by Matt | Feb 13, 2003 | Imported Entry
There’s a certain thing that happens when you want something really badly and then you finally get it. It’s called disappointment. Now, thankfully I’m less disappointed in Unreal 2 than I am SimCity 4 (see previous post) but I’m a little saddened regardless. This was supposed to be the “shooter among shooters” and it was little more than a tech-demo.
Before I start in with the bad, let’s talk about the good: Everything graphics related. Period. This is a beautiful game, almost more so then UT2k3. Everything looks great, from the air vents to the enemies to the shell casings fired from your sweet auto rifle. They should be given the award for game engine of the decade. I’m expecting great things from (and will probably be disappointed with) the Doom3 engine, but until next fall this baby reigns supreme. It will probably hold onto the title long after Doom 3 because of it’s playability and multiplayer friendliness. Anyway, just about anything you can think of to say about the technical aspects of this game will be positive. It’s very well put together.
Also, the weapons are balanced and have that perfect “umph” to them. As I was playing I wished I could use these weapons in UT2k3. Maybe someone will make a MOD and really make my day. The music is also well done and mercifully not annoying. Usually game soundtracks are either really bad techno or some awful techno/metal rock mix. This isn’t half bad.
Now, unfortunately, comes the bad news. It’s short, it’s dumb and it’s been done before. When I say short I mean in the -10 hour range. I finished it in two days of lite playing and most certainly could have done it in one if I had found the time. Also, the story is weak… almost Dumb and Dumber weak. You get sent off to find alien artifacts because… well… they might fall into the wrong hands… and that would be bad… we think. So you fly around the galaxy with your crew, a rowdy bunch of military dropouts with attitudes and an unintelligible alien, looking for pieces to whatever the hell it is you’re trying to find. Along the way you kill some stuff, save some marines (we like the marines this time around) and generally blow shit up. That leads us to the end… when, again, you blow some shit up. This is EVERY first-person shooter EVER. Not every game can be a Half-Life with it’s interesting AND worthwhile story line but it seems like they just aren’t trying anymore.
Also, the levels are either a linear as the presidents train of thought or as scatter-brained as, well… the presidents train of thought. While they could be praise for being “intuitive” I found myself not even second guessing where to go. There are no dead end, there are no misleading vents or tunnels. You go exactly where you’re supposed to, each and every time. I guess this could be good… but only if you get confused by big giant arrows that scream “this way moron!” A few, and only a few, of the levels deal with something new. These make use of a defensive strategy in which you must set up a perimeter and protect either yourself or your ship. Like I said, this only happens once or twice but its at least a break from “quick, kill the alien!”
I didn’t expect much in terms of a plot… and I got what I expected. I also thought the graphics were going to be fantastic… and I got what I expected. So, it’s a mixed bag in the end. If you have a few minutes to kill, give it a shot. If you’re looking for a worthwhile epic to play, go find a copy of Morrowind or NeverWinter Nights, heck, go find a bargain-bin copy of Half-Life. It’s not “bad” by any definition, it’s just what I expected: eye-candy. If you dislike eye-candy then you’re in for a disappointment. If not, have fun… for about 10 minutes.
Final Score – Well done but too short
by Matt | Feb 12, 2003 | Imported Entry
The first in my series of reviews today is the latest incarnation of SimCity from Maxis. SimCity 4, published by EA, tries to be everything the previous three are not: perfect. It unfortunately falls dreadfully short. The main downfall of SC4 is just simply bad programing. The game goes beyond merely buggy and enters a new realm of “craptastic.” The main complaint seems to be lag anytime a city exceeds a few thousand in population. This is obviously a bad thing since it’s the point of the game to create a large thriving city. The really sad part is that they tried so hard to make all the little things extra interesting and just forgot about things like, ummm, the game. Also, if you’ve played Simcity 3000, this game is hardly new. The interface got a “Sims” upgrade and is the most annoying, candy-coated thing in creation. The “music” is equally annoying having combined equal parts “pop-crap” with horrible synth. There are however a few minor saving graces. The graphics are well done and the buildings and street scenes are nicely animated. The disasters are nicely redone although lag inducing as well. All the elements are here for a good game but Maxis dropped the ball this time and put out something that simply wasn’t ready. It’s a shame since it was delayed twice and apparently they used that extra time to make sure you could incorporate your “Sims” into your “Sim City” rather than fixing major game play issues.
In terms of “originality” there isn’t any. This IS SimCity 3000. The same blue, yellow and green squares representing different zones, the same “advisers” helping you out, that sort of thing. All the old rules apply such as not building a nuclear power plant next to a residential zone or turning your transportation budget to max to keep everyone happy.
The major upside, and it isn’t a big one, is that it’s addictive. Building a large, well-off city takes practice and patience and you can sit in front of the screen for hours hoping to get just a few more people to move into your residential sections so that you can put in another subway stop. This is what made SimCity fun over the past few incarnations and that hasn’t changed. The only problem is that nothing else has changed either.
So, in summation, if you want to play SimCity 3000 with nicer graphics, give this one a shot… after a few patches and bug fixes. If you were on the fence in terms of entertainment with previous versions, don’t even bother. It’s a waste of your time. I was considering going into greater detail about different aspects of the game but decided against it. It’s no fun going back and reviewing a game that you played and disliked a few weeks ago. I apologize for my lack of review in the meantime but it really wasn’t compelling enough to do. Lets just leave it at that.
