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So how do you go about writing a review on a game that has received so much commercial success and community attention without repeating what everyone else has already said? It’s tricky, but there are still people out there looking for a slightly alternative view on things…..and so that’s what I’ll try to bring in this review.
I think the main concern of gamers is that Starcraft II would simply recycle what the developers previously made over a decade ago, all be it with a few new shaders, models and shiny bits here and there. Let me make it very clear from the start; it’s not.
What sets this game apart from the swathe of other releases in this genre is undoubtedly the campaigns ability to not only immerse you in the story- but to really give you a connection between the dialogue and the gameplay. Ok, so you can argue that the story of our centrepiece Jim Raynor is 100%, certifiably cliché. And it is, but then Starcraft II has never been so much about “Jimmy’s love story” and more about the entire universe, you know, the vibrance of the other characters and everything, which really shine through. Of course, Starcraft has also been about South Korean gamers being wildly overpaid to play the game for as inhumanly long as possible in any one sitting.

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CAMPAIGN

Although an RTS at its core, Starcraft II manages to incorporate a massive variety of mini game-eqse elements in its missions. No two levels are quite the same and most missions have a totally unique mechanic associated with it. There are so many examples to chose from, some are perhaps non-controllable and more subtle elements…like the appearance of a space colony or dig site that was modelled specifically for that mission alone. You won’t ever see it again, but for that one mission Blizzard have made everything feel so completely unique. They’ve certainly dedicated a ridiculous amount of time in to making this feel very obvious. Some elements (and without spoiling too much), are the entire focus of the mission, like the Drakken sun-powered-protoss-melting laser drill. Not to mention the awesomely fun Odin war machine……

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You could definitely argue that the mini game feel was perhaps lifted somewhat from Blizzard’s other releases. Does the phrase “dodge the goddamn fire wall” ring any bells? There are certainly heavy WoW elements within Starcraft II itself, and why not? The stylistic approach to the artwork, the designs and aims of the mini games are definitely not new inside of Blizzard. It boils down to the same adage that Blizzard has been putting across from the start on this project….if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Of course all the extra stuff Blizzard has been working in World of Warcraft definitely doesn’t hurt- the introduction of achievements certainly game me a lot of drive to repeat missions before moving on. Luckily, it doesn’t quite feel like a system that rewards you for even the most ridiculously mundane of tasks…there were still some tough achievements that took me a fair few stabs to get right.

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I was definitely impressed by the variety of extra options that had a direct impact in-game as well. There’s a fully customizable armoury you can use to upgrade your units. There’s a research lab that allows you to collect points to gain new units and dramatically change up the way you can approach a situation in game. You can purchase mercenary teams which you can deploy in the field…super powerful versions of your own units that can turn around a difficult spot very quickly. Not only that, but it’s the smaller things that really make these features stand out. It’s not a case of mercenary units getting a different lick of paint on their unit model, for example. They’re completely new, highly augmented and fortified models of your own units on the field. Even minor upgrades, such as increasing the collection rate of your gatherer units changes the way their tools look next time you dive in to a mission.

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For those lucky enough to play the multiplayer beta most would probably agree that the game felt highly polished even at the testing stage. Blizzard’s notorious reputation for taking their time with a release is certainly justified in Starcraft II. You just don’t see any of those “little bugs” that most developers end up trying to patch out within days of the game’s release. As of yet the only significant patches have tweaked some balances in the multiplayer side of the game….which brings me nicely on to my next area.

MULTIPLAYER

What is arguably a stripped down version of the single player campaign, the multiplayer side of Starcraft II was definitely built with a single focus in mind; it’s tightly tuned and extremely well balanced to cater for the elite gaming market that most of us already know about in the RTS genre. Starcraft I was certainly the forefather of professional gaming and Blizzard have certainly made sure that its predecessor follows suit. South Koreans will rejoice at the new combinations of units and the update to their decade long national sport…with online matches bringing an unprecedented level of elite (and elitist) players from around the globe. The revamped battle.net network certainly brings a fresh ui and some good social networking features to the whole thing…although have a link to post a notification on facebook for every time I get absolutely battered by another player is really not my cup of tea. Overall you couldn’t ask much more of the online experience; however the removal of LAN functionality to encourage players to purchase their own individual licenses is definitely a bitter subject for many people.

