Final Demo Report

A few days ago I realized I had almost as many game demos installed as I did actual games. The many impressions I've written in the blog are a testament to that. But now I'm kinda getting tired of them, so in one day of hardcore play I burned through them all. Here, then, is the final Demo Report:

Tribes Vengeance Single Player: As is expected with a Tribes game, everyone has been talking about this title's multiplayer, which has made me curious as to the quality of hte Single Player portion, which hasn't had much talk since the game was announced. The production values are top notch, with great voice acting and the same solid game engine. The gameplay though felt like nothing more than an ego booster for the multiplay. Its basically MP with AI teammates and enemies, and on smaller maps. In a way this is a bad thing; Tribes weapons are powerful as hell, but are hard to hit with when your opponent is jumping and jetting like a madman while firing back at you. This makes combat challenging, but the computer controlled enemies do nothing more than hop a few feet back and forth, making it anything but hard. I managed to nail three enemies in a row with my spinfusor, from the air..... not something you see often in a Tribes game

The only challenge to the game is brought by the fact that there is no save ability (at least not in this level). The action was fierce enough that it was still enjoyable, but if every level is like this I can see many a person becoming very frustrated.

Still, combined with the MP, Tribes Vengeance has rised high on my anticipated games list. As easy as the SP is, the story behind it seems very promising, and would easily be worth blasting through the entire thing to watch. Combined with the rock solid multiplay, this may be a purchase.

Doom 3: I, uh, got it running. And that's about it. Seriously though, I only got about 10 minutes into the game before I decided to have some fun with the config file. Apparently ID doesn't want people screwing with it in the demo, so it became corrupted. All I can say is that yes, it looks damn good. Damn fucking good. Maybe not as good as I wanted it to be on my machine; my settings were 800x600 high quality (hence my attempt at tweaking), but certainly playable. I have gone at some of the actual gameplay with my friends copy of the game, however, and from that I can deduce far more. For one, its scary even with the lights on. Its not as much the environment that does it as it is the fact that enemies will jump out of the least likely places, and when they're as grotesque as these fellas you can get a little bit jumpy. I was most impressed however with the enemies. I don't know why people are complaining so much about the simplistic gameplay. Yes they mostly stagger at you, but some of those bastards stagger pretty damn fast. And some of them carry riot shields, which they know how to use. Conclusion: this game is harder than you'd think. And I want to play some more.

Full Spectrum Warrior: The popular Xbox game is now on PC! And unlike some other Xbox to PC ports *cough Halo cough*, the engine is stable and runs incredibly well. As for the gameplay, it certainly isn't as advanced as people claimed it'd be (at least in the retail version), there is more than enough tactical goodness to be found. What impressed me most however is how much it simulates the tension of a real battle, and the confidence and ability of the US military. The banter between the troops, and the efficiency in which they carry out orders gives these troops a lot more life than your usual squad of AI cronies. If they got shot, it was because of a choice I made, not because of their stupidity. The aforementioned tension comes from the incredible level design. What looked to be a small area of the city became a death trap, with plenty of places for enemies to hide, and plenty of objectives to complete. The dirty, broken buildings and junk skewed everywhere provided plenty of cover, and also gave the sense of a real battlefield. The army always pushes the idea of "no man left behind" and goddamn if I didn't do everything I could to bring those boys back in one piece. Games can't create emotion? My ass.

Rome: Total War: Creative Assembly's fans revere the Total War franchise above all (my brother happens to be one of them). gamers that play these games play nothing else for stretches at a time. For me, they've been a little too complex, more akin to reading a history textbook than gaming. So I was a little nervous when starting this up.

A while ago Creative said they'd make the game easier for new fans, and while I don't know how they did, it sure feels that way. I had no trouble understanding the tutorial, and even learned enough to win the demo's only skirmish, the Battle of Trebia without much hassle. There's still that whole diplomacy part of the game I didn't get to see, but the battles alone (which look incredible thanks to the excellent new 3d engine) were enticing.

Overall, a great batch of demos. Anyone who says PC gaming is in trouble this holiday is crazy (or is a raving fanboy that lives here). Now all we need is Half Life 2, if it ever comes out....

On a walkabout