Final Score – Craptastic
by Matt | Feb 12, 2003 | Imported Entry
This week, after raising the US’s Terror Alert Level to orange and the US Army’s alert from Alpha to Bravo, reports are cropping up about possible terrorist activities. So much in fact that US citizens are urged to buy duct tape, batteries, plastic tarps and 3+ days worth of food and water. The cause for concern seems to be a new Bin Laden tape calling for a Holy War against all who stand against them. It also mentions plans to inflict as much damage to the general population as possible. This has most people worried. I agree with most of them. Part of me believes 90% of this to be pre-war bolstering from both sides and the other part of me is scared shitless. This isn’t to say that I’m making a run to Walmart for batteries but I am a little concerned. The alleged intended targets this time are two fold: a) civilian utilities such as transportation systems, electric, phone and water and b) “soft targets” or targets that will be undefended but still create a heavy loss of life such as apartment complexes, sporting events, public buildings, etc. Now, I don’t believe Savannah GA to be a target for anyone but I do live rather close to one of the largest military bases in the area. There’s really no reason (*knock on wood*) to be frightened since regardless of my worry things will happen or not happen. My concern would do nothing to change that. I’m looking at this like any other storm that causes concern. You take the necessary precautions and evacuate if necessary. I’m probably freaking myself out more than anything. Hopefully our government wouldn’t drop the ball in terms of intelligence like they did a little over a year ago. They knew something was going to happen in September, but they didn’t tell us because they didn’t know the specifics. Hopefully they’d let us know this time if they had anything substantial. Then again, in order to avoid mass hysteria who knows what they’d suppress. All I know is that we’ve been warned, we should prepare and that the government has already taken precautions to protect themselves… doesn’t that tell you something. Anyway, you might want to check CNN.com every once in a while to make sure something hasn’t gone horribly wrong. You might also want to read some of the related articles I linked above, just to have some idea about what’s going on. All I know is that at the first sign of trouble, I’m heading north and I’m taking my girl and all the ammo I can carry. (note, that was for metaphorical purposes, I don’t own a gun).
Sleep tight.
by Matt | Feb 10, 2003 | Imported Entry
It was your typical Sunday. Sitting around, doing nothing, wasting time. Usually I would do homework or read or even go play ultimate frisbee in the park. This time I chose to simply relax. I’ve taken 4 rolls of film this weekend, far from my hopeful estimate of 20 but still enough to keep my ass out of the frying pan. I hope to get some ideas and get rolling on some “crazy” ideas in the next few weeks. Like I told my professor, I’m not looking for 20+ images this semester, I’m merely hoping to add 5 or so solid pieces to my portfolio. Sure 20 would be nice but they’re not necessary and I’m not going to work my ass off to make more images that may or may not be worth it in the end.
On the same “creative” train of thought, I felt inspired to make some icons this weekend. They’re of course not done but I think I’m actually going to dedicate some time to these. I hope to make a set similar to the Gorrila set by Jim Mac and converted by Brewman. The original set lacks Windows-ish icons (my computer, ie, network neighborhood) since it’s originally an icon set for Gnome. I really love that heavy cartoon style and hopefully I can pull off something that will compliment the already awesome set. I haven’t asked permission from Jim yet but may in the next few days if I like what I’m coming up with. Even though I’d be making a set from scratch and technically it would have nothing to do with Gnome/Linux, I’d still want to pay proper respect and at least site him as a source of inspiration.
Oh, and more more thing before I head off to bed, just a few minutes ago a new version of Y’z Dock was released. Go check out 0.60 beta.
That is all.
by Matt | Feb 8, 2003 | Imported Entry
Well, the past few day have been pretty interesting. It turned out that I didn’t have my critique on Thursday, buying me precious time to shoot more film. Thursday night I had ever intention of shooting when we went out as a group but it turned out I was having far too much fun to bother with my camera. Lauren, Sarah, Brittney and myself went to Savannah Smile: a dueling piano bar. It was A LOT of fun. I can see this being a recurring theme for me weekends to come. They play old standards, classic rock tunes and a few eclectic favorites on two beat-up old baby-grands. All the pianists were great and more than entertaining. Drinks seemed a little pricey but that’s probably because the door charge is so low. It was a little empty on Thursday night as one might expect so we decided to go back last night. We were right and the place was definitely at full tilt last night. I guess Friday is the night to go. I took both evenings opportunities to take some pictures so that turned out to be a good plan.
Friday afternoon was a little less eventful but helpful none-the-less. I had a midterm conference at 2pm downtown so I headed off to that as Lauren got to work on her AutoCAD projects. The conference went well and I have an A so far. Jenny (my professor) took a look at what I had an suggested a few interesting ways to proceed from there. From there I picked up a few movies from Hollywood Video and some flowers for Lauren as a surprise from the grocery store across the street.
Today Lauren’s friend Ashley is coming to visit from her school in Charleston. It’s Ashley’s birthday so they’re going to go out to dinner as a “girls night out” sort of thing… but not before posing for some pictures. Lauren asked if I could take some pictures of the two of them since they don’t really have any. I agreed figuring I could kill two birds with one stone and take some pictures for myself as well.
That’s my basic plan for the day. I also just finished Unreal 2 so I’ll try and post a review of that over at Chocobo.cx. I might post a SimCity 4 review as well but we’ll see what I have time to type. I might not get to it until this evening though so don’t be waiting with baited breath.
I was also going to rant and rave about so typically Matt Brand social injustice, computer issues, free speech, the stupidity of our president and so on, but that’s just a downer so I’ll skip my usually rant for today. You should however, check out michaelmoore.com. Mike has some insight into just about everything. Pay special attention to the Homeland Security section. There’s some good reads in there. I’ll also link to a story that boarders on sensationalism as well as stupidity. The story itself isn’t that interesting, it’s TCPA stuff that you’ve heard me rant about before, it’s the shear quantity of ridiculous comments, both for and against that should be read. Yes, those are separate links.
Anyway, that’s about it. Later.
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