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FINALLY

It’s a Blizzard product- and because of that you expect a certain standard in every aspect of the game. I think it’s fair to say that they’ve once again delivered on that expectation. Is the Starcraft franchise strong enough to justify the company making 3 separate, full price retail games? (For those who don’t know, Wing of Liberty is only the first of three planned instalments of Starcraft II) The answer is probably yes. Is the lack of a LAN function enough to discourage players from buying the game? Not really. At the end of the day, regardless of some of the more unpleasant strategies Blizzard have decided to enforce…you’d be very very wrong not buy this game. In fact, if you’ve not already bought it I’d empty the piggybank right now and grab yourself a copy.

9 out of 10

I was debating with fellow Sudogamer writer SDG_LM about Minecraft.  He downloaded it, and loved it.   I downloaded it (during the free weekend), and well. . didn’t.  Not yet, at least.

Here’s how it went:

- – - – -

SDG_CMC:

Subject: Minecraft 1 hour in.

SDG_LM, I gave it a go, and was not impressed. Here’s some bullet points I made.

- No instructions, anywhere. Not on the website, or in the game menu.

- No introduction, nothing sets the scene or the tone or anything.   If it’s purely ‘open’ and ‘sandbox’ at least just say it is.

- No crafting table ‘recipe’ in the wiki. had to Google one.  No clues in the game menus that one even has to or should even ‘craft’.

- Night-time – WTf? What time?  Some kind of on-screen prompt, surely?

- So, I made a pick-axe, and I’ve collected loads of square blocks which represent materials. .  now what am I supposed to do?  And what’s my motivation for doing it. . ?

- – - – -

SDG_LM:

Re: Subject: Minecraft 1 hour in.

A – the website is pretty much down at the moment hence you getting to play the game for free. Secondly the game is in Alpha, it’s not even a beta yet! They are going to introduce a tutorial as can now be seen in the main menu.

B – Have you been stuck on a desert island for the last couple of weeks? Have you just arrived back after been rescued and been plonked in front of a computer with a game you have never heard of and just left to figure it out? No? You know what the game is.

3 – What? It’s in the name of the game. Could it be any simpler…Minecraft – both mining and crafting covered. The crafting of the table is in the wiki, it’s called a work bench.

D – As in life, look to the sun – it rises and sets in the same way that our own sun does.

E -  Build/Craft/Mine

You appear to be approaching this in a very obtuse manner. For years now I have heard you complain about the dumbing down of games on the PC because of consoles but now it seems that the dumbing down hasn’t been caused by consoles but just gamers have got dumber e.g. you. Games used to come with manuals thicker than the average xbox owner but now it’s all built in in tutorials and the scene is set not by a bit of text written by the most creative programmer but by cut scenes render in gorgeous Technicolor that cost more to make than the games themselves. What happened to the gamer who would throw the manual to one side and crack straight into the game to learn as he/she went along. What happened to the gamer who played point and click adventures and would link rubber chickens to pulleys? Where are you now? Complaining that the game doesn’t set the scene for you, that there are no instructions, demanding to know how the day and night cycle is represented!!!! What you need is achievements, hand holding tutorials and a win button.

We could ask that in the beta they add an elf to guide you round the world explaining crafting and that the sun rises in the east, he could have a funny accent and trip on the scenery. They can put a countdown clock in the corner and rather than having a random world have it set and provide a map. You can give you objectives and you slowly build up your skills as not to overwhelm you with too much information at once…or…we could treat you like and adult, a pc gamer, present you with the world and say have at it. Unfortunately you’ve turned around and said ‘Have at what?’, ‘tell me what to do?’ and ‘What is that blazing ball of gas in the sky?…..’

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SDG_CMC:

Re:Re: Subject: Minecraft 1 hour in.

I wouldn’t say obtuse is the correct word.
‘Cynical’ or ‘shallow’ would be more fitting

I think you’ve bought the hype, hook line and sinker.  I can’t believe all I’m reading about this game (not just from you) it seems that people have ‘fallen for’ Minecraft, declaring it an ‘important’ game.  It looks like a level one might find in a half-arsed HL1 mod. To be downloaded and cast aside like that one with the ridiculous fishing game.

