New Game Releases - Finally

I thought last year was a slow year for gaming, but this year hasn't been much better. There have been just a handful of mainstream major releases. The biggest being Oblivion (others include: Just Cause, GTR2, Battlefield (yet another one) and a couple of others). However, the next week or so seems to be the best time of the year for new game releases. Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Neverwinter Nights 2, Gothic 3, Warhammer Dawn of War Dark Crusade, Flight Simulator X, Star Wars Empire at War Forces of Corruption, and the Expansion for FEAR (Extraction Point) are all due to hit the shelves this week. Going from a drought to a flood of releases in the space of just seven days. Rather than have very little choice, gamers are going to, finally, have too much choice. Suddenly the question becomes what should I spend my money on and which game release should I devote my time to? While I can't answer these questions for you I do understand the frustration of waiting for a game release (sometimes for years) only to be disappointed when it is released.

I certainly won't be buying everyone of those titles. In fact, I only plan on picking up two (maybe 3) of them (Gothic 3 and FEAR Extration Point are the two I will definitely get, Dark Messiah is still a maybe). I enjoyed the Dark Messiah demo, however, I am not a fan of its level based structure and this is the reason why I will be picking up Gothic 3 over Dark Messiah. Gothic 3 offers an environment more like Oblivion. A large open world with the possibility of multiple endings and various ways of playing the game. Dark Messiah is more a lead-you-by-the-nose type of game. As far as I am concerned level based game play will one day be the platform games of the past. A quaint relic of limited hardware requirements of systems which demanded level based play. The sooner it is a part of gaming heritage and not the gaming future the better.

The release schedules of games are definitely not structured to suit the southern hemisphere. The major game releases are generally pushed to the end of the year (Xmas) so that they can capitalise on Xmas present buying. This also falls in line with the winter of the Northern hemisphere, however, this falls in to our summer. Summer is the time when you want to be outside doing stuff rather than inside playing games.

Finally gamers will be able to go to their local gaming shop (and I know you all support the independants and not the major franchises. Not) and be able to stand in front of the new release shelf and be struck with the amount of choice you finally have. It won't last long because in a month or two all of those games will be old hat and you will be waiting for some new games to be released.

Australia a Muslim Country?

I am going to deviate from gaming for the first time. I read this article in the Herald Sun this morning and was quite disgusted by it. So, I am going to reprint the article word for word. The article didn't have a bi-line but appeared on P.2 of the Herald Sun today. I hope that this will generate some comment from some of my readers. The article was titled, "Ozlam nation".

"Australia is a Muslim nation, the head of Prime Minister John Howard's Muslim advisory board says.
Dr Ameer Ali claims most Australians practice Muslim values, but the Muslim community is being alienated and disadvantaged by Islamophobia.
"We would like to remain in this country as citizens like everybody else, but with cultural individuality preserved," he said.
Before speaking at a conference on national identity yesterday, Dr Ali said there was no such thing as Australian values.
"When I go abroad, they ask me where do I come from? I say I come from a Muslim country," he said.
"Which country, they say. Australia.
"That's not a Muslim country. Yes, it's a Muslim country.
"So when I come back to Australia, I've been told to respect Australian values and now I am confused.
"Values are universal. Human values - there is no such thing as Australian values."

This was the article in its entirity and I have not added or changed anything in it. As far as I was concerned the inherent values in our legal system were based on Judao-Christian values. Two religions which have been around a lot longer than the Muslim religion. As for Australian values we have a very specific set of values which are unique to our culture. However, such statements will test the nature of our "fair go" attitude because their statements are obviously made with ignorance and an underlying agenda. No wonder there is growing Islamophobia when ignorant people like this make statements as they have which were published in the article. The problem is that political correctness has pushed us in to a position where we cannot call a spade a spade. We are stymied by this need to appease everyone (because that is what political correctness is, the use of language in a way that it does not and cannot offend). The other thing about this is that the Muslim Advisory board is meant to be made up of "moderate muslims". If this is the opinion of a "moderate muslim" what does this tell us about their way of thinking? and should these people be advising the PM?

Anyway, that's my five cents worth. Please discuss.

The Low Down on STALKER

I have been extremely critical of STALKER. Not for any personal satisfaction of not seeing a game finish its development, but because I have followed the development of the game for three years. STALKER was one of the games that I really wanted to play. I loved the original concept and I believed that it was a FPS idea which was outside of the square. Unfortunately, development of the game has not gone to plan. A lot of the original ideas from the game were dropped and the game has become nothing more than "another shooter". While there is still speculation as to whether the game will ever get released (and I am one of those who think that it won't) there are still people in the media who are willing to give STALKER a chance. If you would like some more information about the release of STALKER then ign.com have a short interview with the Executive Producer of the game. Check the link here.

