spot.
Its a spooky game. They went for that psycological fear style were the game creeps you out at points. It reminds me a bit of System Shock 2. Unfortunately they rely too much on these ghost like apparitions and flashes which get to be a bit annoying after a while. Its really just there to scare and really does not hurt you. I have the DVD version which has interviews with the developers and they take a few obvious stabs at Doom 3 in that it relies more on shock value of something jumping out as you from the dark to scare you. I still think Doom 3 did a much better job of being a creepy game than FEAR. Something about hiddeous abominations jumping out of the dark and slashing you dead on the spot that gets the job done much better than an apparition of a creepy little girl every now and then. Technically the game runs pretty good except for some rather annoying hitching as if the game was caching every now and then which everybody is complaining about. Its similar to the half Life 2 hitching problems when it was released. Oh, and of course, it also has a flashlight which is more of a nightlight. Its the stupidest thing. The batteries run out in like 10 seconds and it doesn't focuse more then like 5 feet away. What kind of a crappy flashlight is that for a special forces guy.
As soon as I finish FEAR I'm heading straight to pick Call of Duty 2. Gotta leave the best for last :D Oh and its now official Splinter Cell 4 comes out next year. Sweeeeeeeeet :D
Anyway, I've already finished Quake 4. The game was really long so I guess you kind of get your moneys worth. The atmosphere felt an awfull lot like Doom. Probably has a lot to due with them using very similar textures and all and the same level design style. The sky backgound images used were absolutely awfull though. They were very low resolution and looked EXACTLY like a screenshot directly out of a Space Quest 4 loading screen if anybody remembers that.
The game itself was pretty good overall. I like that it's finally the first Quake where you're not the one guy fighting off all the bad guys. You're now one soldier in what is supposed to be a full scale invasion so you get to work with other NPC's throughout the game. I like how the technicians go updating your weapons throughout the game and there are medics. The shotgun unfortunately which has alway been one of the classic favorite weapons is all but useless here. It does little damage and is so slow to reload until the cliploading mod towards the end its all but useless. They also got the flashlight effect just right. Apparently its fashionable now to make games with flashlights. Its a nice round beam with good lighting range mounted under the machine gun and pistol. Can't use flash light with any other weapons. The basic machine gun is quite effective throughout the whole game which is refreshing because its getting tiring to start with the crappy weapons always and work your way up. Like every other FPS game now they also have vehicle combat. Unfortunately this is the worst part. It feels as if it was just shoved in there for the sake of having vehicle combat. It should have been left out. It was just weak. Technically the game ran flawlessly. Its good to play games that just run perfect out of the box.
Now onto F.E.A.R. This game is a ton of fun. I'm well into it but haven't finished. This is some of the best FPS combat there is. Firefights make a HUGE mess and the AI is downright awesome. Smoke everywhere, glass blowing all over the place, chunks blown off walls and blood and limbs everywhere. The weapons are very Far Cry style. You can only carry 3 at a time and they have recoil and aiming mode exactly like Far Cry. Enemies react to were you shoot them. Shoot them on a limb and they back off to recover. Shoot them on the head and they go down easy. Shoot them in the armor and they get can get the wind knocked out of them or fall down briefly before they recover. Not the classic health based system were they just keep taking hits until they run out and die. Unlike other FPS games there isn't a handfull of bad guys around every corner. They go after you in places were they can ambush or sorround you and ALWAYS work in groups. They use cover effectively and they even shoot around corners with their guns and knock down or move around furniture to take cover when you push them into a tight spot.
Its a spooky game. They went for that psycological fear style were the game creeps you out at points. It reminds me a bit of System Shock 2. Unfortunately they rely too much on these ghost like apparitions and flashes which get to be a bit annoying after a while. Its really just there to scare and really does not hurt you. I have the DVD version which has interviews with the developers and they take a few obvious stabs at Doom 3 in that it relies more on shock value of something jumping out as you from the dark to scare you. I still think Doom 3 did a much better job of being a creepy game than FEAR. Something about hiddeous abominations jumping out of the dark and slashing you dead on the spot that gets the job done much better than an apparition of a creepy little girl every now and then. Technically the game runs pretty good except for some rather annoying hitching as if the game was caching every now and then which everybody is complaining about. Its similar to the half Life 2 hitching problems when it was released. Oh, and of course, it also has a flashlight which is more of a nightlight. Its the stupidest thing. The batteries run out in like 10 seconds and it doesn't focuse more then like 5 feet away. What kind of a crappy flashlight is that for a special forces guy.
As soon as I finish FEAR I'm heading straight to pick Call of Duty 2. Gotta leave the best for last :D Oh and its now official Splinter Cell 4 comes out next year. Sweeeeeeeeet :D
Comments
"Objective: elevator right under your nose, but you have to go to all four corners of a huge map through 500 miles of corridors to turn on the power for the elevator."
I finished FEAR last night. I'm not impressed how it ended. Its one of those endings where you are expecting another level and then its like WTF, its over? The gameplay was awesome but the story and the way it unfolds is just hard to follow and doesn't come together very well. You can tell they tried to make a strong storyline driven game like Half-Life but IMO it dodn't work out at all. I was honestly expecting a very solid game all throughout but it never materialized.
Or Civilization!
or Sim City 4! Which is old, but still great! ;)