I reckon had you stumbled on this game yourself, with no prior reading you’d probably have sent me a screenshot, laughed, and deleted it.

“Gamers have got dumber e.g. you” – not so.
Good games don’t need a manual.  I don’t need a manual to start playing an RTS (starcraft), an FPS, or a point and click.  There’s got to be a ‘point’ to a game, though (if there’s no manual).  There’s got to be motivation, a cause and effect.  Some kind of reward?

What you’ve got here (with Minecraft) appears to be as much fun as ‘playing’ with MS Paint.

The rubber chicken / pulley example is poor, because a point n click is essentially a linear game, with a fixed start and fixed end point.  The fun (the point) of that is figuring out how to get from A – B.

“What you need is achievements” – I think we both know, that’s not true. (I should link to your Xbox live profile here, but I won’t. . )

“We could ask that in the beta they add an elf to guide you round the world explaining crafting and that the sun rises in the east, he could have a funny accent and trip on the scenery.” – This is good idea, you should suggest it to the developer Here’s his email address:  notch@mojang.com.

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SDG_LM:

Re:Re:Re: Subject: Minecraft 1 hour in.

Cynical or shallow – they both explain it and yet while you are admitting to them you still fail to overcome you’re personal issues. You say I’ve bought the hype yet you’ve personally avoided it, you’ve not read the articles, the only opinion you have of the game is your own but you’d already formed that before you even tried it. Buying the hype is one thing. Buying the game and then playing it a lot is entirely another. Fair enough if I had bought the game, played for a couple of hours and then raved about it for all to hear but I didn’t, I bought it and then it was the only thing I played all weekend. I’m certainly enjoying the hype as it’s good to play a game that everyone is discussing and most are enjoying. Your HL1 mod comparisons hold no grounds and shows how truly out of touch with what this game is, a HL1 mod would be a level, designed by a guy in his pants and played the same as everyone else plays it. Minecraft puts you in a world generated randomly, nothing is the same as every other persons game, there are no world maps, no go here to find the treasure. It gives you a freedom to do and build what you want.

When was the last time you played a game without any hype? And surely you have to admit that there must be a reason for all the hype. Is everyone wrong while you are right? Did you play a HL1 mod years ago that did all this, laugh and then delete it?

You don’t need a manual to start playing Minecraft. I never said you did. There is a point to Minecraft – survival. When night comes if you have not built a shelter then you may die. Then it’s all human instinct from there:

1^st Day: What do I do?

1^st Night: Argh, hide from the bad guys

2^nd Day: I’d best build a shelter to protect from the bad guys

2^nd night: Safe now, what now? I would like a nicer shelter.

3^rd Day: Build a bigger shelter, maybe with a wooden floor. Windows would be nice.

3^rd Night: That’s better, I can move around and see the enemies outside. A nicer view would be nice.

4^th Day: Explore my surroundings, check out that waterfall. I would like that outside my house.

4^th Night: I’m going to move house.

5^th Day: Start contruction of my new house, need materials. There is a cave over there, I wonder whats down it….

That’s why the game is so good. You do what you would do naturally if you were in such a situation and yet everything you do is your own. I’ve explored a myriad of caves beneath my home in Minecraft. I’ve built staircases into the depths and know the different nooks and crannies (despite the basic graphics) on sight alone. I’m the only one who has ever been down there and nobody has seen them before. I’ve built my own home above them, with a viewing deck and windows wrapping around giving me a view of the sea and the beacon I placed on the hill behind my house. This is a game but it’s also a world I have created, that I have put my personal stamp on and reflects my personality. The pool of lava on the beach near my house was placed their by me testing my first bucket. To the west there are islands a couple of days travel away with torches in caves where I ventured on my first attempt to travel round the world. I may never return to them but if I do there will be there, the evidence of my travels. What other game can do this? FPS – retreading the same level as everyone, GTA – Liberty City is a realised as any in game city but nothing you do matters or counts for anything, SC2 – the same storyline everyones sees, the same tactics that have been used before, nothing indiviual just familiar.