Some of the elements which have been dropped from the game are eating and sleeping. Which is a shame. Another is the fact that another STALKER could have beaten you to the outcome of the game, therefore, meaning that you fail in the game's completion. This is another thing which I am disappointed has gone. What other game would be in the market which would be like this? Generally, let's face it, First Person Shooters are easy. Anyone who has a save/load button can complete the game. You are guaranteed that the ending will be the same scripted ending every time. How would it be if an NPC in the game could beat you to the task at hand? Wouldn't that create a sense of urgancy throughout the game?

Rather than move to make the game a relatively unique FPS experience they have conceded that they are too hard to implement and are making the game more main stream. There are many other rumours floating around about STALKER, however, time will tell with this shooter. I think, having seen the ingame footage from Crysis, that no amount of time will bring STALKER up to what expectation had meant the game to be.

I Want To Be A Pirate

This is a bold statement to make, but I have a suspician that everyone secretly wants to be a pirate. We are all just closet pirates waiting to break out. Fortunately, I missed "Talk like a Pirate Day" as this sounded like some sort of freaky celebration some Trekkie would get off on. Actually hanging up their Klingon costume and replacing it with a pirate suit, black powder pistol, plastic sword, and imitation parot. I always seem to get this "Ahhah Me Matey" urge when a new pirate type game comes out and I find myself secretly obsessing to buy it. This all started with the original Sid Meier's Pirates. A game which we first played on the Commodore 64 or the Amiga (I forget which one now). It was a game which we played to death and absolutely loved. Sid Meier's remake of the classic was excellent basically keeping the existing formula (the only problem with the game was the added dancing mini-game which was completely unnecessary and out of the pirate mold). This week I have found myself playing Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales.

While I haven't played the original Sea Dogs games I did play Pirates of the Caribbean by Bethesda. I enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean but found it was somewhat lacking in the longevity department. The game engine was excellent and, fortunately, Age of Pirates uses the same engine, in fact, it appears to use the same graphics. If you were a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean then you should definitely pick up Age of Pirates. You will find that they have expanded the RPG and trading options a great deal and the game is relatively open ended with a small sandbox world in which you can pursue your pirate fantasies.

I have to admit that the game is buggy. You will find that you experience a number of CTDs at the most inopportune times. However, I still find myself rebooting the game and continuing the play. The ingame swordplay is relatively simple and could have been improved upon greatly, but the sea battles are excellent. The ocean is rendered extremely well. One of the things that I love to do is to sail in to a storm and place the third person camera at sea level so that it rolls with the large waves and then watch my ship bob in and out of the picture.

Age of Pirates is a game that could have done with a lot of work. However, it is still a good game to play. Whether you just want to be involved in trading or varies types of missions you will get many hours of gameplay from this title.

Unfortunately, I the game doesn't quite live up to the standard of Sid Meier's Pirates. I do find myself playing the game and thinking they could have done a whole lot more with it. Firstly they could have made the world map a whole lot larger. It only covers the islands of the Caribbean, whereas, Sid Meier's Pirates covers Florida and the northern part of South America as well. There could have been a greater diversity in the missions as well. The sword based combat could have been given a good overhaul and made more interesting.

Anyway, if you are hanging out for a pirate game then check out Age of Pirates. If you find that no pirate game lives up to Sid Meier's Pirates then I would give this one a miss as you will probably be disappointed.

Push The Red Button NOW

Ever wondered what would happen if you pushed that shiny red button? You can see it sitting on the desk behind a little plastic shield and you've been wondering exactly what it did. Well, Defcon, will let you push that shiny red button and see some of the consequences. Defcon is a new game by Introversion Software and the demo is available for you to play. You can download the demo from here. Introversion software would have to be one of my favourite Indie developers having been responsible for the excellent titles Uplink and Darwinia.

The game Defcon is based on the movie War Games with Matthew Broderick and even uses the catchphrase "Do you want to play some chess" from the movie. Defcon is a unique little strategy game of Thermonuclear War which pits superpower against superpower in an all out nuclear attack. The sole object of the game is to create as many civilian casualties as possible with your nuclear strikes while reducing your own casualties. The concept is extremely simple and addictive. The game can be played with up to six players. Players can enter into alliances with each other and then betray their alliance as they try to win the game. Defcon can be played and finished in as quickly as ten minutes and is an excellent time filler.

The concept and interface are extremely simple and is something which Introversion specializes in. They make games which are addictive and well polished. Their games also are extremely cheap to buy and are well worth the money as you will get hours of enjoyment from them.

I don't know how well their tongue in cheek catchphrase for the game will go, which is, "The World's First Genocide 'em up" as I am sure it will offend someone due to its completely unpolitical correctedness. So, let the complaints roll in for their catchphrase as we see those people who don't have any sense of humour complain about something which really is not meant to be offensive.

If you are after a strategy game with a difference or just want to push that shiny red button then download the demo and give Defcon a try. Also, support the small independant software developers. Introversion Software are there to keep the bastards honest.