The link to MS paint is pretty good. If you found a painting you’d spent hours on when you were 15 or a website or a scrapbook – you would have fond memories of it and enjoy the creativity you had when you were younger whereas thoughts of doom or starcraft would make you smile you’d have nothing to show for them. I could not play minecraft for another 10 years but if in 10 years time I found my save game and loaded it up again – the joy of running around my house and my caves would beat playing MW2 or SC2 anyday.

- – - – -

SDG_CMC:

Re:Re:Re:Re: Subject: Minecraft 1 hour in.

You have a fairly romanticised view of this game, and in many ways I admire that.  Its almost a childlike naivity (in a good way) which I haven’t experienced in quite some time.  It’s when I first played Monkey island 1 in VGA 320×240, I remember thinking it was photorealistic.   This was because imagination and a sort of passion for the game was filling in the blanks.

Perhaps I’m lacking in this passion or imagination for Minecraft, but I’m at least closer to understanding what its about.  It sounds awfully like a tamagotchi of the mining/crafting world. . ?

By saying you bought the hype, I’m implying that the ‘hype’ coerced you into having these overwhelmingly positive feelings for the game, and having the ultimately rose-tinted views of the game.  Again, not a criticism.

Here’s another angle – If I’d read your description (below) of a game that had not come out yet, I’d think it was a cool idea. Genuinely.
I just think the execution is poor.   Imagine the same game but rendered through the (very good, even now) Unreal 3 engine (but keeping the simplistic ‘block’ design)?  I know you think I’m missing the point, but it would be more absorbing if it was fullscreen with proper light mapping, a nice sound track and good looking UI.

Similarly (you laugh), but a polished tutorial level would be a treat to get people ‘on-board’ with the idea.

Anyways, I think we can safely conclude (with the usual conclusion)  you’re right, I’m wrong.

- – - – -

SDG_LM:

Re:Re:Re:Re:Re: Subject: Minecraft 1 hour in.

Correct.

This is my crib:
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I share my thoughts having just spent an hour playing the new Pro Evolution demo on PC.

Having played the past few Fifas and Pro Evolutions, I’m afraid to say this doesn’t move the game on much from PES 2008.

Player movement

The player movement still feels very wooden and ‘staged’ in an ‘arcadey’ sort of way.  The player feel very ‘fixed’ in the directions you can move them, not the organic feel I’m used to, of Fifa 09-10.  Then there is still the usual quirk of players being ‘rooted’ to the spot for no reason when you make a long pass along the ground.  This demo of Pro Evolution 2010 also has some strange wooden ‘stuttery’ animations when going from a jog to a sprint, with the sprint animation not quite kicking-in when it should.

Graphics / Presentation

The graphics are not much (if any) of an improvement over the previous few versions of the game, on this PC demo of the game.  The settings (which can only be found by separately launching C:\Program Files (x86)\KONAMI\Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 DEMO\settings.exe only contact resolutions / aspect-ratio settings, and not the usually plethora of filtering / quality tweaks.

The menus are great, however, very quick and responsive compared to Fifa’s frustratingly slow system.

Download link:

http://dl.pes2011.konamionline.com/pes2011/package/PES2011_Demo.exe

(the Sudogamer Worms Reloaded Review)

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Since the dawn of computers (well … 1995) worms have been popping up on each and every platform known to mankind, locked in an endless war. However it’s been many years since they popped their squidgy but helmeted heads onto the PC and now, obviously under the advice of Sarah Palin, they’ve not retreated but reloaded set to wage their spineless battles again on the desktop computer.  The last Worms PC game was released in a pre-Steam world and the gaming scene has changed so much, so will they emerge victoriously? Read on to find out…

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We can all agree that the biggest threat to the PC Gaming platform is the rampant piracy that goes on and while there can be arguments that DRM is one big cause of this there can be little argument when a small developer who created a quirky game believe that only between 5 to 15% of players paid for their game. Machinarium was release for without DRM and even so up to 95% of the people who played the game may have pirated it. Pirates, hang your heads in shame.

But there is a chance of some redemption……

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Evil Pirate L33ch3r vs. Honest Gamer

Obviously not, it’s illegal, it’s immoral, and it’s not even difficult to do these days.  In fact that last point is precisely why a lot of people do it. If Evil Pirate L33ch0r can download a full game over his home broadband connection in less than an hour, have it installed and start playing way before his good friend Honest Gamer, something isn’t right.

In fact, he is way ahead of Honest Gamer.

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Evil Pirate L33ch3r  is enjoying his nice new download way before. . .

• Honest Gamers’ ‘Amazon / Shopto / Whoever’ order has arrived, the game will ‘leak’ online (presumably review copies falling into the wrong hands?).
• Honest Gamers waited for their antiquated DVD drive to spin into life and install  the one or more DVDs the game comes on.
• Honest Gamer mistyped their CD-key for the 2nd time, before activating the game online, authenticating whatever DRM it came bundled with.

DRM & Install issues. Steam doesn’t always work.  The pirate is still winning. .

We are assuming that all of the above goes swimmingly.  There have been instances where the honest gamer gets stung.

This can be in the form of overbearing DRM (which remember, isn’t that bad) or the download service becoming crippled and useless (Steam in mw2 release download fail?  Steam, killing floor free weekend? Steam, any big release or free weekend?)

Pirate L33ch0r is also free to play without having a constant internet connection and he can install as many times as he wants.

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Honest Gamer is getting annoyed now?

Meanwhile (probably just after Honest Gamer angrily spots a Youtube video of his newly purchased game “OMG DIS GAME RUNS SO 1337 ON MAH RIG, LOOK AT MAH SPECS!!”) Evil Pirate L33ch0r has just unzipped his 35 200mb .rar files, installed the game copying and pasting the CD-key from the lovingly crafted ‘scene’ .NFO file.

He then goes through the excruciatingly difficult task of copying the Game.exe from that cryptic looking ‘crack’ folder.  Then he’s in.  Damn, that’s quick and hassle-free.

If you think I’m pro-piracy / anti-DRM, I’m neither.  I understand the need for DRM / content control etc, and I’m principally against piracy.

Do it like Radiohead?

A few years ago Radiohead sold their album ‘In Rainbows’ on a pay-what-you-want’ basis.  Over a period of only 29 days 1.2 million fans flocked to their website to  buy the album paying an average of $6 each. $7.2 million in 29 days is very good.

Obviously, games and music are different. One could argue that only an established artist can ‘get away’ with these sorts of arrangements.  Both true, but I believe that a ‘good game’ would still do well if offered in this way.

What I would like to see to discourage the widespread easy pirating

• Demos for every single game.  Preferably a timed demo of the full game, not a random or unfinished level.  I want to know exactly what I might be buying and I want to try it out in full.

• An on-line element.  Doesn’t need to be a ‘bolted-on’ multiplayer, but some kind of online interaction with friend lifts a mediocre game to being a good one.  Co-op is great.

• Guaranteed speed / stability of download service.   Surely Steam have enough money to throw more bandwidth at their service?

• A better download client.  I’m probably in the minority, but I dislike the Steam client.  I went from not minding it, to (post big update) hating it.  It’s bloated and slow.  It will end up becoming the iTunes of the PC game distribution platforms.  (ie bloated and intrusive)

What do you think?

Let us know in the comments box below what you think about piracy.  Do you do it, and how do you feel about it?  If you don’t do it, why? If you do, also why?  Thanks for reading!

As cringe-worthy as terms such as ‘next-gen’ are, if it means the Fifa 2011 will use the same physics, animation and lighting engine as the console versions I’ll be happy. Here’s hoping we finally get The Arena during the loading screens too!

“The EA SPORTS FIFA franchise is committed to investing and innovating for PC and this is a watershed moment,” said Executive Producer Kaz Makita. “We are delivering to FIFA 11 PC the high quality gameplay, innovative game modes and stunning graphics that have made FIFA the highest rated sports game on the PlayStation3 and Xbox 360 and winner of over 50 sports game of the year awards.”

It Pays to have Game! – Richard Branson is joined by Rob Segal, Billy Levy and Zack Zeldin as they unveil Branson’s latest venture at the international E3 Expo: Virgin Gaming, an online site for console gamers to network and compete against other players from around the world for cash, points and prizes. Photo: Berliner Photography.

VirginGaming was launched a short while a go -

“Gamers want something new, something interactive and something fun. Virgin Gaming is just that – access to play the best games in super competitive tournaments with anyone in the world and win the biggest prizes and the most rewards,” said Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group, and gamer-in-training.  “Giving away over $1 million in cash and prizes this year is proof. We’ve had great success with Virgin Games and Virgin Interactive Entertainment and recognized the enormous potential of an online community of 40 million daily users.  I welcome gamers from novice to expert to join the online Virgin Gaming community.”

See more at their website:  http://virgingaming.com/

How hard is it to create your own Valve rumour?

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We’re dead-against people spreading rumours / creating fake images to spark false hope interest in possible future titles . .  we’ve had Episode 3?  Counter Strike 2?  Back To The Future 4: “McFly and Freeman take on Biff with a crowbar”? perhaps not. .

But how easy is it, to create your own little slice of Half Life conspiracy? Easy!

This took about 10 minutes to do, and doesn’t look that great, but with time I can see how easy it might be to create something more believable!

1. Extract half life font from Counter Strike folder:

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2. Look for appropriate artwork on Half Life 2 web site:

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3. Steal (copy) Valve / Steam logo’s from same site.

4. Fire up Photoshop.  Add Half Life logo.  Colour it Orange. Add large-spread drop-shadow, bevel.

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5. Add art work from above, drop opacity. Add logos.

Done.

Upload to teh Internets (steam forums?) and watch the conspiracy hand-grenade explode!

Side scrolling shooters are making a comeback. Last years Xbox Live Arcade darling Shadow Complex pulled the side scroller into the new generation with an unreal engine powered bang that proved that there was still a market for these games. Booster Trooper is DnS Developments effort to bring this genre into the online multiplayer market and from the first hours play has reasonable success and jetpacs.
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Following a pleasant reminder of what a great point & click Day Of The Tentacle is/was, I thought I’d look at the different options for up-scaling the Lucas Arts classic.   The filters available are:

I couldn’t actually figure out how to activate all them, by pressing ctrl-alt-(and then a number between 1-9) you can select a different filter while playing.

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After some real soul-searching, and deep contemplation – I decided that for me AdvMame 3x was the best filter as it would actually upscale to a higher resolution than the others (which tended to stay at 640×480), to 960×720.

However, taking a screenshot of the output is tough because I’m still running a desktop resolution of 1920×1080 so my monitor must be doing some upscaling on the 960×720 – so here’s a photographic comparison of both at 22″:

day of the tentacle native - no upscaling

day of the tentacle upscaled with advmame3x

There you have it, conclusive evidence you can bring Day Of The Tentacle into the new generation of high-def, next-gen, Web2.0 gamers with minimum effort.   And that people are willing to write blog entries about literally anything, if bored enough.

“boom, chik chik” “boom chik chik”

There are many reasons why ID Software’s Doom and Doom 2 were amazing back in their day.  The level design, graphics, playability and originality were all streets ahead of anything else around at the time.   The two main reasons I loved the game however were firstly – “book, chik chik”  - the shotgun.

I don’t think  a video game has ever perfected the sound and feel of the shotgun as well as ID Software did in the early nineties.  It was the one reason you’d always be envious of a mate who had a Soundblaster 16 and/or Adlib card (and enough ‘conventional memory’ whatever that was) to be playing it. Playing doom through your PC Speaker was just. . . terrible.

The second reason was this (skip to 2:08):

The music was class.

I was chatting with buddy of mine about Doom 2 and I claimed I used to be able to get through the game to quite a high level with being hit. I thought it might be fun to try again 10 years on.   I’m pretty sure when I was playing as a youth I used to save it all the time so as soon as I was hit I’d re-load a save and try again.  This time I thought I’d try and do each level in full without using a save game..  It ain’t as easy as I remember.

I’ll keep going as long as I can do before I have to concede to taking a bullet or two. Or a ball of fire. Or a heat-seeking flying skull thing. Or a bite from those angry pig men.

Anyways, here are levels 1 to 3 for now:

stealthy.

By using the latest in stealth techniques and some outdated technology we were able to get our hands on with the recently released Splinter Cell conviction demo. What follows is the mission debrief of our recent sneak-em-up playtime.

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After only a couple of hours with the game, and there’s a fair bit to mention.  Obviously this is from a purely technical standpoint, as it wouldn’ t be fair to comment on the game without playing through it in full.  The game oozes atmosphere from the off, with some of the best visuals I have seen on the PC.

awesome scenes

Metro 2033 – The Good

From the perfectly rendered lighting and shadows, and in particular it’s the attention to detail which is astounding.  Flickering light from a campfire cast subtle shadows from every conceivable angle of the environment, a gas lamp burns and a desk lamp are lit in the room you start off in. Its a joy to switch them on and off just to observe the changes in ambient light!

When you bring up your map / log book, it literally is a paper logbook (in your right hand) and you have a lighter in your left hand – and again it casts a really nice light across your book, and onto walls / people around you. The screenshots don’t do this justice. In fact, I’m pretty sure these are the best PC graphics for a cigerette lighter so far (so much so, here’s an animated gif of it. If you know of one better, i’m happy to be corrected on this )

omg! awesome lighter!

These visuals come at a price, however.

Metro 2033 – The slightly odd / irritating

On my test rig:

Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550  @ 2.83GHz
4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music

I had an odd experience with frame-rate.  4A Games did a strange thing, in that they don’t allow us to tweak the various typical graphics options in the way PC gamers tend to do.  You can choose between presets:

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With it set to Directx 10 and ‘Very High’, the game looks amazing but utterly unplayable.  Directx 9 ‘Very High’ wasn’t much better.  It was only playable on ‘normal’ but sadly it started to look a bit ‘flat’ after being spoilt by the initial top visuals.  I fired up FRAPS and produced this basic graph to illustrate the differences between the vague graphics settings:

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Metro 2033 – The rubbish

I’m sorry to report, the sound is rubbish on the PC version of Metro.  Obviously experiences vary between hardware combinations, configurations, operating systems, drivers and speaker hardware.  I am however using a reasonable quality sound card and speakers (a Logitech Z-5450 5.1 home theatre setup) and I usually play games pretty loud so I notice when things aren’t quite right, when they’re good and when they’re awful.

For some reason, during cut-scenes they decided to send the dialogue track to the LFE and front-left/right channels, and sounds as though it being spoken through sock (or something). Its rubbish.  Those audio channels are usually for environmental / ambient and directional effects. When he started speaking, I’m sure things started falling off my desk. .

Once the game starts, dialogue becomes positional (ie it is sent to the channel/speaker relative to the direction you are facing) which is fine.

All gun-fire comes through the centre channel, which just sounds plain odd after a while and lastly, no matter if you’re in a water logged pipe or out in the wide open – gun fire and voices all sound the same – like they’re standing in a vocal booth in a studio somewhere, they didn’t even put a lazy bit of reverb in there to attempt some kind of ‘authenticity’.

Metro 2033 – Conclusion

I will certainly play on as I’m a totally sucker for FPS’s regardless of their quality, and this one really is great looking (check out the screenshots at the bottom) and so far the gritty atmosphere has definitely got me interested.  If you read this and come up with a solution to my odd audio issues, drop me a message in comments box.
Danke.

Written by CMC_SDG

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See that internet there….it’s always on.

In case you have been living without an internet connection for the last month or so (in which case you won’t like this) Ubisoft have implemented a DRM system that requires a constant connection to the internet to validate your game at all times. If you lose your internet connection while in game then it is game over, albeit with a recent automatic save or checkpoint for you to return to when you get back online. This has had the PC gaming community up in arms and several boycotts and petitions organised which so far have been in vain.

Ubisoft’s newest games Silent Hunter 5 (SH5) and Assassins Creed 2 (AC2) have both released protected by Ubisoft’s DRM since which we have had claims and counter claims of the DRM being hacked and pirated versions of the games appearing online. So far, so very, very standard for a new PC release with the challenge of a new DRM protection however a new twist to the tale played out last weekend when there was a DoS attack on the Ubisoft servers that saw all or a percentage of people unable to play their games depending on who you believe. This is by far the most militant that sections of the gaming community have been in response to yet another perceived injustice that has been brought against the PC gamer and while there are several arguments that we should be angry and defend our rights as gamers there is the nagging question, what if Ubisoft are right? Read the rest of this entry »